Manasseh Azure Awuni: My Beef With Joy News

But for the existence of a few private radio stations like Joy FM, those who listen to radio with critical ears would have had nothing to celebrate for the liberalization of the airwaves. It is true that each radio station has its own target group, but whether it broadcasts in the local language or in English, journalistic standards cannot be compromised. It is about time those radio stations and their presenters who cannot differentiate between news and entertainment (comedy) learnt this.

Joy FM has over years vindicated those thought it wise to press for the liberalization of the airwaves. Apart from their regular day-to-day programmes, Joy FM stands out when it comes to special programmes such as the Independence Day, Presidential Inauguration among others. Joy FM's coverage of the 2008 general elections was peerless and could compete with the best anywhere. Indeed, it is neither accident nor coincidence that the station chose the jingle “Radio for the discerning listener.”

Our newspapers now seem to outpace the civil service when it comes to monotonous writing styles, house style they call it. I find it nauseating reading news stories from the newspapers unless I have a special interest in a particular story. As a journalism student, I listen to Radio Ghana (GBC), Joy FM and BBC most of the time for news after which I top it up with my few favourite columns in the newspapers. There is no better journalism lesson for a journalism student than listening, reading and viewing good news items. [This is my opinion and like my head, it's my bona fide property]

I have in recent times made some observations about Joy News, which do not only make the news less interesting but also they also repel me from listening. I may be right or wrong in this observations but I'm not sure I'm not alone in this regard.

This concern, which has forced me to sit behind my laptop this evening is the fact that Joy News is becoming a discussion programme instead of news. Why am I saying this?

There is hardly any Joy News story without an actuality. According to newscript.com, an actuality is a “recorded segment of a newsmaker speaking, generally lasting from 10 to 20 seconds; this is what people outside of radio journalism often call a "sound bite."

Actualities do no only make news stories lively but it makes it very authentic. Our “big men” in society who do not miss any chance to deny what they say cannot deny actualities (though some “God-fearing ones” still deny their own voices).

I do not hate actualities but some of joy FM's actualities are too long and sometimes boring, to say the least. That is not even as repulsive as the seemingly unending live interviews that seem to have taken the place of reports by the station's journalists.

Take Joy FM's News Night of March 2, 2010 for example. The news bulleting was supposed to last for 60 minutes. The story about the “neglect” of the Ga Mantse alone took 32 minutes. Why? Is it a documentary? You may ask. Almost the entire story was based on live interviews. The second story that followed after the six-minute business news was about Mahama Ayariga's tractor business. Another set of live interviews. It lasted about 11 minutes, after which time was almost out after taking the 4-minute sports segment and the few commercials.

Some may argue that with the live interviews, they are still able to finish all their stories within the 60 minutes and do not overrun. This is not true. When such uncontrollably lengthy interviews are conducted, equally important stories are often crucified. In the news bulletin I have cited, there were many important stories that were either not treated or treated “disdainfully.”

A headline story about the MPs' debate on the President's State of the Nation address was not treated. Only the intro was read and that ended it. Another headline story which promised women to stay tuned for some abnormal and alarming clues about husbands, following the butcher of a woman in Adidome by her husband, was not exhausted. The Psychologist who made that revelations and had a sentence of her interview played during the headlines was never heard in the story. The story was apparently cut for lack of time. The story about the low salaries of MPs' drivers was also cut, I suppose.

So the entire bulletin contained only two stories that were exhaustively treated (minus the Business Segment and Sports which together took 11 minutes).

I find this very unfortunate and think it would do Joy FM and their discerning listeners a great deal of good if the station changed the trend. Live interviews cannot be avoided altogether but they should be used sparingly, when there is no any other option. I don't want to believe that the decision to speak to newsmakers is taken a minute or two to the time of the bulletin, making live interviews the only option.

Instead of giving too much time to the newsmakers, over whom the newsreaders sometimes have no control, the interviews can be prerecorded and edited. This will ensure that unwanted sentences and phrases are edited out, leaving the salient and those comments that are useful to the meaning of the story. Some interviewees beat about the bush before coming to the main points while others fumble and grope helplessly for their words. They end up saying what they can say within 10 seconds in 5 or more minutes. This unnecessary waste of precious air time can be avoided.

That will also prevent irresponsible and foul language in the news bulletins. At times some interviewees are made to retract certain statements and even when they do, the words and sentences spoken cannot be retracted from the listeners' ears. The clarity of telephone interviews is yet another problem with live interviews. Most of the time when a newsmaker comes live on air, they are asked to readjust their positions (I mean their standing positions) in order to be heard. All these take time, which the listener is not interested in.

What is more I do not listen to long interviews if I have no interest in the story. And I think others won't either. What happens is that the listener switches on to another station and that is it.

So I appeal to Joy FM to consider these concerns if they want to keep their “discerning listeners”.

Joy FM should also consider making their news items more balanced. With balance I'm not referring to 2 minutes for the NDC; 2 minutes for the NPP. There should be a balance between news that concerns the MP and the kenkey seller, the banker and the farmer, the city dweller and the man in my home town. Those interesting features and human interest stories are becoming a thing of the past in Joy News, I think.

My Radio Broadcast Production lecturer says the BBC and the top international broadcasters have their own flaws and should not always be used as the yardsticks for measuring standards in broadcasting. In as much as I agree with him, I think the BBC is well advanced and we can learn some of the best practices in broadcasting from them. Hardly will you hear a live interview on BBC Radio news bulleting. (I'm not talking about live shots, a “report introduced by an anchor that has not been recorded but is read live by another journalist, often at a news scene.”)

Sometimes the reporter usually writes almost everything and a sentence or two used as an actuality fits into the story like a pair of wedding gloves. It is sometimes so beautifully done that you wish the story never ends.

BBC's David Amanor filed a story the morning before President Mills read the State of the Nation address to parliament. Not only was the report intriguing but instead of interviewing the politicians who would hardly say anything sensible on such occasions, he talked to the men in the street. The common man to whom inflation rates, base rates and suchlike technical jargons does not make an atom of sense, is the one who bears the brunt of the ever-increasing cost of living. I smiled to myself and blessed the soft-spoken reporter in my heart for a wonderful journalism lecture before my morning lecture.

The Ghanaian media are relatively young and some have argued that it will take time for us to “get there”. Ours is not to re-invent the wheel. Let's adopt best practices and sanitise our airwaves instead of just boasting about the plurality of radio stations. Let us not forget what the antelope told the elephant.

The size of an animal does not matter; what matters is the taste in its soup.

Credit: Manasseh Azure Awuni [www.maxighana.com] The writer is the SRC President of the Ghana Institute of Journalism and the Press and Information Secretary of the Northern Students Union. To read more of his writings, visit www.maxighana.com