News coverage in this country over the years has been to report on events, people and of course the big fish government activities, projects, appointees, what businesses are doing and its impact on the people and the economy.
It is not always the case where you have a team of dedicated professionals who have tasked themselves with the role of crusading for community rights and advocacy along the lines of community journalism.
A typical professional news coverage style that typically identifies with issues in the inner parts of your community – sanitation, power and water supply, planning, housing, transportation and general service provision – by both state and private entities.
This is what Community Connect on 3FM 92.7, one of the newest kids on the block, identifies with and has been pushing over the last six months.
3FM is a new entrant on the ever- growing and active media scene with a huge sense of purpose.
The Show, which airs for an hour only, runs from 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm and is hosted by award winning Journalist, Radio and TV Personality Johnnie Hughes.
Johnnie is the 2016 Pentasi ‘B’ Universal Inspirational Poet Awardee at the special Pentasi ‘B’ World Poetry awards held in Accra last month.
According to Producer of Community Connect, Gideon Sackitey: The Show aims at creating a consistent buzz about issues bugging the various communities that calls for the attention of public office holders for ultimate redress.”
“You can call us the community advocacy flag bearers and you would not be far from the truth,” he said.
The programme is heralded by the award-winning song by E.L, ‘WOSOP.’
Community Connect in its short life span has shown that it has the capacity and tenacity to push duty bearers to the limit of their tasks and get them off the comfort of their offices, to not only respond to community needs but to know how their staff are doing on the ground.
“Fortunes vary from one community to another and it has become obvious since we started that, some public officials have left community needs and provisions to the wind, Mr Sackitey,” noted.
“We are finding out that in some instances, public duty bearers, such as local government officers from the local assembly level to the level of state Ministers often go to sleep or take forever to undertake normal public tasks and because they are not voted for, the views of the various communities only stop at a point.”
In the words of one Kweku Adjei Nkrumah, a resident of Weija, near PAMBROS Industries, who through Community Connect got the authorities to respond to the case of being sandwiched by two filling stations: “I can see that you guys at 3 FM are serious and can get the authorities to act. We were to go to court to stop this. But we had no money. But through your medium – Community Connect- we have got the results we needed.”
Nii Amarh Amarteifio, also a member of the Production team notes: “Community Connect is not out to run anyone down, except to make the lives of people in small, inner communities worthwhile, before they become a statistic of some sort.”
“Our aim is to bring attention to situations before they get out of hand.”
“Watch out for Community Connect on your 92.7 dial, acting on some anomaly in your neighbourhood with a local flavor, stewed with your voices and concerns in a way that concentrates on the effect rather than just adding up to mere news coverage.”
A GNA feature
