The very best description that can be given to Joyfm current affairs programme newsfile, on the 17th October,2009 is ‘noisefile’ The speakers on the programme on that day included one Eddy Annan, A certain Dr Percy, Kweku Baako and Nana Akomea; a former minister of Information in the New Patriotic Party regime. I definitely will not call what happened on the programme that day as heckling. It was not. It was pure deafening noise, and what I will add was an absolute digression from the real issues under discussion. It was as if the panel were not prepared for the programme on that day and decided to rather serve listeners with thunderous noises!!

They decided to call the unguarded noises as heckling in other to justify the unjustifiable. There is no way mass indiscipline on a programme could be clothed as heckling. Infact listener’s sensibilities were undermined by the very loose talks and words that were allowed to come out of the studio, sadly from persons who are supposed to serve as role models to society. The behaviour of the speakers especially one Eddy Annan was so appalling to say the least! I was listening to the programme with two other friends from London and Germany who got deeply interested in Ghana after the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. They were so attracted to Ghana and always use to tell me that Ghana did very well with the elections of 2008 especially at a time certain countries in Africa were unable to achieve peaceful elections. They always use to cite Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria among other countries that had problems with their elections but always saluted Ghana for the unique maturity exhibited in the elections of 2008 especially when the declared President won by less than one percent of votes.

On that day in particular we had listened to David Dimbleby’s Question Time which is one of UK’s most popular current affairs programme. We tune to Joyfm on that day expecting to listen to Ghana’s most popular current affairs programme only to get disappointed at the end. I was hugely embarrassed of the intolerance at display during the programme.

The host of the programme on that day was not in charge of proceedings at all! It was as if he was either afraid of his guests or he was pampering them. Some of them were too full of arrogance!

They spoke as if they were co-creatures with God!! They were trigger happy to throw allegations about authoritatively which to me was ludicrously strange! Throwing what one of them said was ‘baloney’ about and daring people to drag you to court was just laughable! I wish such a person could come to UK and make that allegation on air. The host of the programme alone will be enough court for him. You will only have two options; to prove your allegation convincingly or retract it convincingly! My advice to the producers and host of the newsfile programme is that, it is a very serious programme which has in my opinion more listenership outside Ghana than even in Ghana so pedestrian allegations should not be allowed to be part of the programme. The panel must always speak to the issues. On no occasion should any speaker on the programme be allowed to talk cheaply and loosely as if he owns the station. Secondly, the host must be very firm during the programme and not allow his or her guests to hijack his programme for any reason. I did like to even suggest that speakers who makes baseless accusations on the programme and are either unable to substantiate it or unwilling to retract it must be walked out of the programme and never be allowed any where near the station again.

After all some of them were either there to project themselves, their interests or their political parties, much as they are not paying to do this, they must ‘pay’ listeners the respect of decent submissions during the programme. A further suggestion is that speakers must have the utmost patience to listen to their colleagues on the programme when they are making their presentations without unnecessary “noises” any dissent must be noted down silently and given the necessary rebuttal when it gets to the turn of the other speaker(s) The panellists must also be told point blank that, they are not panellists on the programme because they are the most intelligent people in Ghana! They must be humble of the opportunity given them to appear on the programme.

Let me put it on record here that, I am not saying the speakers were uninformed I am saying that, newsfile of 17/10/09 was “noisefile” as a result of the intolerance and misconduct of the speakers on the programme period!

AKILU SAYIBU, UK. Email: Akilu.Sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk