Government must resource NMC
An amount of GHc¢2,899,684 has been allocated to the National Media Commission (NMC) for 2015. This amount is a considerable decrease of about 141 per cent from the GH¢4,107,062 allocated to the commission this year.
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Already, the work of the NMC is hampered by the lack of funds and logistics for the effective monitoring of the ever growing media landscape.
If it is going to receive, in the coming year, less than what it got this year, then it is obvious that the NMC will not be able to achieve most of its objectives, including the hiring and retention of professional staff.
The financial inadequacy clearly demonstrates that the NMC will find it very difficult to achieve its targets for 2015. No wonder, it has been struggling over the years to enforce media standards.
For a critical institution such as the NMC, of which so much is expected, so little has been given to it over the years, such that after 20 years of existence, it has so little in terms of resources to fulfil its core mandate of regulating an expanded media landscape of many newspapers, radio and television stations, as well as the emerging social media.
For the NMC to function effectively and improve upon media regulation, there is the need for it to be financially independent of the government.
It is in line with this that the Daily Graphic associates itself with the call by Parliament for financial autonomy for the NMC to enable it to fulfil its constitutional mandate.
Unless the commission is adequately resourced, it will find it very difficult to operate to the satisfaction of all. It is expected to work towards strengthening its capacity through legislative reforms and capacity building to ensure high professional standards in the media.
For the NMC to be effective, it is crucial for it to build a new secretariat and open regional offices. All stakeholders must, therefore, work for the betterment of the commission by offering their support. This will go a long way to ensure that it is more proactive in resolving complaints received with regard to ethical breaches in an effort to boost public trust in the commission and, by extension, the media.
In order for the NMC to take appropriate measures to ensure the establishment and maintenance of the highest journalistic standards in the mass media, including investigations, mediation and settlement of complaints made against or by the press or other mass media, it should be adequately resourced. This is a key demand which cannot be denied.
It is worthy of note that to make the NMC free from financial control and constraint, members of the Legislature have identified and recommended three main sources of funding for it.
They are broadcast licence fees, part of the Communications Service Tax and part of the spectrum licence fees.
It is a good start, but more needs to be done for the commission to play its expected role in society. The government must be held accountable if a regulatory body such as the NMC is not adequately funded.
Undoubtedly, the media have critical roles to play in nation building and it is the duty of all stakeholders, including the NMC, to ensure that the media platform is used responsibly.
Notwithstanding these challenges, members of the NMC must also rise above the financial difficulty to sanitise the media landscape for the good of all.
We trust that the media which have helped to nurture, build and restore democracy in Ghana will not fail Ghanaians.
In this, the NMC must lead the way.