What I have heard about a senior journalist?s coordinate attack on joy fm's morning show host.
My interactions (resulting out of interest and anger at what is happening to my idol) with some politicians and media personalities have led to revelations that last week?s attempt by the Daily Guide to destroy the image of Ghana?s lead radio personality Komla Dumor was coordinated by a senior journalist considered by some to be a friend of the JoyFM presenter.
With a screaming headline, KOMLA DUMOR CAUGHT IN BLACKMAIL, the story written by a mysterious Daily Guide Reporter claimed that the independent minded & sharp-tongued host of the nation?s most successful radio show had written a letter to Areeba offering to destroy its competitors.
This ridiculous conclusion and headline was based on an email allegedly authored by Komla Dumor to Areeba in September offering to provide PR/ Media consultancy services. The emphasis in the Daily Guide story was a paragraph taken from the said email that said:
?I have 10 years of experience in broadcasting and I have developed numerous campaigns for many organizations, and in the process I have assisted companies to completely turn around their image, challenge bigger competitors and turn their opponents into spectacular failures.?
The Daily Guide, in furtherance of their hidden agenda and ?destroy Komla campaign? based their headline on the above sentence, specifically ??turn their opponents into spectacular failures.? I am sure all right thinking visitors to this web page agree that no part of this sentence constitutes blackmail or uncompetitive practice.
In fact the same email from which the above was quoted and which was published by the paper, goes on to state that in order to beat its competition, Mr. Dumor would among others provide advertising services and PR management as well as assist Areeba in developing a superior public relations strategy. It went further to list some of the strategies to be employed including training for Areeba managers and staff etc. This aspect of the email was ignored and the nonsensical claim of blackmail spun around.
It is interesting because, the Daily Guide story was based on a rather disappointing letter fired by the management of Ghana Telecom (who was never mentioned in the email) to JoyFM complaining about the email that made no reference to GT. A certain Afua Yeboah, described as Head of Corporate Affairs demanded an explanation from JoyFM for Komla?s mail, claiming that the above statement IF true is unethical, unpatriotic and un-businesslike of Komla. (At the appropriate time I?ll be delving into the ethical, patriotism and business-mindedness of the lady who sent that letter, the management of GT, Felix Owusu Adjepong, Nick Amarteifio and the Kufuor government as it relates to GT).
Another rather unintelligent conclusion was that Komla was proposing to Areeba to use his position to destroy GT. How this conclusion was arrived at is known to only GT and the Daily Guide. But evidence suggests that this bizarre and improbable conclusion was deliberately emphasized by those who may have been more powerful than the poor woman who was compelled to sign that unfortunate document and also fire a copy to the ?plan hatchers? before dispatching the original to JoyFM.
In conformity with the plan, GT made no enquiries about the authenticity of the email nor its source before forwarding the protest letter (if I may call it so) to JOYFM, the President of the GJA, The NCA, the Institute of Public relations and of course the Daily Guide. The initial plan worked because it was re-published by some other papers and discussed on the radio stations with its attendant sometimes orchestrated phone-ins abusing Komla Dumor. NPP MP Kennedy Agyapong jumped into the fray calling Mr. Dumor a wicked man and heaping insults on the popular JoyFM presenter.
Ghana is an interesting place to live in, because my interactions and discussions (off course they were not investigations because I am not a policeman or journalist) reveal that this well coordinated but failed attack was led by one of Komla Dumor's fellow journalists. This senior journalist (who ironically appears on a JoyFM program) brought together his co-conspirators to do the following: Step one Focus on one sentence and make it a hotly debated subject with a misleading headline.
Step 2 Subject Komla to abuse and ridicule through phone-ins and discussions.
Step 3 Demoralize the outspoken host (so it affects him and his work) whose bruising interviewing style and wit had offended the powers that be and left many spokesmen and press secretaries red faced and gasping for air.
In a nutshell, this was basically the beginning of a psychological attack from the senior journalist who had to do the bidding of his powerful masters and deliver Komla.
To help move things forward, the editor of a paper closely aligned with one of the NPP presidential candidates went to radio stations pleading to be allowed to discuss the email subject so he can dig further into Komla, albeit without any facts to prove the blackmail nonsense. That editor event went as far as to complain to the owner of one such station (a new station in Accra) that his staff weren?t elevating the falsehoods to a higher level.
However by the end of the week, the story had fallen flat, the public (the discerning ones) didn?t buy it, the plot had failed. Had the Daily Guide or the Editor of the pro Akuffo Addo paper or the betrayer in chief and the corporate affairs manager of GT bothered to call Mr. Dumor this matter would?ve been no story at all. But of course that didn?t happen because the intention was to discredit Komla in the eyes of the public. Having failed and now exposed themselves one can only wonder where this amateurish effort will go next.
But some questions remain. How did GT get in possession of an email Komla Dumor to Areeba?s marketing director? Will Haitham (hope I got it right) please explain, including talk around that Areeba?s media executive was the source of the email?
In the meantime, I am advising Komla Dumor to get a lawyer and institute court action against the Daily Guide for falsely accusing him of blackmail.
Accra
Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.
