THE MEDIA AS THE HEADACHE TO THIS COUNTRY
The Ghana Media
The media in Ghana have been accorded the fourth estate of the realm which means after the Executive which includes the President and the Ministers, the Judiciary which includes the Judges, the Legislators which is the Members of Parliament who are the Lawmakers and the Media then comes forth as the arm of government.
Among all these arms of government, the media is the most powerful in the sense that the media is the only arm of government that put to check the actions and activities of the rest of the arms of government.
The media serve as the conduit of communication in the political and the democratic discourse which has made the media a very influential component in the development of this country. The media are to do their possible best to serve the public interest as their core mandate that always make the media win cases of legal battle.
Chapter 12 Article 162(1) has outlined the freedom of the media in Ghana which states that “the freedom and responsibility of the media are hereby guaranteed”.
Descending to the Code of Ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Article 1 states “peoples’ right to true information”. This means the duty of every journalist is to write and report the truth, having in mind that their duty is to serve the public and not themselves.
Journalists under Article 1 of the GJA Code of Ethics, the media have to provide the public with unbiased, accurate, balanced and comprehensive news and information and the public must be given the opportunity to express themselves through the media.
Coming to Article 2 of the GJA Code of Ethics, it enunciated the social responsibility duty. As a journalist in the discharge of their duty must have it in mind that their responsibility is to serve the public at large and various interests in society when collecting and disseminating information.
In proportion to the first five elements of journalism, every journalist’s first obligation is to the truth, its first loyalty is to citizens, its essence is a discipline of verification, media practitioners must maintain an independence from those we cover and must serve as an independent monitor of power.
The canons of journalism also outlined some relevant points that as a journalist, it must be at the back of your mind in the discharge of your daily duties. These are responsibility, freedom of the press, independence, sincerity, truthfulness & accuracy, impartiality, fair play and decency.
The media under Chapter 12 Article 162(1&2) as stated means the media will have the freedom to operate freely without any censorship, oppression and suppression in the performance of their duties.
However, the part of that clause under the Article 162 which says the responsibility of the media as the GJA Code of Ethics, the Canons and Elements of Journalism emphasize is Wat this piece is about.
How responsible has the media been in Ghana for a decade now?
There is a saying I quote “everybody can do journalism but not everyone can be a journalist”.
The media in Ghana have become hypocrites and have derailed from their role to play to the development of the country which is the watchdog, gatekeeping and the mouthpiece of the citizens of this country.
The media in Ghana have to provide the public with accurate, credible, detailed, dependable, truthful and honest report of every happening in Ghana but what do we see in Ghana now? NPP and NDC journalism is what we are witnessing in the country a decade now.
The media as its function are obligated to provide the public with information and interpret it to the understanding of every citizen. In the part of information provision to the public, I will score the media in Ghana 80% but when it comes to the issue of interpretation and making the public understand situations and policies implemented in Ghana, the watchdog role and the gatekeeping, I will score the less than 20%.
As part of the functions the media, we supposed to be the watchdog of the society. This is by the way to oversee the activities of trouble makers, politicians, power holders, government officials and holding everyone in the society accountable. The media must as their paramount duty serve the public interest.
In addition to the media functionality in the development society is gatekeeping. The media must be selective enough to work on stories that will bring development, peace and progressiveness to the country.
The media as part of their responsibility must be policymaker. The media must be interested in policy making processes in the country and policies that will bring development and policies that will bring progressive, development and prosperity to the common Ghanaian.
How well has the media performed these functions?
When it to the function of informing the public about issues, everyone will congratulate the media about their performance because they are performing extremely well but that is not enough because they really need to improve upon it.
The media in the performance of their function as gatekeepers are performing poorly and that is the problem we have in the country. The media has become so hypocrites in the discharge of this function. The media are divided in the discharge of this duty.
In the discharge of the function of the media as gatekeepers to sieve, scrutinize and been selective in disseminating stories that will engender development and stories that will hold government accountable, they will rather be singing praises and glories to politicians. Our duty as the media is to give the information the public for them to do judgement whether the government is performing well or not.
The media are politically divided among the political parties in Ghana especially among the NPP and the NDC. When NPP is power and does something wrong, all the NPP journalists will continue to sing praises instead of criticizing the government. When NDC also comes to power and does something wrong, instead of the media to criticize the government, they will be heaping praises on the government.
In interpreting policies and involving in the policy implementation process, the media has really fallen short. The media is not doing enough in the interpretation of policies to the public. For example with the issue of the Free SHS policy implementation, the media did not educate the public on how the policy is going.
When the current president then the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was campaigning that he will implement the Free SHS Policy when he wins power, the media failed to question him on how he will implement such policy and how he is going to fund it and whether we are infrastructural sufficient to accommodate the huge number of students that will gush out from the junior high school. The media totally went to sleep in doing that.
Coming to Development Journalism, we have some pillars that we need to follow; we have criticism constructive, instructive, clarification and future oriented new ideas. The media have been so lenient on the government without putting the government on its toes.
The media for the past few years have been weak, porous and ineffective in holding the government and its officials and politicians accountable in performing their duties.
If the media want to be strong then we need to put aside our selfish interest as media practitioners and serve the public interest as we are mandated in the code of ethics. We need to have a united front and not to allow ourselves to be manipulated by politicians and government officials.
Let us serve the public with integrity and the public will one day reward us.
The media in Ghana have been accorded the fourth estate of the realm which means after the Executive which includes the President and the Ministers, the Judiciary which includes the Judges, the Legislators which is the Members of Parliament who are the Lawmakers and the Media then comes forth as the arm of government.
Among all these arms of government, the media is the most powerful in the sense that the media is the only arm of government that put to check the actions and activities of the rest of the arms of government.
The media serve as the conduit of communication in the political and the democratic discourse which has made the media a very influential component in the development of this country. The media are to do their possible best to serve the public interest as their core mandate that always make the media win cases of legal battle.
Chapter 12 Article 162(1) has outlined the freedom of the media in Ghana which states that “the freedom and responsibility of the media are hereby guaranteed”.
Descending to the Code of Ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Article 1 states “peoples’ right to true information”. This means the duty of every journalist is to write and report the truth, having in mind that their duty is to serve the public and not themselves.
Journalists under Article 1 of the GJA Code of Ethics, the media have to provide the public with unbiased, accurate, balanced and comprehensive news and information and the public must be given the opportunity to express themselves through the media.
Coming to Article 2 of the GJA Code of Ethics, it enunciated the social responsibility duty. As a journalist in the discharge of their duty must have it in mind that their responsibility is to serve the public at large and various interests in society when collecting and disseminating information.
In proportion to the first five elements of journalism, every journalist’s first obligation is to the truth, its first loyalty is to citizens, its essence is a discipline of verification, media practitioners must maintain an independence from those we cover and must serve as an independent monitor of power.
The canons of journalism also outlined some relevant points that as a journalist, it must be at the back of your mind in the discharge of your daily duties. These are responsibility, freedom of the press, independence, sincerity, truthfulness & accuracy, impartiality, fair play and decency.
The media under Chapter 12 Article 162(1&2) as stated means the media will have the freedom to operate freely without any censorship, oppression and suppression in the performance of their duties.
However, the part of that clause under the Article 162 which says the responsibility of the media as the GJA Code of Ethics, the Canons and Elements of Journalism emphasize is Wat this piece is about.
How responsible has the media been in Ghana for a decade now?
There is a saying I quote “everybody can do journalism but not everyone can be a journalist”.
The media in Ghana have become hypocrites and have derailed from their role to play to the development of the country which is the watchdog, gatekeeping and the mouthpiece of the citizens of this country.
The media in Ghana have to provide the public with accurate, credible, detailed, dependable, truthful and honest report of every happening in Ghana but what do we see in Ghana now? NPP and NDC journalism is what we are witnessing in the country a decade now.
The media as its function are obligated to provide the public with information and interpret it to the understanding of every citizen. In the part of information provision to the public, I will score the media in Ghana 80% but when it comes to the issue of interpretation and making the public understand situations and policies implemented in Ghana, the watchdog role and the gatekeeping, I will score the less than 20%.
As part of the functions the media, we supposed to be the watchdog of the society. This is by the way to oversee the activities of trouble makers, politicians, power holders, government officials and holding everyone in the society accountable. The media must as their paramount duty serve the public interest.
In addition to the media functionality in the development society is gatekeeping. The media must be selective enough to work on stories that will bring development, peace and progressiveness to the country.
The media as part of their responsibility must be policymaker. The media must be interested in policy making processes in the country and policies that will bring development and policies that will bring progressive, development and prosperity to the common Ghanaian.
How well has the media performed these functions?
When it to the function of informing the public about issues, everyone will congratulate the media about their performance because they are performing extremely well but that is not enough because they really need to improve upon it.
The media in the performance of their function as gatekeepers are performing poorly and that is the problem we have in the country. The media has become so hypocrites in the discharge of this function. The media are divided in the discharge of this duty.
In the discharge of the function of the media as gatekeepers to sieve, scrutinize and been selective in disseminating stories that will engender development and stories that will hold government accountable, they will rather be singing praises and glories to politicians. Our duty as the media is to give the information the public for them to do judgement whether the government is performing well or not.
The media are politically divided among the political parties in Ghana especially among the NPP and the NDC. When NPP is power and does something wrong, all the NPP journalists will continue to sing praises instead of criticizing the government. When NDC also comes to power and does something wrong, instead of the media to criticize the government, they will be heaping praises on the government.
In interpreting policies and involving in the policy implementation process, the media has really fallen short. The media is not doing enough in the interpretation of policies to the public. For example with the issue of the Free SHS policy implementation, the media did not educate the public on how the policy is going.
When the current president then the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was campaigning that he will implement the Free SHS Policy when he wins power, the media failed to question him on how he will implement such policy and how he is going to fund it and whether we are infrastructural sufficient to accommodate the huge number of students that will gush out from the junior high school. The media totally went to sleep in doing that.
Coming to Development Journalism, we have some pillars that we need to follow; we have criticism constructive, instructive, clarification and future oriented new ideas. The media have been so lenient on the government without putting the government on its toes.
The media for the past few years have been weak, porous and ineffective in holding the government and its officials and politicians accountable in performing their duties.
If the media want to be strong then we need to put aside our selfish interest as media practitioners and serve the public interest as we are mandated in the code of ethics. We need to have a united front and not to allow ourselves to be manipulated by politicians and government officials.
Let us serve the public with integrity and the public will one day reward us.
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