The National Media Commission (NMC) on Tuesday said the people have the right to hold journalists accountable so that the press freedom they fought for was not stretched to absurdities to subvert constitutional rule.

Mr Nutifafa Kuenyehia, Chairman of the NMC said were well-meaning Ghanaians were behind the fight for freedom the media now enjoyed for it to be used responsibly for the development of the nation and anything short of that was subversive.

"If journalists covertly and overtly do not respect constitutional bodies or deliberately or ignorantly undermine their operations, that amount to subverting good governance", Mr Kuenyehia told a group of senior journalists at the end of a two-day workshop at Agona Swedru.

The Ghana Journalists Association organised the workshop with UNDP sponsorship on ten years of Constitutional Rule - Challenges of the Ghanaian Media.

Mr Kuenyehia said, "The people of this country through the established institutions have inherent right to hold journalists accountable".

He said journalists must be graceful in accepting the objective standards they set for themselves in their code of ethics and when they fell short of that goal they should not stretch issues of defending themselves, "even when there is nothing defensible".

A major task assigned to the media by the 1992 Constitution is that of holding the government accountable to the people.

He said, "this is an enormous task that can only be effectively and efficiently discharged where those in the media submit themselves to the scrutiny of the people they purport to serve".

Mr. Kuenyehia said, "ten years into the Constitution, and eight years after adoption of the GJA Code of Ethics, many Ghanaian journalists and media practitioners find it difficult to meet these demands although we purport to serve the public good".

He regretted that there were some journalists who submit themselves to the adjudication of the Commission and pleaded for forgiveness only to renege on their own offers.

Qualitatively however, there are some who have done well and others have done badly.

He asked the journalists to introduce self-regulatory mechanisms that would enable them to be relevant to the freedom of speech that everybody cherished.

Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President of GJA, in her closing remarks commended the Association for meeting to brainstorm on the state of the Ghanaian Media and the issues of self-regulation, problems confronting the media and the way the public reacted to members of the association's conduct.

She said despite the faults of some journalists they strive to safeguard freedom of expression.

She said the Association did not also shudder to insist on media accountability.