IEA survey respondents want media excesses checked

Respondents in an Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) survey have underscored the need to check Ghanaian media excesses that have the tendency to create social and political instability.

“It appears some of the media abuse their freedom through sensationalism and falsehood. Excessive partisanship also seems to dictate what the media publish or do not publish. These tendencies need to be checked,” the survey reported.

The results of the survey indicated that approximately 56 per cent of the people believe that the news media abused their freedom by printing or saying things they knew were not true.

That view was more predominant among urban people (64%), as against 46 per cent of rural residents.

Need to improve media image

A Senior Fellow at the IEA, Dr Ransford Gyampo, who disseminated the results at a press briefing, said the media needed to improve their image from the perception that they abused their freedom by publishing sensational and sometimes false information to a positive one.

He said In line with its goal of promoting good public policies, the IEA conducted periodic surveys on public perception and assessment of socio-economic and governance conditions in the country. 

The purpose of those surveys, he said, was to solicit and provide information on Ghanaians’ perceptions of a whole range of subjects, including economic and living conditions, public safety and security, media freedom and abuse, discrimination and relations among ethnic groups, factors which influence elections, trust in institutions, important problems confronting the country, government performance,  corruption, bribery, and access to public services, among others.

He said the survey was conducted in all the 10 regions of Ghana, with persons aged 18 and above as the target population, adding that in all, 1,200 households were selected.

“The dark days of censorship, gagging and other undemocratic tendencies that undermined media freedom seem to have given way to a new dispensation where media freedom is highly exalted,” Dr Gyampo said.

Media landscape changed under Constitution

He said generally, the media landscape of Ghana had changed for the better under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

The survey results showed that two-thirds of Ghanaians got their daily news from radio. 

That was followed by television: 45.7 per cent; friends/relatives/neighbours/churches/mosques, 35.5 per cent, and telephone, 20 per cent. 

“However, as expected, the proportion of people who get their daily news from television in the urban areas (58%) is far greater than rural people (31.7). Reading newspapers for news seems not to be common with many people, as three out of every four (75%) people never get their news from newspapers,” it said.

Problems facing country

On the most important problems facing the country, Dr Gyampo said the questionnaire offered a menu of 38 for respondents to choose from. 

He said while the answers showed that the problems were many and varied, the answers became quite diffused. 

About a fifth (20%) of respondents considered unemployment to be the most critical problem, followed by education (12.3%), management of the economy (8.3%), electricity (7.3%) and roads (6.9%). 

Others were water supply (6.7%), transportation (5%), health (4.6%), wages and salaries (4.2%) and poverty/destitution (4.1%). 

“The least of the worries are international war, AIDS, land issues, civil war, gender issues/women’s rights, discrimination/inequality, political violence and drought. At the local level, unemployment is still the dominant problem, though it is more endemic in the urban places (22.7%) than the rural areas (16.0%),” the report said. 

Again, it said education, roads, water supply, transportation, farming/agriculture and health were more of a concern in the rural areas than the urban areas. 

In contrast, the management of the economy, electricity, rates and taxes, corruption and access to loans and credit were of much worry to urban dwellers than their rural counterparts.

Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh