Media Freedom Vs Responsibility in Ghana: The complexities and way forward

By Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director, MFWA

In the last decade, Ghana has been among the countries with the best media freedom conditions in the world. Criminal libel has been repealed and no journalists are being thrown to jail. There are no barriers to becoming a journalist. The number of media outlets keeps multiplying; official and self-censorship are not evident. Indeed, Ghana has been scoring very high on all indicators of media freedom.

Undoubtedly, the benefits of Ghana’s media freedom environment have been enormous. Through the media, citizens’ voices on national are amplified, even if they sometimes sound cacophonous. Corruption and many other ills of in the Ghanaian society have been exposed, even though duty bearers have often failed to deal with perpetrators of such acts. Rights violations are reported and duty bearers have often been pressured by the media to act.

The forgoing eulogies of Ghana’s media freedom environment and how the media have utilised the freedom to contribute to national development is not in any way meant to suggest that the media have been perfect. Within the past few years, the media have come under intense public condemnation for what can be described as an alarming rate of flagrant professional infractions.

Many media outlets have become platforms for the exchange of highly explosive insults usually in the name of NPP/NDC politics. Brazen sensationalism and outright lies are common in the media. Political discussions on radio continue to feature divisive political and ethnocentric commentaries. And in fact, some media outlets have become tools for political manipulation.

The results have been waning trust and credibility for the media; dwindling public support for media freedoms and decreasing influence of the media in national affairs. These are not positive developments for media freedom. In fact, they are as dangerous to media freedom as criminal libel, state-orchestrated oppression or prohibitive damages awarded by Courts against the media. If allowed to persist, adversaries of media freedom will use them as grounds for legitimising any real or potential acts of media repression.

Well, there may be excesses and recklessness on the part of some or even many journalists, but what is certain is that not all journalists are reckless. It is true that some journalists resort to sensationalism and dangerous rumour mongering, but there are many others who are committed to professionalism.

Yes, there are problems with the media, but certainly, we cannot do without the media. It is also true that the media have often abused the freedoms they have. But it is also equally true that we cannot be without those freedoms.

What is, therefore, required for solving the current quagmire of media abuse or abuse of the media, are media that are critical, independent and influential, not defined by only their plurality and ubiquity, but also by how responsible they are. To talk of attaining a free, independent, critical and responsible media in Ghana, may sound idealistic, but at least, getting very close to achieving that ideal is certainly a realistic proposition.

The path to achieving the ideal media situation should not be anywhere close to that which leads to culture of silence. Tighter media regulation cannot be an option. The solution does not also lie in a push for self-censorship or docile journalism because, I share the view that freedom of the media, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose.

What then should be the solution? Well, my answer will be: effective self-regulation, and a media literate population. Individual journalists should adhere to the ethics of the profession. Editors and managers should perform their gate keeping roles well so that only the stories that are ethically and professionally compliant are allowed to pass through the gates.

The professional groups such as the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), and the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) must begin to do a lot more on self-regulation and maintaining professional standards. Adopting the practice of having ombudsmen in the newsrooms will be extremely helpful.

The National Media Commission (NMC) has a greater responsibility. Yes, the NMC is under resourced, but I am sure its legitimacy and constitutional mandate constitute a key resource. At least a website to let people know more about the NMC and its mandate will not be bad stated. In fact the absence of a website for the commission is not one of the things that can be justified with the fact of under resourcing.

The government also has a major responsibility. Dear government, please provide the necessary resources required by the NMC to allow it function effectively. Please pay the members of the Commission who have not been paid for the last nine months and also, the next media development fund should not go into laptops.

Next time, the fund should be used to strengthening media self-regulatory mechanisms; help the struggling newspapers to have good business plans for sustainability; and support bloggers to transform their portals into well resourced-and monetised news websites.

The media fund can also be used to support media literacy initiatives that will empower citizens to be able to tune in to stations that present real news, and tune off from those that present comedy in the name of news. Such initiatives will also enable citizens to decipher ethical journalism from NPP/NDC propaganda; and also empower citizens to be critical in their media choices.