KNOWING THE RULES OF THE GAME

by Lina Paulitsch

The Association of Sports Broadcasters of Ghana (ASBOG) has organised a workshop for journalists in the Central Region to learn and improve the standard of sports Journalism.

At  the  Oguaa FIFA for Hope Center, Asante Fokou invited several radio broadcasters of the Central Region to come together and prepare themselves towards the commencement of the 2012/13 Glo premier League.

The first part of the workshop was a lecture by the Deputy Manager of ATL FM, Mike Serwornoo on radio production. He described production as “the process of nosing for interesting ideas”, emphasizing the creative work a producer has to do. Not only should a producer seek for interesting news and get the right information, he is also responsible for preparing the hosts and, basically, the whole program. They are involved in the entire process, even managing the audience response after a show.

A producer should have certain skills: Firstly, he or she should be a user of good words, as it is essential for people to understand the program. Secondly, one should be creative to make it catching and exciting. One should be able to conceptualize ideas, in terms of making a story fit within a radio program. And last but not least, one must have the ability to see and hear what is happening around him by observing and communicating with other people.

A very important tool of producing is the brief: a written plan of implementations of every story and highly important for the presenter. It consists of a news-worthy cue, preparing him for the show. It needs to be well-written and comprehensive; therefore, the producer must be careful not to use words the presenter might spell incorrectly, by, for example, replacing ‘exciting’ with ‘fascinating’.

If there is a contributor of the news, it is the producer’s responsibility to get in touch with him. Subsequently, it is also the producer that has to provide decent audio quality of the interview, via Skype for example. Asante Fokou says that the equipment is Ghana’s biggest problem when it comes to journalism. As opposed to Africa, Western countries have the best access to the newest software and fastest connections, and are therefore advantaged in reporting.

Afterwards, a referee taught the journalists the most important laws of football, so they would be aware of the game’s development. The referee spent most of the time referring to the most difficult and well-discussed law: the offside offence. Apart from an obvious offside offence, there are many more peculiar situations where the law must be respected. This might be, for example, when the shot of a team mate rebounds to the opponent, who is penalized for being in an offside position. Illustrated by a PowerPoint presentation, the journalists were able to visualize the scene and were allowed to ask questions.

Furthermore, the referee discussed fouls: A player must be penalized when kicks, tackles, trips, strikes, pushes an opponent or attempts to do so. He also emphasized the fact that a referee is not supposed to be kind, even if the foul is ‘careless, reckless or by the use of excessive force’. 

There are two disciplinary sanctions: the yellow card and the red card. Getting a yellow card means the player has been cautioned, while a red card means the player is being sent off. That could be caused by a serious foul play, violent conduct or spitting at the opponent. The last point of the presentation was the penalty kick, which takes place when the foul happens in the penalty area in front of the gamekeeper.

After the journalists had learned how to recognize all the laws governing football, a very important man stepped up and presented a speech: Kofi Matthew Doe, Regional Chairman of Ghana Football Association, reminded the journalists of the country of their role to educate and to inform their audience.

The Ghana Football Association  is a private organization, whose sources of income are sponsorships and donations from international organizations, such as FIFA. Their main goal is to make Ghana’s football leagues more attractive, in being a messenger for hope and peace. Sport is the one thing that can unite a whole country and even bring peace: The most popular example was Nelson Mandela’s success to unify the black and white population of South Africa by making them cheer for their national rugby team.

As the journalists bring the news to their audience, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) wants to organize workshops to improve their delivery. ‘The press is the mirror of society’, Kofi Matthew Doe said. This statement certainly summarizes the workshop’s purpose: Sports has always been and always will be very important for people and it is up to the journalists to effectively report the fact. The workshop tried to train them, as their role is of such great importance. Hopefully, there will be many more events like this, so Ghana’s media can improve and expand in the future.