Public affirms confidence in media
Members of the public have affirmed their confidence in the media and their role in enhancing democracy in Ghana, in a research conducted by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).
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Approximately 80 per cent of the public agreed that the local media had played a crucial role in promoting democratic stability and success in Ghana.
The public, therefore, called for the strengthening of the media through constant capacity building to boost their role in enhancing democracy and stability.
The research which focused on assessing the “Effectiveness of the Media in Ghana’s Democracy” , was conducted in September 2014.
Two thousand, nine hundred and ten (2,910) respondents were sampled from 72 selected districts out of the 216 districts from the 10 regions.
According to the report, in accessing the professionalism of the local media, 58 per cent of the respondents said media practitioners did exhibit competence and professionalism in their work, while 34 per cent said the media did not.
Nevertheless, the public, according to the research, advocated a form of restriction on media freedom and called for the control of some media outlets to bring more sanity into the media landscape.
It established that more than 55 per cent of Ghanaians want a curb on media freedom, while about 35 per cent of the respondents were against restrictions on media freedom.
Report launch
The 37-page research report was launched and disseminated at the NCCE’s fifth Dialogue Series in Accra yesterday.
The research aimed to assess the link between the role of the media and democracy and the contribution of the media to Ghana’s democratic stability and success.
It explored the possibility of actions that could be taken to improve the performance of the various media establishments.
The dialogue is the last in the series to be organised in 2015 .
The main discussants of the report at the fifth dialogue were Professors Kwame Karikari and Audrey Gadzekpo, both of the Department of Communication Studies of the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, and Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, Former Chairman of National Media Commission ( NMC).
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) introduced the quarterly dialogue series dubbed: “Engage, Educate and Empower,” as a platform to work towards deepening citizens’ understanding of Ghana’s democratic process and empowering citizens to participate actively and effectively in the governance process and nation building.
Launching the report, Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah, the Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim, called on the media to stop giving their platforms to politicians who constantly contradicted themselves to giving them to professionals and intellectuals who were the authorities on most national issues.
That, he said, would enhance public education and empowerment and offer the public the opportunity to reap the full benefits of press freedom in Ghana.
Some issues emanating from the dialogue
Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere expressed worry about the call by some Ghanaians for the curbing of media freedom.
According to him, any form of restriction on the media would defeat the purpose of press freedom as provided by the 1992 Constitution.
Answering questions on curtailing violence against journalists in Ghana, Ambassador Blay-Amihere said the media itself should be able to tell its stories of attacks very loudly and consistently.
He said the media should use their platforms to protect not only the public, but the journalists as well and set the national agenda on violence against the practitioners.
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For her part, Prof. Gadzekpo expressed regret over how the Daily Graphic’s reporter, Mr Daniel Kenu, abandoned his court case when he was assaulted at a press conference for asking a question.
According to her, the prosecution of such cases was a major way to stop the ongoing violence against journalists. She therefore called on the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to be more robust in dealing with violence against its members.
Prof. Karikari also said that the menace had been difficult to curtail because the perpetrators were mostly the security agencies and public officials.
He said it was unfortunate that despite the promise by several heads of security agencies to ensure that violence against journalists were stopped, the menace still persisted.
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He therefore, called for the inclusion of media literacy as a course in the training schedule of the security agencies, particularly at the police training school to ensure the curtailment of the menace.