Journalists attend course in IT

Saturday, August 28, 2010 (The Mirror Pg 27)

By Rebecca Kwei
FIFTEEN female journalists have undergone a three-day course in Information Technology to build their capacity in modern ways of communicating and processing news.
The course organised by Women, Media and Change (WOMEC), an NGO with sponsorship from the Global Fund for Women, was on the theme: “ICT and the Media”.
WOMEC which was founded in 1994 aims at bringing about change in women’s lack of awareness of the power of the media in shaping and pursuing their goals.
Information technology officers of the Centre for IT Professional Development (CIPD) of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) took the participants who were drawn from both the print and electronic media through programmes such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Access and Blogging.
A media consultant, Mrs Charity Binka, said the course was a new approach to empower female journalists not only as ICT users, but also to be creative researchers with technology.
She said the course was also to aid the participants in their search and dissemination of information.
“The workshop is to nurture female journalists in the effective use of the computer with skills to access, browse the Internet to expand their knowledge base in a competitive world” Mrs Binka emphasised.
She said information technology had become the life blood of every business and since the world was adapting more towards an information-based society, it was important for women to acquire such skills so that they were not left behind.
An IT Officer of CIPD, Mr Albert Quaicoe, encouraged the participants to build on the skills they have acquired since Information Technology changes everyday.