Advocates of democracy and good government would not stop calling for the media to play its role in society.

This role encompasses various functions, simply put, such as inform­ing, educating, and entertaining the public, and these broad functions have various tasks that ensure their fulfilment.

For instance, under the function of informing society, the media has to provide citizens with information they can use to check government power or demand accountability from it.

In fact, it is this particular duty that has earned the media the accolade “the Fourth Estate of the Realm," which duty it fulfils unofficially when it is considered that the Constitution has established the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary as the official arms of government.

The truth is that even an aspect of the work of the media is onerous and needs great support to do it.

It is in the face of this that we want to commend the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, for calling for urgent support for the Ghanaian media to enable it to deliver on its mandate.

It is important to note that it is very significant when personalities like Mr. Bagbin acknowledge that the Ghanaian media has served as a crucial link between the people and the leadership of the country and that it needs support.

The Speaker appears to have his focus on the media’s pivotal and critical role in the country’s democratic dispensation, and as such, it must not be left to privately fend for itself.

We, however, believe his focus would have shifted to other functions of the media if he were speaking on a different occasion from the public forum organised by the Parliamentary Service Board as part of activities marking 30 years of parliamentary democracy in Ghana.

Also, it would have done the public a lot of good if he had specified the kind of support he expected the media to have.

That notwithstanding, we can suggest that the support can come in the form of ensuring the safety of journalists; upholding the rights of media practitioners, particularly reporters, by imposing swift but just sanctions against those who violate them; sponsoring travel and studies abroad to expose them to international best practices of journalism; easy access to information; and financial support, at least, for state media houses in particular.

In today’s digital world, the government must also do well to ensure that all digital platforms provide effective services, as this would aid the work of the media, especially when they have to use the platforms to file stories and spread information.

Mr. Bagbin’s call on Saturday for the restructuring of the National Media Commission (NMC) to enable it to perform its functions more effectively is not new.

In February 2022, he called for the amendment of the law that established the NMC to make it more powerful in handling matters relating to journalists in the country rather than the police getting into that space.

The Speaker, for instance, expressed concerns about attempts by politicians to regulate the media through the police, explaining that the police could not assume the role of ensuring responsible and ethical journalism.

It is clear the Speaker is repeating his 2022 call for something to be done, and he has good reasons, as the amendment of the NMC law can be another area of support for media practice in the country.