Oh Dear, A Deer On The FrontPage?

You can tell a person's character by the way he eats jellybeans, Ronald Reagan once said. The same may be true about newspapers: You can tell a people's nature and gauge their priorities by looking at the stories on the front pages of their newspapers. Even though we do not read much in a pluralistic media climate, our newspapers would tell any foreigner the kind of people we are and the things that consume our social and political energies. Perhaps, KwakuSakyiAddo, one of our finest journalists, summed up this truism in a radio jingle to the 'Front Page', one of Joy FM's most successful radio talk shows: 'You are what you listen to.'

Throughout the week, we had to listen toawful news aboutmillions of Dollars or Ghana Cedis flying first class to Brazil for angry World Cup football players who insisted they wanted the money in cash. We also heard more disappointing football stuff. Ghana's most hated football gem, Uruguay's Mr. Suarez, had done a Mike Tyson on the soccer pitch, sinking his teeth into the back of a player.

We heard news of Ghanaian international sensation, SulleyMuntari, and Kevin Prince-Boateng, carrying their egos shoulder high while engaging with Ghana football officials in Brazil. In the end, we got a not-too-surprising slap in our faces by falling to Christiano Ronaldo's Portugal.

Well, the President of the Republic had written in the state-owned Daily Graphic, that whether they lose or win, the Black Stars had done a great job. I don't think so, your Excellency;not when the international media makes a lot of jest of our players putting money ahead of national glory. Not when there are photos of players kissing their lump-sum while others show brazen disrespect to officials old enough to be their father. Right there, you get a foretaste of the kind of things that unite us or tear us apart.

That was Brazil. Now we are home, and the issues that predated Brazil continue to stare us in the face, as we struggle to find answers to a tsunami of questions. The problems that assail us are multifarious, and our newspapers do a great job at capturing them in their headlines. We have all forgotten the taste of sensational news because the problems that our media play back to us are right in our faces. There is no point dramatizing or sensationalizing them for additional effect. When there is no petrol and the lights are off, you feel it wherever you are. When the price of chewing gum jumps high, as the dollar exchange rate soars, it is a harbinger of cruel days ahead.

We have often asked: How did we get to this point? And what exactly happened? The answers had been on the front pages before dumsordumor started. Any society that does not take good care of its animals does not also care much about its people and its development policies. This is one of the lessons India's Ghandi left for humanity.

The other day, I wrote about societies in the West where animals are accorded so much respect, that news of a missing dog would make it to the front pages of national newspapers. Photos of the dog would be given good space along with a detailed report of the circumstances under which the dog got lost. Animal cruelty and neglect are criminal, and their owners serve jail terms, just as child neglect and delays in paying child supportcommitments attract prison terms. When you keep too many cats and you do not find time to feed all of them, you are made to answer hard questions.

The wisdom in the Ghandi aphorism is that if you cannot be responsible enough to care for a pet, you are not likely to do a great job caringfor human beings. In those societies where the rights of pets are respected, nobody is favoured when a law is broken. The most admirable example I chanced on recently in a Canadian newspaper is a front page story of a policeman who had shot an injured deer by the roadside. Concerned neighbours called animal rights agencies to fight for the rights of the dead animal. There had been investigations into the matter, to establish the motive of the police officer, and whether he had acted in the best interest of the beast.

In those societies, the rights of all creatures, including human beings and antelopes, are treasured and protected. That is their front page story. In other jurisdictions closer home, a media organization is banned for publishing photos of a President snoozing during a meeting. And they are lucky to have only been banned; in other places on the continent they would be thrown into jail for doing their job. In those places, animals do not matter, so human life also has a price. Who has time for a malnourished dog when human beings do not have enough to eat?

Who has time to report child abuse in the house next door when there isn't any proper social protection system in place to address these issues? Who cares about children of school-going age selling on the streets? And which branch of the government is responsible for them?

When answers to protracted problems persistently elude us, it shows in the way we respond to things. In the name of freedom of expression and association, we seem to have turned to the Deus Ex Machina for answers. The first time I watched a fetish priestess advertising for clients on primetime television, I thought we had carried religious charity too far.

She was promising money and good luck for people who had missed out on the opportunities life has to offer. Her magic, just like the kind of placebos we hear charismatic preachersprescribe in their pulpits, is the last resort only the gods can provide (Deus Ex Machina). Years ago, you needed to observe some traditional and 'spiritual' protocols to get access to fetish priests and priestesses. Today, they are on television and radio. Oh dear, who is writing our front pages stories?

KwesiTawiah-Benjamin
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