GBC launches Campaign For Decency In Media
A campaign for decency in the media was launched in Accra yesterday with a call on media practitioners to regulate themselves through the introduction of clear editorial policies that will be reviewed regularly.
The call which was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the campaign urged the electronic media in particular to use ‘voice delay’ equipment to prevent indecent language from going on air.
The campaign which was launched by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) forms part of activities marking its 76th anniversary.
The communique was signed by representatives from the GBC, Mr Kwabena Sarpong Anane; Daily Graphic, Mr Kobby Asmah; Metro TV, Mr Alhassan Haruna; Ghanaian Times, Mr Kofi Asuman; TV3, Mr Santokh Singh. Others are GJA, Mr Afail Monney; Daily Guide, Mr A. R Gomda; Independent, Mr Edwin Arthur and Choice FM, Fred Djabanor.
The communiqué challenged media practitioners, as professionals, to be assertive and not allow themselves to be used by politicians to promote their parochial interests.
It said editors working with media organisations which were owned by politicians should use their professional expertise to discard contents which did not conform to acceptable standards of decency, morality and respectability.
The communiqué called on the National Media Commission (NMC) to apply the powers given it by the Constitution to enforce the application of ethical practice in the media by going to court.
It said that the NMC and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) should publish annually, to name and shame media houses that did not adhere to ethical and decent practice in the media.
It called on the GJA, NMC and the National Communications Authority(NCA) to lead the way to ensure that issues of decency were upheld by the media in their publications for the general good of society.
The communique appealed to the state to enforce the law on decency as a last resort.
It said what shaped their integrity should move beyond legal instruments on sedition, defamation or professional codes of ethics but their inbuilt unbiased sense of judgement and burning quest ‘to be faithful and loyal to Ghana our motherland’.
Earlier, the acting Director-General of the GBC, Mr Kwabena Sarpong Anane, said the campaign was an indication of GBC’s concern for the state of political discourse in the country and its resolve to institute some responsible control.
He said concerns had been expressed from all quarters on some indecent reportage but the media merely picked them up and passed them on instead of stepping up to the plate to take responsibility.
“We’ve been swift to duck the bullet of blame with the lame claim that politicians were suppliers of what we pipe to the public; accepting a meagre responsibility of what roles we play, therein” he added.
Mr Anane said what happened in the communication community today had become a combination of gong-gong beaters, linguists, and town criers and to a large extent central elders in the community.
He reminded media practitioners that they were not just the fourth estate but the central estate.
Mr Anane challenged the media to start steering the direction of the nation on a decent course and stop acting as spectators.
He gave the assurance that GBC in consultation with the NMC and in adherence to constitutional provisions would review and reform those challenges.
He said they might be mute on some of the challenges confronting the media but quickly added that they were deeply abreast with issues, concerned and sensitive about these and would continue to take every opportunity to iron them out.
Mr Anane said they acknowledged that covering the whole nation was credible and as such a monumental attainment.
He said they acknowledged the duty and responsibility of GBC to provide quality education, information, entertainment and empowerment to their respected viewers and listeners, adding that along those lines they were not spared from the attendant challenges to satisfy all their varied demographics, political dispensations and deeply entrenched cultures.
He assured GBC’s viewers, listeners and stakeholders that there were frantic and practical efforts to address those concerns about their programmes.
The Director of GBC Radio, Mr Yaw Owusu, said the media reached out to a large number of people in the society hence the need for them to operate within the acceptable standards and ethics of the profession.
He urged media practitioners to abide by the ethics of the profession, adding that anything which was against the law was indecent.