‘Ensure peaceful, free, fair media landscape for election 2016’
Two eminent Ghanaians have tasked the National Media Commission (NMC) to rise above partisanship and ensure that no section of the media becomes a flashpoint or source of violence before, during and after the 2016 general election.
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They noted that a number of media outlets were already drawn into the political divide and could be flashpoints for mayhem and violence through their unbridled partisanship, which could also make them throw the code of ethics of the profession to the wind.
The immediate past Chairman of the NMC, Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, and a Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Joseph B. Akamba, made the call yesterday at the swearing-in of the newly constituted NMC in Accra.
Minutes after the swearing-in of the 18-member NMC by Mr Justice Akamba, the members elected Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, a former Editor of the Mirror, as Chairman. He is a representative of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on the commission.
Mr Gyan-Apenteng, a consultant in communications, media and culture, is currently the President of the Ghana Association of Writers. He comes to the NMC with extensive experience, having practised for nearly 40 years as a reporter, editor, writer, teacher and trainer.
He began work formally as a journalist at the Daily Graphic in 1982 as Staff Writer. He subsequently became the Foreign News Editor and later had a stint as acting Editor.
He was subsequently appointed Editor of the Mirror, where he introduced new features which have endured till today.
Other members
The members of the eighth commission have a three-year term.
Other members of the NMC are Nana Addo Gyau Akabisa II, a representative of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT); Mr Ernest Benjamin Kakra Essamuah, the National Council of Women and Development; Mr Fritz Frederic Baffour, Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah and Mr Richard Mawuli Quarshigah, Parliament House; Mr Williams Orleans Oduro, Ghana Bar Association (GBA); Mr Samuel Attah-Mensah, the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association; Dr Doris Yaa Dartey, GJA, and Dr Perpetual S. Dadzie, the Ghana Library Association.
The rest are Mr Perry P.K. Ofosu, GIJ; Mr Kingsley Ofei-Nkansah, the Trades Union Congress (TUC); Alhaji Noor-Deen Saeed, the Muslim Group; Apostle Abraham Ofori-Kuragu, the Christian Group; Mrs Gina Blay, the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana; Mr Orlando Baeta, the Advertisers Association of Ghana, and Mr Kwesi Pratt Junior and Mr Kwarteng Arthur, Office of the President.
Blay-Amihere
In an address as the outgoing Chairman of the NMC, Mr Blay-Amihere said the 2016 general election would test the greatness, strength and patriotism of many institutions, including the media.
“There will be heightened tension and increased political temperature associated with most political contests in Ghana,” he noted.
He said the media, as the mirror of society, would reflect all the tension and conflicts of polarised Ghana and cautioned that if the media were allowed a free range, they would fan the embers of tension and conflict, the consequence of which would not be good for the country.
He urged that while the NMC must do all it could to protect the freedom and independence of the media, as guaranteed in the Constitution, it must also not be afraid to uphold what Article 164 asked of the media, that all the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution “are subject to laws that are reasonably required in the interest of national security, public order, public morality and for the purpose of protecting the reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons”.
Mr Blay-Amihere also charged the NMC to ensure that the state-owned media fulfilled truthfully their constitutional obligation to give all political parties and presidential candidates equal and fair coverage.
While admitting that the state-owned media had genuine constraints to fulfil that obligation, he said the NMC must find time to discuss the issue with the state-owned media.
He said although the private media were not obliged under the Constitution to give equal coverage to political parties, they were still bound by the code of ethics of the profession to be fair, truthful, accurate and objective in their reportage.
Justice Akamba
For his part, Justice Akamba said as the country was preparing for the 2016 general election, it was crucial for the NMC to guide the media to ensure neutrality and balanced reportage in order not to erode the democratic gains and successes “we have achieved since the birth of the Fourth Republic”.
He said as the media landscape expanded, infractions were bound to increase due to the lack of knowledge of the law and ethics.
Therefore, he said, “the commission must ensure strict adherence to media law, in addition to the code of ethics that guides journalistic practice”.
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He tasked the NMC to encourage media owners to engage the services of lawyers who would look at stories they churned out with legal lenses from time to time to avoid some of the problems they faced due to ignorance.
NMC’s response
Speaking on behalf of the other members of the NMC, Mr Kakra Essamuah pledged their commitment to uphold and protect the Constitution and the right to free speech exercised with responsibility.