Media, political parties agree to respect provisions on political coverage

Accra, April 12, GNA - Senior officials of the media and political parties on Wednesday agreed to respect the provisions of the constitution on the coverage of political parties.

They also agreed that the media have come a long way from the "difficult days" of the early 1990s and need adequate logistics to fulfil their constitutional obligations.

This was the outcome of a forum organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in collaboration with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the International Federation of Electoral Systems (IFES) as part of measures to ensure free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections in December.

The forum, which they agreed to hold monthly, is intended to initiate a programme for a sustained dialogue between the media and the political parties.

The agenda of the forum focussed on Article 163 and 55 (11, 12). Article 163 states: "all state-owned media shall afford fair opportunities and facilities for the representation of divergent views and dissenting opinions".

Article 55 (11) states: "The state shall provide fair opportunity to all political parties to present their programmes to the public by ensuring equal access to the state-owned media".

Article 55 (12) states: "All presidential candidates shall be given the same amount of time and space on the state-owned media to present their programmes to the people".

Setting the tone for the discussions, Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President of the GJA, said as the elections draw closer, the role of the media in ensuring a successful vote had become more acute.

"As the people's watchdog for the political process, the media should be seen to be more alert to their responsibilities." The ultimate objective, she said, is to create a forum for a sustained interface between the media and all political parties to address issues relating to media coverage of the electoral process.

Others are to build consensus on the standards for ensuring a fair coverage for all political parties and candidates and build public confidence in the political process.

Mrs Affenyi-Dadzie said it is also to ensure access to the state-owned media by all parties to ensure that the December vote is credible and legitimate and encourage the private media to show commitment and fairness in their reportage.

She said everybody is aware of criticisms of media coverage of political parties. In the same vein, the media have their own complaints about the political parties and why it is difficult for them to demonstrate fairness and equal accessibility.

"For instance, some complain that not all parties make news. GTV also complains of lack of adequate equipment, particularly cameras, to follow the various candidates."

Taking turns, the minority parties complained, sometimes bitterly, about "unfair" treatment by the state-owned media, especially Ghana Television. Mr David Nibi of the People's National Convention (PNC) said the state-owned media have been biased against his party by refusing to cover its activities.

Mr Dan Botwe, General-Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, said their party's activities had not been covered adequately by GTV and suggested that the equal time for presidential candidates must not wait until three months to the vote, but must start now.

Mr Mike Eghan of the Convention Party (CP) said the ruling National Democratic Congress had exploited its incumbency to the disadvantage of the other parties, citing "extensive coverage" given to the First Lady while activities of the minority parties were not featured.

"The state-owned media have not been fair. We have activities everyday, we invite them but they don't come." Mr Vincent Assiseh, Press Secretary of the NDC, said the party realises the importance of the media and has gone "the extra mile" to pay for space.

He said parties that accuse the media of bias find it difficult to utilise the space and time they are offered by the media and cited the 1996 campaign when some parties did not have enough material for their slots.

Various media representatives consistently dismissed the suggestions of bias, pointing out that they have problems with logistics, especially TV cameras for GTV.

They also said they are not invited to functions. They are not given the press statements in time or are given very short notice to attend functions. Mr Gayheart Mensah, Editor of the Evening News, said the state-owned media were being criticised unfairly as the minority parties have rather not been taking advantage of the media to air their views.

He said many leaders of the minority political parties are either not available or they have failed to respond to questionnaires sent to them or provide their itinerary to the press.

GTV dismissed claims of bias against them, saying they have serious constraints and have not been able to use pictures provided by the parties because they are of poor quality.

Mr Godwin Avenorgbor, Head of Radio of GBC, stressed that funding for the media is important if the constitutional provisions are to be met. The state-owned media must therefore be adequately funded and equipped to cover the activities of the political parties adequately.

Mr Edward Ameyibor, Supervising Chief Editor of the Ghana News Agency, said political parties must make sure that their materials and invitations for coverage reach the media houses early for action to be taken.

He said the public relations outfits of the political parties must be strengthened for more effective collaboration with the media. Dr. Baffour Agyeman Duah, Associate Executive Director of the CDD, said he was happy about the discussions and expressed the hope that the monthly forums would resolve differences between the media and parties.

Mr Sam Clegg, Acting General Manager of the GNA, who chaired the function, said political differences should not make people enemies. He said there is the need to resolve the problems of the media for them to satisfy the parties.