Editorial

Adios! Dr Doris Yaa Dartey

The Ghanaian Media and communication fraternity and associates, yesterday, bid farewell to the late Dr Doris Yaa Dartey, a veteran journalist and communication specialist at a solemn ceremony in Accra.

Representatives of the National Media Commission (NMC), Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), print and broadcast editors and journalists and sympathisers joined the family to pay their last respect to one of the illustrious daughters of the land.

The late Dr Dartey, a former member of the National Media Commission (NMC) aged 67, who took her last breath on Sunday, July 19, 2020, after some time of illness,would be sorely missed by the many people who came into contact with her physically or through her writings.

This is evident in the outpour of tributes from many organisations and individuals nationwide and beyond, that followed her passing especially yesterday when she was laid to rest.

Indeed, beyond the tributes, Dr Dartey’s contribution to the growth of the Ghanaian Media with respect to practice, mentorship and supervision in various capacities, is too significant to be swept under the carpet.

She was a graduate of the University ofCape Coast where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education and also held a Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from the School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana.

Her thirst for knowledge took her to the Ohio University in the USA in pursuit of an MA in International Affairs (Development Communication option), a Graduate Diploma in Women’s Studies, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Organisational Communication.

The late Dr Dartey worked in various capacities in the media industry in a career that spanned more than four decades including lecturing in both Ghana and the USA at the University of Dayton, Mount Mercy University, GIMPA and Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).

On her return to Ghana, after her stay in USA, she served as a member and, subsequently, chairperson of the Board of the state-owned Graphic Communications Group Limited.

At the NMC, the veteran journalists served as one of two representatives of the GJA on the Commission and helped to further the mandate of the Commission.

She hosted programmes on Ghana television and wrote The ‘WatchWoman’ column in The Spectator, in which she touched on issues relating to the environment, sanitation, children, health and other prickly national issues

For almost a decade, she served as a member and, later, chairperson of the GJA Media Awards Committee, while discharging other services as consultant for GJA and donor-funded projects of national and international institutions.

With such a rich profile, there is no gainsaying that the media and communication fraternity and the country has lost a gem who has paid her due and would be remembered for her meritorious service.

We are consoled by the fact that she has helped groomed many journalists who would keep the torch of professionalism burning in her absence. She has played her part in the watchdog role and may she rest in peace.

 Adios! Dr Doris Dartey, Fare thee well, the Watch Woman.

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