After 35 years of rich journalism…  Editor of The Spectator bows out

Mr-Emmanuel-Amponsah

Oprah Winfrey succinctly summarised the significance of discovering one’s life’s purpose when she said, “I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s unique as a fingerprint- and the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard and also al­lowing the energy of the universe to lead you.”

Having discovered and obeyed his calling in life, the longest serving member of the editorial staff of the New Times Corpora­tion will “put down his pen” in a few days after 35 years of signifi­cant experience in the journalism field.

Everything has its appointed time, and The Spectator’s Editor, Mr. Emmanuel Amponsah, has come to the end of his work with the New Times Corporation – he has retired.

He recalls with nostalgia how he began his career as a young journalist in the era when fax machines served as the primary means of sending and receiving news reports. The experienced sports journalist recounts some of the headlines of the stories which called his byline, some common ones were; “Kumasi favours Hearts of Oak” and “Okwawu Utd can’t disturb Kotoko” which were published on 18th and 25th Febru­ary, 1995 editions among other stories in The Ghanaian Times.

Portifolios

Mr. Emmanuel Amponsah was appointed the Editor of The Spec­tator, the weekly newspaper of the New Times Corporation (NTC), on November 2, 2020.

Until his appointment, Mr Am­ponsah, who is a Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) graduate was the Deputy Editor of the Ghanaian Times, the flagship newspaper of the NTC.

Before assuming the role of Deputy Editor, he was the Business Editor of the Ghanaian Times, where his job responsibili­ties involved selecting and analys­ing business and financial news for publication in the newspaper.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the Sports Desk of the Gha­naian Times and doubled as a columnist (The Watchdog) for the erstwhile Evening News.

The Board of Directors of the Corporation appointed Mr. Am­ponsah as the Deputy Editor of the Sporting Times in 1999 which was a weekly sports newspaper of the Corporation. He acted as the Editor of the newspaper also for a while.

Advise to young people

Mr Amponsah said one must not be an “arm chair journalist… if journalism is your passion, you must always be on the look out for stories that are of interest.”

Again, he said, a determi­nant of successes in the field of journalism was the ability of the reporter to have and maintain reliable sources of information. This, he said, could be achieved by writing or reporting credible information and professionally dealing with people.

A good and passionate journal­ist the Editor said, must have the ability to scrutinise and criticise some misdeeds in society that are not in the general interest of the public. However, in doing so the good journalist must be construc­tive.

A product of GIJ and Saint Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, both in Accra, Mr Ampon­sah’s areas of interest include Sports, Business/Finance and Environment.

He has attended a number of national and international con­ferences and tournaments, and written extensively on global and local events bordering on various fields of human endeavours.

 By Portia Hutton-Mills