Manasseh's Empty Folders

Journalism is one of the sensitive professions on this our planet and many western countries accord a lot of respect to it. They serve as check and balance to societal governance and report occurrences to give news to the public.

Journalism as a profession comes with people with open mind and willing to serve their society. While others had used and are using journalism to destroy their society, others however are using it to seek the good of it.

Without journalism the world will not revolve in information. It will be static and difficult to live in.

I have observed with keen interest how journalism is practiced in Ghana. The mad rush for journalism work is astounding. The phenomenon is intriguing because the profession is gradually becoming lucrative.

Extortion of money and blackmails had characterized the journal atmosphere of Ghana with a lot of journalists springing up on the wheels of personal gain and interest and not to serve their society. Many unprofessional practices coupled with personal interest had overtaken the conscience of some Ghanaian journalists who I can described as professional beggars and know no shame. We are told many media outfits don't pay well and this forces some of them to extort money for broadcasting. They virtually tow the lines of allegiance: journalism of convenience. That's as to when they will benefit, then they write issues on.

There are so called folders being managed by one guy who has branded himself an investigative journalist: MANASSEH Awuni Azuri.

He uses these folders to trade words and indirectly abuse public office holders in the name of journalism. I find it so shocking that his kind of journalism has been accepted by wide range of Ghanaians. These folders, I can say without mincing words, are virtually empty. They are nothing but thought of opinions without proof and empirical evidence.

Quite recently, one of his folders branded the police boss (IGP) as a castrated pig just because he, Manasseh, thinks he's incompetent.

Not satisfied, he had open another folder referring to "Akuffo Addo's peace hymns as worse than Mahama's war songs". This is to say that Akuffo had failed to clamp down vigilante groups.

I am not quite sure what MANASSEH seeks but frankly speaking in comparison to standard practice I think he's rising far below common sense since most of his folders doesn't make sense.

As a journalist, you have every right to criticize and come out with your opinions and views but to write on lines of mere words of description only serves political interests.

These folders are full of cheap propaganda and political sugarcoated words. Many of them also clearly do not seek the public interest and the level of aggressiveness he uses in writing depicts desperation to rise up overnight. No wonder most of his undercover works had attracted little or no local and international attention. His lines of interest are now clear and he's gradually loosing touch with objective individuals in the society.

Despite the rot of unprofessionalism in Ghanaian journalism, persons like Israel Laryea, Kwame Sefa Kayi, Bismark Brown and others are serving their society well with honest journalism.

I will advise Manasseh to close those empty folders and concentrate on branding himself for the world unless he wants to remain a local journalist and unprofitable.

We are in a polarize country and journalism must be geared towards enhancing the gains of the society and rekindling hopes of many to ensuring good living conditions not necessarily criticising public officials to give arsenals to the political opponents.

Isaac Ofori