Lassia-Tuolu (U/W), Dec. 31, GNA - The National Media Commission has expressed concern about the inadequate presence of media houses, especially radio stations in the Upper West Region. This, the NMC said, did not only affect competition but also affected education on government policies and programmes as well as limiting media professionalism and the choice of the people. Mr. George Sarpong, Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission (NMC), raised the concern during his tour of rural communities t= o assess media coverage of the ongoing District Level Elections on Tuesday.

He said the NMC would use media coverage on the ongoing District Level Elections to assess media behaviour to determine or have a sense of what would happen during the 2012 polls. The NMC would collate its findings and where the media was found to hav= e fallen short, it would strategise for a better performance in the 2012 general elections.

Mr. Sarpong commended the state media in the region for their hard wor= k and high sense of professionalism as well as sense of duty even though they were working under hash and difficult conditions. The region is to home to five FM Radio stations; namely, 93Upper West Radio" an FM Station of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, 93Radio Prog= ress" a community based FM Station in the Wa Municipality and 93Sunrise FM Radio Station" a campus radio station for the University for Development Studie= s. The others are: Radio "FREED" and RADFORD FM, located at Nandom and Tumu respectively.