Ghana’s journalism is in crisis – Prof Gadzekpo

A former Dean of the School of Information and Communications Studies, University of Ghana, Prof Audrey Gadzekpo, has expressed concern about what she describes as irresponsible utterances as well as falsehood being peddled in the media.

Prof Gadzekpo expressed the concern on ‘Newsfile’ over the weekend on the back of five arrests involving some journalists and other political/social activists over offensive conduct and publication of false news.

“There’s a crisis in journalism and how people express themselves that ought to be addressed – irresponsible utterances, misinformation, deliberate fabrication without any evidence; and we know the journalism and free speech in the public domain ought to be evidence-based, ought to be on facts,” she said.

According to her, the ownership of radio stations by politicians is a major contributing factor to the recent arrests of journalists in the country.

She noted that these radio stations have programmes that seek to promote the agenda of political parties and sometimes engage in deliberate disinformation.

“Part of the problem is the ownership of radio stations. It is the biggest problem. Most of our radio stations are owned by politicians. It is not by accident that when Bobie Ansah was picked up by the Police, it was NDC supporters who went to the police station. It wasn’t ordinary citizens.

“Because our media space, particularly the broadcast space, has been captured by politicians. That is why we have almost 700 radio authorisations, which make even the sustainability of radio stations impossible. But why? Because everyone who comes into power wants a radio station,” she said.

Caution

In the midst of the excesses, she however cautioned the Police to be mindful of how it carries out arrests in relation to this situation, particularly when it has to do with defamation since Ghana has gone beyond criminalising speech.

She added that it is not the job of the Police to arrest people who publish or broadcast false news, saying it is rather the persons involved, who can resort to seeking justice through the law courts to have their reputations redeemed.

“There is this question on how to deal with journalists and individuals who use the media in irresponsible ways in misreporting; that’s where the Police come in. For instance, in the Bobie Ansah case, I struggle to see why the Police should come in at all. He has allegedly defamed the First Lady and the Second Lady and they are entitled to a lawsuit,” she said.

She also contended that even though some of the claims by journalists “may be false news, it is not the duty of the Police to go round looking for false news that has been published in a newspaper or broadcasted; that’s not their job.”