Journalist of the Year 2025, Moses Apiah, has challenged journalists in the Upper East Region to go beyond reporting the announcement and commissioning of development projects and investigate whether such interventions are improving the lives of the people they are intended to serve.
Speaking on A1 Radio after winning the ultimate award at the 5th Upper East Regional Ghana Journalists Association Awards, Mr Apiah said journalists should be concerned about what happens after the ceremonies, speeches and promises surrounding development projects.
“The question is no longer simply whether we have reported that a borehole has been constructed, a school block commissioned, an irrigation facility completed or money allocated for a community project, but whether those interventions have made any meaningful difference in the lives of the people for whom they were intended,” he said.
According to him, journalists should follow public expenditure and development commitments beyond their initial announcements and give affected communities an opportunity to assess whether promised interventions are delivering the intended results.
He said journalism should help citizens understand how development decisions are made, how public resources are used and why some communities continue to struggle with access to basic services despite successive interventions.
Mr Apiah said this approach was particularly important for journalists working in the Upper East Region, where many of the stories they encounter involve access to water, healthcare, education, agriculture and infrastructure.
He argued that journalism in such an environment should go beyond its conventional role of informing, educating and entertaining the public to include sustained scrutiny of development interventions.
For him, reporting that a project has been commissioned should therefore not necessarily mark the end of a journalist’s interest in that project.
Journalists, he said, should return to communities, speak with intended beneficiaries and establish whether projects are functional, accessible and addressing the problems for which they were provided.
Mr Apiah said such follow-up reporting would also allow journalists to identify gaps between official accounts of development and the experiences of people living in beneficiary communities.
He urged journalists to resist the tendency to move on after official announcements and commissioning ceremonies, arguing that sustained follow-up is necessary for journalism to contribute to accountability and informed public discussion.
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