Former President Jerry Rawlings has said “things have gone so bad” in the media to the extent that the voices of journalists are now owned by politicians and business people.

Speaking about the trend of business people and politicians owning media houses, Mr Rawlings told a delegation of the Ghana Journalists Association, which paid a courtesy call to officially invite him for the 70th-anniversary of the organisation that politicians and businessmen are “now owning your voice”.

The former President urged the media to find a way to deal with the challenge.

“How are you going to fight them? I don’t know but you have to try. You have to work hard at it,” he said.

He also condemned the spate of attacks on journalists, noting that journalists played a critical role in the development of any country, particularly the country’s democratic governance.

Mr Rawlings also encouraged journalists to be bold to speak truth to power at all times without compromising their integrity.

Without truth and integrity, Mr Rawlings said journalists cannot make any meaningful contribution to Ghana’s development.