Dr. Obed Asamoah, Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Wednesday asked Journalists to ensure that civility prevailed in their reportage to avoid smear campaign in the party's political campaigns.

He said Professor Evans Atta Mills and Dr Kwesi Botchway, the party's candidates in the primaries, have pleaded for civility in their campaigns and prayed that their plea would be respected. "I hope the press will respect the wishes of these noble gentlemen and above all, resist the temptation to lower journalistic standards for one reason or another", Dr. Asamoah said in a statement.

He said it appeared that a section of the media had embarked upon a programme of causing disaffection in the NDC against him, especially the type that preceded he (Dr Asamoah's) election as the chairman of the party.

Dr Asamoah said two reports in the Ghanaian Chronicle carried extensively by FM and Television stations claiming that, "the Obed-Botchway camp was shedding crocodile tears over the death of Alhaji Kwadwo Maama Adam, the Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the NDC, in a road accident."

He said this was a cruel thing to say of persons not known to rejoice over other people's misfortunes, adding that there was no such camp as Obed-Botchwey camp. Dr Asamoah said it was most unlikely that Dr Kwesi Botchwey was aware of the accident or that Alhaji Maama Adam would be opposed to his bid for the presidential to contest the 2004 elections on the ticket of NDC.

He said Alhaji Maama Adam was a dynamic asset to the NDC and he would be sorely missed. Dr Asamoah said the report on the death of the chairman on 9 September 2002 was followed by another one on 10 September 2002 claiming that he was engaged in a scheme to dump up to 99 per cent of the Volta Region NDC MP's at the next elections.

"There is no basis for the report, in fact or in logic and no one has been mentioned as the source of the information" he added. He said the NDC has developed rules by which parliamentary candidates could emerge by a transparent and democratic process adding that he had paid dearly for this and would not engage in schemes that would undermine this process.

Meanwhile, the Ethics Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association on Wednesday deplored the banner headline in the 11 September 2002 edition of the "Daily Guide': "Atta Mills Finds Balls" saying, it was inappropriate, indecent and offensive.

"The Committee considers the headline unethical. It is sensational and uncalled for and together with the accompanying cartoon, disrespectful to the former Vice President", an official statement said in Accra. It said the Committee was of the view that there were many English words, which could have conveyed the former Vice President's stand in seeking the Presidential nomination of his party.

The Committee, therefore, reminded Journalists that they were required under Article 2 of the GJA Code of Ethics to be socially responsible and mindful of both the import and impact of their words and language at all times. Editors and publishers of newspapers and magazines were also advised to regard the ethics of journalism, particularly in the writing of headlines.