Graphic will continue to uphold its credibility
We do not want to blow our own horn, but we know that the media have to do their part, sometimes under very trying circumstances, just to bring the news, education and entertainment to our readers, listeners and viewers.
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Sometimes in our line of duty, we encounter debilitating or fatal accidents, encounter the wrath of people found on the wrong side of the law whose deeds we have to publish to serve as a deterrent to others in society, spend long hours researching and travelling, just to bring the news.
That is why it is heartwarming to us to have about 80 per cent of Ghanaians endorse the media’s role as key players in national development and cohesion, in a survey conducted by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).
That our efforts to ensure transparency, especially during general elections, as would be held next year, have been acknowledged and lauded by the majority of Ghanaians, is something that we cherish and would not take for granted.
Of course we do not suggest that everything the media practitioners do is perfect, and every information we put out is the absolute truth. We depend on other people we refer to as our sources for the information we always put out and definitely if the information from them turns out to be false or inaccurate, it has a direct bearing on the information we put out.
Like other institutions, the media, including the Daily Graphic, are bound to make mistakes on certain occasions because of the human element. We, however, quickly correct those mistakes when we see them or when they are pointed out to us by our much cherished readers.
We are not a perfect institution and every day we have to engage in multiple roles involving many people to produce the newspaper. That is why we take rejoinders and mistakes pointed out to us very seriously, because sometimes we are not able to prevent the mistakes until it is too late. Unfortunately, some of our critics put us in a pigeon hole and criticise us as belonging to one faction or the other.
We, however, want to assure our readers that since we are ‘the gospel of the nation’, we will not do anything to abuse that privilege. We will want the public to bear in mind that editorial decisions are made according to the ethics of the profession.
We appeal to people to stop calling us names when we go wrong, see the good in us and see that we play a part in helping find solutions to the challenges of the nation.
When it comes to reportage on chieftaincy, religion and politics, every player wants equal attention and those who do not understand our operations demand equal coverage. It is hard to believe that even media practitioners who know how the media practitioners operate, join in the fray to accuse us of bias.
We know that the Constitution enjoins us to provide equal coverage for all political parties and their presidential candidates, which we do religiously. Even then, we do not satisfy the readers, who, sometimes, however strange it may look or sound, use a ruler to measure the space we give to their political parties and presidential candidates.
Although we are sad when people descend on us heavily, we are happy that after all, Ghanaians still trust their Daily Graphic and they read it like the ‘Bible’.
This encourages us to always up our game and satisfy all Ghanaians by always paying heed to the basic canons of journalism, and that is, to be truthful accurate, fair and balanced every day.
That charge, we pledge to carry like the cross to satisfy majority of our readers and, indeed, Ghanaians.