Ghana's media climate highly favourable - GJA

By Patience A. Gbeze, GNA
Accra, May 3, GNA - Ghana's stable and formidable position on the World Press Freedom Index since the Fourth Republic is an indication that the media climate in the country is highly favourable to free expression and media practice.

Mr Affail Monney, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), who made the assertion, said in Africa, Ghana currently occupies the second spot after Namibia and the 26th position in the world, ahead of even some developed democracies.

Speaking at this year's celebration of the World Press Freedom Day in Accra on the theme: 'Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms: This is Your Right,' Mr Monney expressed the media's gratitude to the framers of Ghana's 1992 Constitution for guaranteeing freedom and independence of the media.

'We congratulate the various governments under the Fourth Republic for the contributions they have made towards respect for press freedom and above all, salute Ghanaians for their encouragement through their forbearance of even excesses by the media, I believe for the sake of freedom,' he added.

Mr Monney said as a country, there is the need to take advantage of press freedom to bring about the necessary qualitative change with regard to issues such as media content, sanitisation of the airwaves, greater transparency in the allocation of frequencies and training of media personnel, among others.

He said, failure to do so could lead to stagnation, which would undermine media relevance and encourage media terrorism.

This year's celebration was done in conjunction with the European Union, which also launched its European Week: 'Ghana-EU - Partners in Sustainable Change'.

UNESCO, the Accra Brewery Limited and Voltic Ghana Limited were the traditional sponsors of the World Press Freedom Day celebration in Ghana.

The GJA President said many of the tenets and human rights required under the EU Treaty are very much in unison with those under Ghana's 1992 Constitution.

It therefore came as no surprise that EU member state in Ghana have demonstrated their commitment to support programmes that would strengthen the culture of freedom and independence of the media in Ghana.

He said as a result of the commitment, various media institutions and organisations in Ghana have in one time or the other been beneficiaries of EU assistance, or exchange programme.

In a speech read on her behalf Ms Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, called for strong environment of press freedom and well-functioning systems to ensure the people's right to know.

She said, at this time of turbulent and changes across the world, including new challenges that require global cooperation and action, the need for quality information has never been so important.

Ms Bokova said the day highlighted the importance of free and independent journalism for advancing the 2030 Agenda, which includes the safety of journalists, at the time when, tragically, a media professional is killed every five days.

'This cannot stand, and guided by the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, UNESCO is working with Governments around the world to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers everywhere.

In this spirit, I call on everyone to stand united in defending and encouraging press freedom and the right to access to information. This is essential for human rights and dignity, for our aspirations for sustainable development, for common determination to build lasting peace,' she added.

Mr Cyrus DeGraft Johnson, Corporate Affairs Manager, Accra Brewery Limited, called on Parliament to speed up the passage of the Right To Information Bill to pave the way for not only journalists, but other users of public information, to access such without any let or hindrance.

He said journalists in the pursuit of truth, facts and realities on the ground, fulfill the well-known crucial role of giving a voice to the voiceless or a face to those invisible.

The UN General Assembly in 1991 declared May 3 every year, as a World Press Freedom Day. That day is the anniversary of the declaration of Windhoek, which acknowledges that media pluralism and press freedom are essential to development.

GNA