Former Executive Producer of the Voice of Children Radio Project United Nations (UN) Office for Children and Conflict in the UN mission in Sierra Leone and former chief of UN Radio in Liberia, Joseph Robert Mensah, has stressed on the need for Ghanaian journalists to be fair in the practice of journalism in order to for radio to be unbiased.

According to the former Executive Producer of the Voice of Children Radio Project, in the past, radio has served its purpose, but in current times, has become “totally unfair.”

Mr Mensah indicated that radio can be the life plug of a country and explained the importance of the use of radio, as a tool to disseminate information to the audience in the past.

“Radio can be the life plug of the nation when everything else fails when there’s no other means of getting accurate, balanced information out to an audience, radio has stood in the gap. Back when I was blessed to work to get the chance to do work for the UN radio was the only tool.

“It was the only way to getting a message to people who were vulnerable, who didn’t have a voice who didn’t have a chance to speak on their own issues and so for me, radio has always been a love and it’s so important and so critical.”

Further reiterating the importance of radio, Mr Mensah noted: “In peacekeeping, it’s like the only way you can get your message out quickly and efficiently and an impartial and unbiased way.”

He, however, described radio in current times across the country as being extremely biased and non-representative of the people it was made to serve.

The former Executive Producer of the Voice of Children Radio Project said: “Now, in current times, for me, I would say what has become of radio, I can only use Ghana, is that it is partial, it is extremely biased, it is totally unfair, it is non-representative of the people that it is supposed to be providing a public service to, not only because of ownership but it’s because of the practice of journalism.

“Because journalists can work in any space and do a good job, do a fair job, but they have to be fair, they have to be willing to be balanced, so that is where the challenge comes.”

He emphasised the need for journalists across the country to stick to the ethics of the practice of journalism in achieving a radio that is fair and unbiased.

“Yeah. But that’s just bad practice and non-ethical approaches and we all know our ethics in journalism. I never want to teach a journalist how to do their job. I just want them to go back to what they were taught, before they got on the microphone or decided to become a producer,” the former Executive Producer of the Voice of Children Radio Project added.

Mr Mensah was speaking to Koku Lumor, on the occasion of World Radio day, today, Monday, 13 February 2023 on Class 91.3 FM’s Morning Show.

This year’s celebration is on the theme ‘Radio and Peace.’