Accra, Oct. 22, GNA - Mr Kabral Blay Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), on Friday called on media houses to put in place self regulatory mechanisms to deal with the public outcry over the falling standards of journalism.

"Charity begins at home and media houses should be the first to begin it", he said at the launch in Accra of a book on "Guidelines for Religious Broadcasting".

The guidelines, an initiative of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), are to promote religious harmony and guard against controversial discussions.

He said religion had divided nations, brought conflict and had become a pretext to unleashed violence, but the story was different in Ghana due to the peaceful co- existence between religious groups. Mr Amihere called on media houses not to allow the love of money to supersede moral values.

He said the NMC would study the document with a view to adopting it for all media houses and called for respect for fundamental human rights and religious diversity.

Mr William Apem-Darko, Director-General of GBC, said the organization had never compromised on quality despite financial constraints and would continue to stick to its mandate as the public broadcaster.

"Ghana's democracy is still young and fragile and there is a collective responsibility to work to maintain it", he said. He expressed the hope that the Religious Advisory Council to be inaugurated soon would help management to plan programmes that would enhance their status as pacesetters in the industry.

Apostle Alfred Konduah, General-Secretary of the Church of Pentecost and the Chairman of the Committee, who presented highlights of the document, said it touched on values such as sensitivity, justice and fairness and compassion for all.

He said since content was important in programming, the guidelines eschew unfair comment, controversial discussions, inflammatory statements, including doctrines of other religions. It also holds presenters accountable for content that undermines the guidelines and where lawsuits are involved, presenters and not the GBC will be held liable.

"Contents recorded outside which do not meet the GBC guidelines would be rejected and programmes would be in languages that GBC broadcasts in", Apostle Konduah said. He said broadcasting materials should preach about social ills and should not incite people against governments, other religious affiliation and partisan campaigns adding that GBC should be fair to all.