Holding politicians to account
The show of solidarity by a section of society against the assault on two press photographers by soldiers demonstrates the public’s abhorrence for any act of intimidation of media practitioners.
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Members of the public have spoken very loud and clear that an attack on a media practitioner is an attack on the entire society.
Since the airwaves were liberalised in 1995, the media have been the source of information to the public.
The more than 250 radio stations in the country provide the people with information on education and entertainment in vehicles, at marketplaces, in offices, in homes and on farms.
Article 162 of the Fourth Republican Constitution endorses media freedom when it states in clear terms: “The independence and freedom of the media are hereby guaranteed.”
It also adds unequivocally that no one needs a law to operate any medium of mass communication.
That explains why the media landscape has become so unhindered that we have many newspapers on the newsstands every day, many radio stations and about two scores of television stations.
The interest of the public in the media can be assessed during every World Press Freedom Day, but this year’s was an exception because of the unprovoked attack on the two photojournalists.
At the celebration of World Press Freedom Day on the theme: “Ensuring the safety of journalists and media workers; Combating impunity against press freedom; on line safety”, last Friday, representatives of the media called on the authorities to rein in the military for its protection of the soldiers who assaulted the photojournalists.
Although the public salutes the media for doing a good work to hold public office holders accountable for their actions, the verdict out there speaks of a media that is too partisan and unable to provide knowledge and enlightenment.
In a lecture last Thursday to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby castigated the Ghanaian media for abandoning the cardinal role of policing the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian against excesses of politicians.
We do not need a media system that stifles dissent but one that encourages open debate of the programmes of the government with the view to scrutinising them for the best options to prevail.
The Daily Graphic reminds the media that one of their cardinal roles, as enshrined in the Constitution, is to hold the government accountable to the people on the management of the public purse.
We salute the media for helping build a country in which the people are free to proffer their opinions on nation-building, but we need to expose media practitioners who want to exercise media freedom without responsibility. We should not exchange dictatorship for media tyranny!
The Daily Graphic advises all media practitioners to respect the canons of journalism and make self-regulation their cardinal principle.
We need bold and fearless journalists, not reckless and irresponsible media practitioners, since the pen and the microphone are more lethal than the gun.