Phoney reshuffle causes panic : Social media tricky source - NMC
A phoney Cabinet reshuffle purported to be the second in the series and circulated on social media platforms yesterday caused fear and panic among some functionaries of the government.
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Apart from being circulated on social media, some media persons also got attracted to the so-called breaking news and aired it on radio and television without cross-checking the facts.
Phantom list
The ‘statement’ which was purported to have been released by the Communications Bureau of the Flagstaff House, designated Dr George Adja-Sipa Yankey as the Finance Minister, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah as Foreign Affairs Minister, Ms Hanna Tetteh as the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection and Mr Lee Ocran as Employment and Labour Relations Minister.
It further named Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, as the Defence Minister-designate and elevated Mr John Jinapor, the Deputy Power Minister, as the substantive minister.
It thanked Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor and Mr Seth Terkper, who were to be replaced by Mr Lee Ocran, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi and Dr Yankey respectively, “for their wonderful contribution to the government and wished them well”.
Dismissal
A Presidential Staffer, Mr Stan Dogbe, dismissed the announcement and asked Ghanaians to ignore the false news item.
“Kindly ignore a list of new ‘appointments’ making the rounds via WhatsApp platforms. The Office of the President has issued no such statement. All official statements are first issued via the official email address and posted on the Flagstaff House Facebook Page,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Official reactions
Reached for his comment, Dr Yankey, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas), said he was unaware of any reshuffle, as he was concentrating on how to get the Atuabo Gas Plant to supply gas to the Volta River Authority (VRA).
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Dr Yankey was at the Atuabo Gas Plant of the company in the Western Region when the Daily Graphic reached him for his comment.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Terkper, said he was inundated with calls at his usual breakfast meeting yesterday morning and after the meeting he heard that the story had been denied.
Asked whether he believed he had been relieved of his position, the minister said “it is not an issue of whether or not I believed but the whole issue was denied”.
Mr Terkper explained that in matters of a reshuffle the minister to be moved or dropped would be informed by the President, but in this case that did not happen which clearly exposed the falsity in the report.
Nana Oye Lithur told the Daily Graphic that she was in a meeting when she received calls as well as text messages informing her of the hoax ministerial reshuffle.
According to her, she did not give the announcement any serious attention because her focus was on the meeting.
NMC cautions media
The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, who spoke to the Daily Graphic on the matter, described social media as a “tricky” source and asked journalists to be circumspect in sourcing information from such platforms.
He said at the moment there was no specific regulatory protocol on social media and anything coming from that platform should be treated wth care, stressing that “social media is not a journalistic product”.
Much as Mr Gyan-Apenteng acknowledged that social media could be a good source of information, he said it was imperative for journalists to cross-check whatever information that emanated from those platforms.
The NMC chairman underscored the need for organisations, departments and agencies that were potential sources of information to have a recognisable source for the media to authenticate information before publishing it.
Journalists should be wary
A senior journalist, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, urged journalists to be wary of what information they picked from social media and used as news on the various media platforms.
“As media practitioners we cannot continue to embarrass ourselves by picking false information from social media which turns out not to be true,” he said.
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Mr Pratt recalled a purported news item culled from the Internet of a confrontation between President John Mahama and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo which turned out to be false.
He also alluded to the resignation of Nana Akufo-Addo, the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and that of the suspended General Secretary of the party, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, which were announced on social media which turned out to be false.
Public reaction
The reaction from some members of the public on the phoney ministerial reshuffle was mixed.
While some hailed it others condemned the manner in which some media organisations hurriedly aired information without cross-checking the facts.
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A woman who gave her name only as Hajia Mina, said, “It is so sad that some media houses are putting their reputation at stake. They are losing their credibility. No double checking on info to make sure truth prevails before publication. Journalists should cross-check their sources before going public.”
Mr Daniel Kofi Samponbila, a banker, told the Daily Graphic that social media news was synonymous to gossip and questioned why such a statement could be used for news.
Others who spoke to the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity said the government responded to the hoax because there was a lot of truth to the story, adding that they felt bad that it was leaked before they could be announced officially.
Writer’s email: sebastian.syme@graphic.com.gh
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