160 journalists benefit from MHA media sensitization workshops

Tamale. January 12, 2022: Journalists in the Northern Region have agreed with Prof. Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, that the Ghanaian media can do better when reporting various aspects of mental health, especially in the areas of suicide, depression and stigma. This followed a glowing compliment the MHA CE paid to local media practitioners for reporting on, advocating and promoting the Mental Health bill which is now law.

“The media are our allies, and we appreciate you. Your reporting made a lot of impact, and today, we have a law,” he applauded the media.

Prof. Osei made these statements at the just ended two-day workshop on “Mental health reporting training for journalists” held in the Northern Regional capital of Tamale January 11 and 12, 2022.

The role of the media in the production and reproduction of stereotypical portrayals of mental health difficulties and suicide has been of concern for the MHA since its inauguration on November 19, 2013. The Authority has therefore held six media sensitization workshops since August 2021 to facilitate interaction with editors and reporters with a view to focusing on experiences of and insights into the challenges underpinning reporting on mental health stories.

The sensitization workshops which have been held in Greater Accra, Ashanti and now Northern regions have brought about 160 senior media practitioners to meet MHA leadership and mental health professionals, persons with lived experiences, and media scholars to discuss media depictions of mental health difficulties and suicide as an important element in shaping how the public understands the issues and how relevant agencies devise strategies to advocate and reduce stigma.

The workshop curriculum covered the areas of stigma, the nature of mental health, suicide, responsive reporting guidelines, mental health support systems, and self-care for journalists. The interactive sessions comprised lectures, scenarios and evaluations.

Despite some generic differences, journalists agreed that their output would now be shaped by factors including sensitivity to the topic of suicide, care for families, balancing public and private interests, challenges to reporting facts, finding appropriate professional sources, interpreting guidelines on reporting, and the discovery of the relative absence of mental illness stories.

“Generally, the workshop has been really impactful,” commented Diana Ngon of CitiNews, Tamale. “We are more informed on how to handle issues of mental health and also victims…Media owners need to understand and put structures in place at the workplace.”

The MHA believes that the workshops will help it understand how journalists deal with these challenges. This will then help the media and advocacy agencies address these challenges and thereby improve the nature of coverage of mental health difficulties and suicide in media output.

The Mental Health Authority (MHA) is an agency established by an Act of Parliament, Mental Health Act 846 of 2012, to propose, promote and implement mental health policies and provide culturally appropriate, humane and integrated mental health care throughout Ghana.

The agency’s helplines are 0303964878 and 0274435261.