KB Asante: Voice From Afar column
Time for media to strengthen educational role
In times past, I would without much ado start proceedings to dismiss a high official who opened his mouth too wide in public, to question the competence of the President.
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Of course we cracked jokes about the President and the government in private. And that eased tension and sometimes even suggested ways of improving governance. The president himself made unsavoury remarks about his lieutenants, which were never repeated to the uninitiated.
I am therefore surprised that when a high political aide makes an unfortunate remark, the president is persuaded to respond. Presidents do not make speeches “by heart”. I expect those who draft his speeches, whatever the occasion, to be competent and discerning. I do hope the media will not continue with what Bagbin said and the president’s apparent rejoinder. More important issues should engage our attention.
The times are hard and difficult times loom ahead. The government takes the major responsibility for social and economic stability and progress. But if Ghana is not to become a failed state, we (the people), should play our part, and the institutions of state should do their duty.
And so, much as we relish “the fracas” between Bagbin and the president, the media should concentrate on disseminating and analysing the news, especially, that which seriously affects the well-being of the people.
Of course the media should entertain us. As a normal Ghanaian, I am thrilled by stories about the bishop running away with the high school drop-out girl. But the media should not pander to this weakness. It should help to educate us. We are greatly influenced by what we watch, listen to and read in the media. With their meagre resources, the media does a lot to improve our education through these means. But the harm done when it feeds us wrongly is great.
Take English, the official language of Ghana, for example. We used to have good news readers who helped the spoken English of the public.
We still have some, but on the whole the spoken English on television leaves much to be desired. Strange enough, many who relay special reports are very good. But some of the news readers are atrocious and should take some spoken-English lessons. Some of these bad readers race through a sentence, apparently lose breath, and stop.
Thus, you hear something like this “In the opinion of the auditors proper books of accounts have been kept (long pause). By the bank as required by law”. News readers should have the script some good time before they come on air and make their own punctuation marks if necessary, to help understanding.
The accent put on by some readers is ridiculous. I am told these readers pride themselves in having gained a “foreign-acquired accent”. We should rid ourselves of this inferiority complex and speak in our good Ghanaian-acquired accent. We used to follow the BBC in reading and pronunciation. There is no harm in following the “Voice of America”. But the purposeless affectation should stop.
Too many Ghanaians cannot speak or understand English, the official language of the land. This is a serious indictment on education in the country. Television and radio stations/news can do a lot to improve spoken English, while the newspapers and magazines can help in written English.
So far as education is generally concerned, some media houses are helping to enlarge our understanding as they weave major social issues into their news programmes. For example, TV3 covered the molestation of young women as part of their news programme some time ago. It was revealing and showed that we had a major problem on our hands so far as rape of teenage girls was concerned.
It turned out that the crime was often considered a domestic issue. The culprit approaches the family of the raped girl and understanding is reached about the matter. Money may change hands and promises are made. Unfortunately, it was not made clear in the TV programme that the offence was committed against the state and not the family.
The family of the girl has no right to help the man involved to go free. The matter should be reported to the police. Unfortunately, when the matter was reported to the police, the first reaction was to get rid of the issue by giving the girl a note to go for medical examination.
I thought the first thing the police should have done was to charge or apprehend the man involved in the rape while examinations took place. The television programme should have gone further to point out the failings of institutions in such matters and helped the public to mount the necessary pressures to stop the moral and social decline.
Similarly, the press should follow stories to help combat corruption. We should not only be told how corrupt we are. We should let the public know how those who are corrupt are dealt with, so that people may know how serious the authorities are with the eradication of corruption.
For example, if a prominent man, who is convicted of fraud or corruption, is jailed and immediately falls sick, the press should cover how he is dealt with at the hospital. Is he treated as a prisoner or a VIP? And if he appeals, does he go home or to prison while the case is before court? The sensation of a prominent man before court for a major social crime will certainly sell newspapers.
But the press has a duty to let the public know the equality or inequalities before the law. Such knowledge will be good education and hopefully help the high and mighty to know that they cannot get away with it if they are caught.
Daily Graphic/Ghana