Journalists are abusing their constitutional freedom

By Ama Achiaa Amankwah

A Chief Editor at the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr. Boakye Dankwa Boadi has observed that Ghana’s constitution insulates the media so much so that some practitioners are abusing it.

“Ethical infractions in Ghana are serious,” he said adding, “Some private media houses are doing us a great disservice by putting unskilled and unqualified people behind the microphone who sometimes disseminate poisonous information.”

He was speaking at a two-day consultation meeting aimed at identifying priority issues and areas of requiring support and initiatives to strengthen the media industry and its role in development in Africa at present.

It was organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa, (MFWA), a regional non-profit organisation based in Ghana in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, (UNECA).

Media owners, practitioners, trainers and other stakeholders in the media industry from Anglophone West Africa attended the meeting in Accra to also discuss issues concerning the development of the industry and challenges facing it, so as to develop steps to improve it.

Mr. Boakye Dankwa emphasized that the media has a responsibility to make the region a knowledgeable society.

The consultation process was to collate views of sub-regional information communication, and media actors across to ensure that specific country, sub-regional and special interest perspectives are taken into account in drafting a strategic framework for strengthening media in Africa.

The outcome of the meeting will be used to produce a case document which to provide the basis for a conference to discuss and propose ideas for financing the media in Africa.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Prof. Alex Quarmyne, Executive Director of the Ghana Community Radio Network, noted that West Africa has seen a myriad of programmes (short term and long term) aimed at developing the media which have yielded very little results.

Prof. Quarmyne lauded the ongoing consultation process which recognizes the fact that the era demands the media in Africa to begin to make a difference.

“Newspapers and radio stations are still being closed down here and there, but the undisputable fact is that in many African countries today the media are making substantial contributions towards the building of democracy and the development of good governance.”

He called for rural access and participation in the media among the rural population, since they have the greatest need for information and communication for development.

Making a statement on the challenges and opportunities of media practice, the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Alhaji I.B. Kargbo regretted that governments in certain parts of the region are trying to regulate the media industry because practitioners are unable to do so themselves.

He advised the media to take advantage of the current democratic change on the continent and improve the performance.