Features
When the camera becomes a target
We are often the first to arrive and the last to leave. While crowds scatter, cameramen and photographers move closer. In moments of crisis, fires, elections, protests, demolitions and disasters, cameramen stand at the centre of these events, documenting reality as it unfolds.
Yet in Ghana and many parts of the world, cameramen and photographers remain among the most vulnerable professionals in journalism. Despite their central and crucial role in news production, they are frequently assaulted, poorly protected and largely under-recognised within the media industry.
In today’s media environment, visuals define impact. Images and video clips have ignited national conversations, expose wrongdoing and shape public opinion within seconds. In all the media landscape, majority of storytelling value is visual, produced by some cameramen and photographers working in high-pressure and often volatile environments.
This visibility, however, comes at a cost. Cameramen are usually positioned closest to unfolding events, making them the most exposed when tensions rise.
A recent example is the assault on Samuel Addo, a journalist with Class Media Group, who was attacked by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service while filming an altercation between firefighters and traders at the Kasoa New Market. He was injured while performing a routine professional duty recording events of public interest.
Incidents such as this have become increasingly prevalent. Records by the Media Foundation for West Africa, Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and other media monitoring bodies show that journalists are regularly assaulted while on duty, with cameramen often the primary victims. These attacks occur during political rallies, security operations, demolitions, protests and disaster coverage.
In many cases, cameras are damaged or confiscated, journalists are physically assaulted or detained, and intimidation follows.
Yet a significant number of reported cases are never fully investigated or prosecuted. This lack of accountability has contributed to a pattern where attacks against visual journalists are treated as routine rather than exceptional.
The situation in Ghana reflects a broader global trend. Across the world, cameramen and photographers have been injured or killed while covering wars, elections, civil unrest and human rights violations.
In 2016, I was assaulted by military personnel while covering an altercation between civilians and the military at Aboabo, a suburb of Tamale. Like many similar cases, the incident was never pursued. It was treated as routine and eventually forgotten.
That experience reflects a wider reality faced by many cameramen: attacks are frequent, investigations are rare and consequences minimal.
From conflict zones in Gaza, Syria, Ukraine and Iraq, to violent regions in Mexico and Haiti, visual journalists are often targeted because their work provides evidence. Cameras capture what words alone cannot, making those who operate them particularly vulnerable.
Globally, hundreds of journalists have lost their lives over the decades while on assignment; many of them visual reporters.
Despite the risks involved, cameramen and photographers are often among the lowest-paid employees in media organisations. Risk allowances are uncommon, insurance coverage is inconsistent and access to trauma support is limited.
Recognition within the profession also remains uneven, at major industry events such as the Ghana Journalists Association Awards, most honours are reserved for reporters, while cameramen whose visuals underpin many award-winning stories are rarely acknowledged beyond a single photojournalism category.
As long as cameramen and photographers continue to work without adequate protection, training, insurance and institutional backing, the risks will remain. Without meaningful accountability, assaults on visual journalists are likely to continue.
Cameramen and photographers are not peripheral to journalism. They are central to it. Their work informs the public, preserves records of national events and supports democratic accountability.
Ensuring their safety is not only a professional obligation; it is essential to protecting the integrity of journalism itself.
Beyond physical attacks, cameramen and news photographers operate within weak legal and institutional protection frameworks. While Ghana’s Constitution guarantees press freedom, enforcement mechanisms specific to journalist safety remain limited.
Assaults against visual journalists are often treated as isolated disturbances rather than attacks on press freedom, reducing their seriousness in the eyes of investigators and prosecutors.
Another critical gap lies in operational preparedness. Cameramen are frequently deployed to high-risk assignments without basic safety briefings, protective gear or clear protocols. In many newsrooms, decisions are driven by urgency and competition, leaving little room for structured risk assessment before deployment to volatile scenes.
Responsibility also lies with media organisations themselves, where many cameramen operate without adequate insurance, written safety policies or post-incident support. When assaults occur, affected journalists are often left to pursue justice on their own, reinforcing the perception that injury is simply ‘part of the job.’
Security agencies remain a key part of the problem. Cameramen are routinely mistaken for agitators, accused of provocation, or ordered to stop filming without lawful justification. The absence of consistent training for security personnel on media rights and engagement protocols continues to fuel confrontations that escalate unnecessarily.
Economic vulnerability further compounds the risk. Some cameramen invest heavily in personal equipment like cameras, lenses, batteries and protective gear often purchased on credit. When equipment is damaged or seized during assignments, compensation is rare, pushing many visual journalists into long-term financial strain.
Digital threats have also emerged as a growing concern. Visual journalists increasingly face online harassment, threats after publishing sensitive images or videos. These digital attacks often translate into physical risk, yet remain largely unaddressed by employers or law enforcement agencies.
The cumulative effect of physical danger, low pay, poor recognition and weak protection has consequences for journalism itself. Talented cameramen leave the profession, younger practitioners become risk-averse, and news coverage grows thinner. When visual journalists are silenced or discouraged, the public loses access to independent, credible documentation of events.
Protecting cameramen and photographers is, therefore, not a favour. It is a democratic necessity. Without safe conditions for visual reporting, accountability weakens, misinformation thrives and public trust erodes. Journalism cannot function fully if those who capture its most powerful evidence remain exposed and expendable.
By Geoffrey Buta
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Attention-Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often mistaken for laziness or indiscipline. In consulting rooms across Accra and in reports from school teachers, the pattern repeats: children who are bright but forgetful, parents who feel helpless, teachers who see incompleteness.
Research is clear-Barkley (2015) and others describe ADHD as a difference in the brain’s regulation of alertness, impulse and working memory, not a lack of effort.
The family’s role begins with structure. Regular sleep, predictable meal and homework times, and a simple visual list (uniform → books → water → corridor) provide the external scaffolding of these children need. Praise what is completed—“You opened the book and wrote the first sentence”-instead of rebuking what is missing.
Schools can help by seating the child front-row and centre, giving short written plus verbal instructions, allowing brief movement breaks, using quiet nonverbal cues and, where possible, grading effort and method as well as neatness. These adjustments reduce conflict and raise submission rates without lowering standards.
Couples and caregivers should share roles: one grounds, one pivots, and both protect rest. Shame-“bad parenting, bad child”-needs replacing with fact: different wiring, needs scaffolding.
Outcomes improve not by promises of perfection but by daily routines, clear limits and warmed connection. One homework slot kept, one instruction chunked, one calm repair after blurting-these small wins shift the family climate and let the child be seen beyond the label.
Resource
• CPAC (award-winning Mental Health and Counselling Facility): 0559850604 / 0551428486
Source: REV. COUNSELLOR PRINCE OFFEI’s insights on special needs support, relationships, and mental health in Ghana. He is a leading mental health professional, lecturer, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, renowned author, and marriage counsellor at COUNSELLOR PRINCE & ASSOCIATES CONSULT (CPAC COUNSELLOR TRAINING INSTITUTE) – 0551428486 /0559850604.
WEBSITES:
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/author
https://princeoffei22.wixsite.com/website
After two weeks of hectic activity up north, I drove to the Tamale airport, parked the car at the Civil Aviation car park as usual, paid the usual parking fee and boarded the plane for Accra.
Over the last two weeks, I had shuffled between three sites where work was close to completion.
One was a seed warehouse, where farmers would come and pick up good quality maize, sorghum and other planting material.
The other was a health facility for new mothers, where they were given basic training on good nutrition and small scale business.
And the third was a set of big boreholes for three farming communities.
The projects usually ran on schedule, but a good deal of time was spent building rapport with the local people, to ensure that they would be well patronised and maintained.
It was great to be working in a situation where one’s work was well appreciated. But it certainly involved a lot of work, and proactivity. And I made sure that I recorded updates online before going to bed in the evening.
When the plane took off, my mind shifted to issues in Accra, the big city. The young guys at my office had done some good work. They had secured five or six houses on a row in a good part of the city, and were close to securing the last.
When we got this property, unusually, Abena greeted them casually, and appeared to be comfortable in the guy’s company.
I was quite disappointed to hear that, because until the last few weeks, it seemed as if Abena and I were heading in a good direction. Apart from the affection I had for her, I liked her family. I decided to take it easy, and allow things to fall in whatever direction.
Normally I would take a taxi to her house from the airport, and pick her up to my place. This time I went to my sisters’ joint, where they sat by me while I enjoyed a drink and a good meal.
“So Little Brother,” Sister Beesiwa said, “what is it we are hearing about our wife-to-be?”
“When did you conclude that she was your wife-to-be? And what have you heard? I’ve only heard a couple of whispers. Ebo and Nana Kwame called to say that they have seen her in the company of—”
“Well said Little Brother,” Sister Baaba said. “By the way, Nana Kwame called an hour ago to ask if you had arrived because he could not reach you. Someone had told him that Jennifer had boasted to someone that she had connected Abena to a wealthy guy who would take care of her.”
I was beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.
“In that case,” Sister Beesiwa said, “you should be glad that Abena is out of your way. She is easily swayed. Anyone who would make a relationship decision based on a friend’s instigation lacks good sense. I hope the guy is as wealthy as they say?”
“Who gets wealthy running a supermarket chain in Ghana?” Sister Baaba said. “Our supermarkets sell mostly imported products. Look at the foreign exchange rate. And remember that Ghanaians buy second-hand shoes and clothes. Supermarkets are not good business here. Perhaps they are showing off that they are wealthy, but in reality they are not doing so well.”
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. So I think Jennifer fed her with false stories about me in order to get her to move to the Ampadu guy. Jennifer must have been well compensated for her efforts.”
She said that David Forson was only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her. And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“Amen to that,” I said. “I’m beginning to understand. For some time, Abena had been asking me what work I was doing up north, and after I had explained it to her, she kept asking. We would be able to sell all five houses to one big corporate customer, and we had already spoken to a property dealer who was trying to find a buyer in order to get a good commission.
That was going to be my biggest break. I had asked the boys to look for a large tract of land on the outskirts of the city where we could develop our own set of buildings, blocks of storey houses and upscale apartments. Things were going according to plan, and I was quietly excited. However, things were not going so well regarding my relationship with Abena.
My buddies Ebo and Nana Kwame had called to say that they met Abena and her friend Jennifer enjoying lunch with a guy, and Ebo believed that Jennifer was ‘promoting’ an affair between Jennifer and the guy. They were of the view that the promotion seemed to be going in the guy’s favour, because only an agricultural extension worker in the north who did not have the resources to take care of a beautiful girl like her.
And apart from being wealthy, the guy comes from an influential family, so Abena had done much better leaving a miserable civil servant like you for him.
“As I’ve already said, I will stop by her place, but I will mind my own business from now. Hey, let’s talk family. How are our parents? And my brothers-in-law? And my nephews and nieces? Why don’t we meet on Sunday? I’m going to drop my bags at my place, and go to see Mama and Dad.”
