The information minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has admonished the Ghana Journalists Association to mount pressure on the Ghana Police Service and the judiciary service until the numerous cases of attacks on journalists reported to them are addressed.
He emphasized the crucial role played by journalists in ensuring an effective democracy and the need to protect them while they undertake this arduous duty. The information minister stressed that the National Media Commission and the GJA are handicapped in handling cases of attacks individually and urged them to report cases of attacks on journalists to the police and work with them to ensure perpetrators are duly punished.
“We have to hold the police and the judiciary services consistently accountable for the cases that are reported to them and see how they follow through. We have to consistently hold them accountable so that they can’t come around and tell us that we didn’t hear about this and that there was no evidence of it.”
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
He was confident that the ability of the GJA to consistently hold the police service accountable would lead to the elimination of instances where the police had claimed a lack of evidence to prosecute the case.
He assured the Ghana Journalists Association and the National Media Commission of the Information Ministry’s commitment to the fight against attacks on journalists in the discharge of their duties by drawing the attention of the police once they are in the known.
The Information Minister’s comments come in the wake of a series of attacks on journalists across the country, which caused the GJA to blacklist some personalities including Mavis Hawa Koomson, Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, and Farouk Aliu Mahama, Member of Parliament for Yendi, for their involvement in some attacks on two journalists during the recent New Patriotic Party parliamentary primaries.
Justifications For GJA’s Blackouts Of Politicians
Also, an astute media lecturer, Prof. Kwame Karikari, has stated unequivocally that the Ghana Journalists Association has every right to blacklist anyone whose conduct disrespects the media profession.
He asserted that the independence of the media is guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution, and therefore described attacks on media personalities in the discharge of their duties as a complete disregard of the constitutional provision.
He added that the engagement of a public official in activities that disrespect the legal profession, and the failure of that same minister to appropriately rectify his actions demand an equal reaction by the media, which is ‘what the GJA had done in this case’.
“When you assault a journalist, you are telling the media we don’t want you. So, what business does the media have rendering a service that you claim you do not want? So, for me, the media, blacking out any newsmaker is within their right.”
Prof. Kwame Karikari
He emphasized that the ability of the media to blacklist news-making personalities is a powerful tool that enables it to protect its integrity and uphold journalistic standards, however, it should not be left unchecked as it could be abused.
He said that if politicians can have the right to decide the media programs to be part of and those to stay away from, then the media should also have that same right to reciprocate such actions.
The decision of the GJA to blackout two politicians has been heavily criticized by some concerned Ghanaians including the Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr. Yaw Boadu Ayebuafo, who described it as ‘dysfunctional and ineffective’.
Others like Prof. Karikari have argued that while it is not in the public interest to blackout certain key institutions like Parliament and the Presidency, ‘individual politicians who engage in disrespectful behavior towards the media should face the consequences of being blacked out’.
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