Pro-Mills Condemns Statesman's "Poodle" Story

A Pro-Mills group on Wednesday condemned the "Statesman" story for its article and picture calling former Vice President John Evans Atta Mills a poodle and lauded the ethics committee of the Ghana Journalists Association and the National Media Commission (NMC) for their "forthright" intervention in the matter.

A statement signed by a Patron of JEAMNET, Mr Eddie Palmer said the headline "Why Mills is a Poodle" and the picture of Prof. Mills' head on a poodle is "shameful and disgusting". It said it is shameful "to think that a journalist should stoop so low and show such lack of decorum and intelligence to describe a professor of law and highly distinguished member of our society a poodle."

The statement said a poodle is a dog that cannot be equated with a human being and one cannot import any form of culture that is incompatible with what is in Ghana. He said "The writer should know that in our culture, it is not correct to compare a human being with any form of animal..." and said the writer depicts "gutter journalism".

The Ethics Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association on Tuesday said it has noted with utter disgust the description of the former Vice President as "a poodle" by "The Statesman," and condemned the use of such unacceptable language. A statement signed by the Chairperson of the Committee, Mrs Frances Ademola said it considers the description "unethical, insulting and therefore, in very bad taste".

According to the statement, apart from violating Article five of the GJA Code of Ethics, which requires, among other things, that journalists should have respect for human dignity and should guard against violating the sensibilities of other people, the description is also unacceptable in Ghanaian culture. It said "The paper had every right to question the moral justification of the former Vice President to question the wisdom of the government in pursuing the IFC loan against the advice of the minority in Parliament, and then to withdraw later. It added that "But the Statesman's editorial team could have made their point forcefully without resorting to vulgar ridicule and such uncalled for disrespect.

The statement said the Committee considers the form of reportage a misuse of freedom of expression and asked the Statesman's editorial team to offer unqualified apology to Professor Mills in their next edition of the paper, giving it the prominence and publicity it deserves. The National Media Commission and the Campaign Team of Prof. Mills and other social commentators have condemned the Statesman?s story.