Media tasked to ensure electorates make intelligent choices

Mr. Edward Ameyibor, Former President of the Ghana Journalists Association, on Tuesday tasked journalists to provide the public with information that would enable the electorate to “It is the responsibility of the media to provide comprehensive, fair, impartial and objective gathering and presentation of information for all political parties and democratic stakeholders to empower the electorates on national issues,” Mr. Ameyibor said at a workshop in Tamale during the Agency’s capacity workshop for reporters and stringers from the three northern regions.

The workshop, the fourth in a series, is sponsored by STAR- Ghana; a multi- donor pooled funding mechanism Funded by British Department for International Department, the Danish International Development Agency, European Union and US Agency for International Development to increase the influence of civil society and Parliament in the governance of public goods and service delivery.

It has the ultimate goal of improving the accountability and responsiveness of Ghana’s government, traditional authorities and the private sector.

Mr. Ameyibor noted that the public’s right to information was a fundamental right.

“It is therefore non-negotiable and cannot be circumvented.” Article 21 (1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution states that all persons shall have the right to information, subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society.

He said this provision placed dual responsibility on the media.

Mr. Ameyibor, who is also the Former Supervising Chief Editor of the GNA, explained that the Constitution enjoined the media to honour the public’s right to information to enable them to participate actively in the governance of the nation.

He said political journalism must balance coverage of political personalities and events with analysis of issues in the overall context of good governance. “Media practitioners must give the electorate every opportunity to discuss and understand the issues.

“Apart from providing information about the candidates, media practitioners should balance discussions of personalities with analysis of issues and must offer a forum for the public to participate in public discussions.”

Mr. Ameyibor tasked media practitioners to handle views that had the potential to promote violent conflict, especially relating to political, social, cultural, racial, ethnic and religious sensibilities, with great sensitivity.

“In covering political conflicts, analysis of the causes and issues involved in the conflict must be balanced with efforts towards promoting peace. Institutions and individuals involved in efforts at resolving the conflict must be given opportunities to highlight efforts at peace building”.

On covering political programmes, manifestos and candidates, Mr. Alex Lantey Lawson, a veteran journalist said the media must avoid deliberate distortion of any political party’s activity and information to make the programmes and manifestos of political parties and candidates intelligible to the electorate by subjecting them to objective analysis.

“It is the duty of the media to help the electorate assess the candidates to make elections meaningful. This duty requires them to provide accurate information about the candidates and also reflect the views of the public to candidates.

“The media must avoid deliberate distortion of any political party’s activity and information,” he stated.

Mr. Lawson also reminded media practitioners, particularly those who work for the state-owned media, to avoid doing direct politics since “it may affect or jeopardise their credibility and integrity.

“Media practitioners, irrespective of political party affiliations and beliefs, should remain impartial in their dealings with political parties and, in particular, should be guided by the Code of Ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association,” he stated.

Mr. Mawusi Afele, Acting General Manager of GNA, explained that the capacity workshop on the theme: “Upgrading GNA’s human capital for in-depth coverage of election 2012 and beyond,” seeks to strengthen the agency’s election coverage capabilities.

“The GNA, with its strength in truthful and unbiased news, seeks to provide unbiased coverage for the elections to contribute towards consolidating Ghana’s democracy by ensuring effectively organized elections devoid of intimidation and conflicts.

He said the workshop had empowered GNA reporters and stringers with the needed campaign skills to contribute to the reduction of conflict and contribute to peace-building efforts through the application of ethical and professional standards in their media practice as issued in the guidelines of the National Media Commission (NMC), the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA).

He commended Star-Ghana for the sponsoring the nationwide capacity building of GNA staff.