Media advised to exhibit professionalism during elections
President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Ransford Tetteh, has called on the media to exhibit professionalism in their reportage before, during and after the December 2012 general elections.
He urged them to observe the guidelines for election coverage which was developed during the 2008 elections and added that efforts were being made to upgrade the document.
The GJA President made the call during a studio discussion with e.tv Ghana’s Awake host, Rashida Nasamu. The basis for the interaction follows the formation of the Ghanaian Journalists Against Electoral Violence (GJAEV) by a group of journalists who want to encourage disciplined reportage on the airwaves before, during and after the upcoming general elections.
Mr Tetteh reiterated that the GJA was ever-ready and mindful to ensure that media reports were accurate, balanced and fair during the election period in order to promote peace and unity in the country.
He however noted that, there is the likelihood of the guidelines being breached by some media houses and added that the GJA and the National Media Commission (NMC) would continually ensure that professional journalists abide by the code of ethics regarding their chosen field of profession.
In recent times the media has been said to have encouraged politics of insults among politicians, studio panelists, listeners and viewers alike. The GJA President, therefore, advised the media and all stakeholders to be mindful of their utterances and further advised the media to play their gate-keeping role effectively.
He commended some journalists and media houses that have been responsible and have ensured that people who made such foul comments withdrew them.
The convener of the GJAEV, Fred Kuuku Smith, said the reason behind the formation of the group was to support the work being done by the CDD, IEA and GJA.
He added that, before elections many pronouncements are made by different groups of people and cited the latest pronouncement made by a fetish priest that the election period would be charactised by violence.
He noted that such pronouncements were likely to incite people to act violently at the slightest mistake made by someone from a different party.
Mr Smith explained further that the group would also name and shame politicians who make foul utterances, who would later be summoned before the group and asked to retract their statement.
By: Jasmine Arku, e.tv Ghana
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