Executive Director for Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has expressed concerns over the reckless conduct of journalists in the country.
According to him, there are evidences of journalists acting irresponsibly and being targeted by state actors and national security officials. Mr Braimah explained that journalists are being targeted as a result of their “recklessness” although there are media organisations and journalists who are discharging their duties “professionally”. That notwithstanding, he noted that being humans, there’s bound to be “slips” in their dispensation of duties.
“Indeed, any observer of the media landscape cannot but conclude that increasingly, we are seeing a lot of excesses, reckless, unprofessional conduct by persons who either appear on platforms or are hosts of media programs and this is particularly on radio and television. I think it’s simply an amplification of the kind of partisanship we have [in the country]. It is not what I will call pure journalism, but essentially, political advocacy on radio or television by certain partisan actors and that’s where we see a lot of the excesses happening”.
Sulemana Braimah
His comments followed the arrest of the host of ‘The Citizen Show’ on Accra FM, Kwabena Bobbie Ansah, by some persons believed to be National Security operatives. The broadcaster was picked up at the entrance of Class Media Group shortly after 10:00pm on Thursday, just when his programme which airs daily had ended. It is believed that he has been arrested for publication of false news, offensive conduct, among others.
Expounding on the targeting of journalists, Mr Braimah iterated that over the period there’s been a number of incidences that are certainly unjustifiable by persons who are state actors and national security officials. These persons, he noted, have effected arrests, which includes the incident involving a ModernGhana journalist and the attack on its offices.
“We’ve seen ambush of David Tamakloe of WhatsUp News for a claim that he had published false information, when indeed, the material for which he was being arrested had not yet been published… Again, if we take the whole provision on publication of false news, it is a publication that has always been in existence… That is why I think that again, the other problem is the… ineffectiveness of the National Media Commission (NMC). So, there is some semblance of targeting”.
Sulemana Braimah
Relevant agencies urged to assess media organisations
The Executive Director of MFWA underscored that the National Communication Authority (NCA) has shut down in a “politically motivated” way, a number of radio stations that were aligned to the opposition. This, Mr Braimah noted, is being exhibited on a number of platforms and yet nothing happens to persons on those “platforms who perpetrate the same kinds of unprofessional conduct and recklessness”.
To resolve the challenge, Mr Braimah called on relevant agencies such as the NCA to look critically at conversation on “ownership” when it comes to the issuance of frequencies to media organisations. Following this, he questioned the credentials and evidence submitted by media organisations which proves they have the capacity to operate as media organisations.
To this end, Mr Braimah entreated the National Media Commission to “assess” itself as a statutory media regulator, as increasingly, its functions are being taken away.
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