Journalists implored to be circumspect in reportage

THE Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has called on journalists to be circumspect in their reportage and presentations to keep the nation united as it cruises towards the 2012 general election.

He reminded journalists and the media houses of their role as gatekeepers and advised them to filter statements made by politicians which were likely to inflame passions and cause disaffection among the people.

Making the call at a soiree for media practitioners in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Mahama said although the media had made remarkable progress in content and technology over the last two decades, it behoved practitioners to ensure their democratic pursuits were devoid of acts that might heighten political tensions in the country.

The programme, which was organised by the Ministry of Information, was attended by ministers of state and senior journalists from both the print and electronic media.

“People would make extremely unpleasant statements that could create problems, but you as practitioners ought to let the people know that governments would come and go, but Ghana would remain,” Mr Mahama said.

The Vice-President said the digital terrestial migration process currently underway might even see more proliferation of radio and television stations, thus increasing competition on the media landscape.

Mr Mahama expressed regret at the continued low educational competence of some practitioners, saying “the media profession is so tied to human rights that, it has made it impossible to enforce stringent regulations against persons who claimed to be practitioners, because it is a profession that is based on freedom of expression, which in itself is a basic human rights requirement”.

Media owners and operators, he said, had taken advantage of the situation by engaging less qualified people as a cost-cutting measure, in the belief that “the less qualified the person, the less you can pay him”.

That, he said, informed the government’s decision to set up the media fund to help build capacity of trained and untrained practitioners meant to aid professionalism.
Mr Mahama announced that the composition of an independent Board of Trustees (BOT) was underway with an accompanying legislation to supervise the disbursement of the fund.

While commending practitioners for continually being an ally of government in spite of their political persuasions, Mr Mahama charged them to even monitor the government appropriately by engaging officials in useful measures in the ensuing year.

He expressed the hope that the 2012 general election would be a successful one and counted on the media to make sure the feat was achievable.

The Vice-President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Affail Monney, said the media, to a large extent, had lived up to the task by contributing to the growth of the country’s democracy.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, who described 2011 as an eventful year for the media in the dissemination of government policies and programmes, also called for accurate reportage of information as Ghana continued to lead as pacesetters of democracy on the continent.

SOURCE: Mary Mensah & Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Fri Dec 23, 2011