A two-day seminar on science reporting for journalists has begun in Accra. It is being organized by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in conjunction with the Private Enterprise Foundation. The seminar is to encourage media practitioners to take interest in science and technology reporting to enable them to disseminate science information to the understanding of the public. Addressing the opening session, a Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr.. Faruq Braimah, stressed that for Ghana to achieve her goal of becoming a middle-level economy by the year 2020, science and technology should be the driving force that would propel the country’s economic growth forward. He entreated media practitiioners to popularize the findings of research institutions and make them readily available in a well packaged form to industry, to help speed up the country’s economic and technological development. Dr.. Braimah suggested to the CSIR to institute an annual award for best science reporting to generate interest in science among journalists. The Director-General of the CSIR, Prof. W.S. Alhassan, noted that scientists and media practitioners have the responsibility of establishing a very strong science culture in the country in order to free the people from superstitious beliefs which tend to enslave them. A Director at the Ministry of Communications, Mrs.. Margaret Sackey, advised the journalists to take the seminar serious and ensure that the public is well informed scientifically.
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