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Public Agenda (Accra)

Ghana: An Open Letter to the President of Ghana Journalists Association

17 November 2008

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Your burnt out regular columnist is unable to write this week, but hopes you will enjoy this stand in article. See you next week

Is excellent journalism bad business? This is a provocative question; coming minutes after 24 journalists were applauded after receiving the second Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in India on 18th July 2007.

A panel of editors and publishers tried to come up with their answers, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who was in the audience, leaned across the stage, half-sitting on it, and asked his own question:

"You will all have to ask each other if the media can be a partner in nation-building and can promote value systems," Kalam said. "The media has to promote economic development and reduce the number of people living below the poverty line. You have to become a media for one billion people."

That, in essence, was what the subject of an ensuing debate: aspirations versus reality, the tyranny of the Television Ratings Points versus integrity and ethics in journalism, excellence versus populism. And the consensus after a gripping hour was that There are forces at work that undermine good journalism but these forces aren't larger than life, these can and need to be harnessed so that a news media organisation today remains committed to public trust and credibility, two of its strongest values.

And while "excellent journalism" doesn't have to mean "ponderous talking-down journalism," it is more relevant than ever.

That the 2008 Presidential Elections are just around the corner, and all the candidates and their respective parties are gearing up feverishly towards a spirited finish is not to be underestimated. In the same vein, the fact that the forthcoming elections must be held under a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, avoiding a post Kenya or Zimbabwe violence and serious displacement of people, etc. cannot be overemphasized.

One major group of people or professionals on whose activities and nature of job the peace and continuous unity of this Republic hinges on heavily are Journalists. Our activities in the times preceding the elections, i.e. coverage of the campaigns across the country, coverage of rallies, press conferences and statements by the various parties are key to the final outcome if the Rawandan example, where radio was used as a weapon to breed hatred and subsequently exterminate almost a million people, is anything is to go by.

Journalists I believe have what it takes to make this year's historic elections take place peacefully and without acrimony, hatred, and the kind of violence that is slowly creeping into our body politic. I hear all the candidates preaching that they expect the elections to be peaceful and I hope that their followers are listening and would not do anything contrary. If anything at all the just-ended US elections must be our guiding principle.

May be you will be wondering, "Where is this guy is going? I am here with you and what I am trying to say is that we hold the key to deepening our your young democracy and ensure that we shape an enduring practice that posterity would be proud of and say good things behind our backs, when we are not there to defend ourselves or to explain anything. However, there are certain immediate concerns that are no doubt slowly but are definitely pushing us in the wrong direction!

My worry stems from the fact that the wrong signals in the form of dangerous reporting (careless reportage), twisting of facts, misreporting and personalization of stories not to talk about seeming shreds of partisanship in their reportage. Simple journalism training that we all had (sorry but many no longer allow themselves to be trained) teaches us that we must state the facts and leave judgment (s)to our dear readers.

We are also to do some soul searching as we write our copies. We should be able to ask ourselves some basic questions before we go ahead to publish the things we write. We must ask ourselves: "Is it the truth?" "Would it bring about development?" "Would it be beneficial to all concerned"? ,"If it would it build goodwill and better friendships?", and "Is it fair to all?" The latter is my own addition. I learnt these during my journalism school days some 17 years ago and I can bet my last Ghana Cedi that it has served me well and provided me with greater sense of purpose and finesse not only in what I write, but also what I do in life generally.

I am sending this call on my colleagues because we must not only be able to clean ourselves. But also not allow people who have no clue about the intricacies of the profession to tell us what we (who call ourselves professionals) are expected to know and consider the basics of the job. I bet no one likes to be told his job. It may sound rather weird if we (journalists) go out there saying that surgeons in this country arte not doing their job well and that people are dying out of their ignorance or inability to do a good job and then go ahead to tell how the surgeries should be done. That is what I mean.

Now to the crunch. In recent times some newspapers (I do not intend to mention them) have decided to use contorted pictures of certain parliamentary and presidential candidates on their front pages and same in their inside pages if they have other stories on these personalities. I guess they have the right to use whatever picture they want. But from a professional point of view, it smacks of mischief and deliberate effort to present such people as not being good enough.

Let me explain this: If I put out pictures of a football match (between a team and another) and always show the legs of one side as shorter than normal) what perception am I trying to impute in the minds of supporters of that team and those who may want to associate with them?

There is nothing wrong with endorsing a candidate or a party. We all have our preferences and nothing can stop us. What is important is that we stick to the rules of the game and ensure that all sides are happy and ready to see us again after reading a story that takes them on, on a given issue.

Secondly, is the issue of headlines. This subject has been flogged over and over again and I think that if it has persisted all this while, it is because we do not care and have to "sell" our papers anyway. But, for the sake of peace of this country; for the furtherance of the accelerated pace of development that we are all anticipating and crave to see our country take the leap we see abroad, let us stick to the rules of the profession. There is nothing like a good story and we all know one when we see it.

We do not need to be caustic, partisan, twist the minds of our viewers, readers and listeners. They are very discerning and all we can do is to help them to consistently make reasonable choices. We do not have to be vulgar or appear as such standing for one party or the other. It is a political season after all. But we do not need to confuse our readers or listeners beyond the confusion, in the events of the times, with what we go about saying in our reports.

Last Week there was a report on JOY FM from HO about the former President campaigning for the National Democratic Congress and in the introduction, the reporter said: "The former President, who is known for his " and then continued with his report. The chorus that greeted the report was: "was that necessary"? The fact was that the reference had nothing to do with the objective of the story, yet it run that afternoon and in the evening in subsequent reports.

Subsequently, there have been others : " John Abandons Women", JJ Predicts Doom", Akufo-Addo Flops "Big Time" At IEA Debate," Ohene Agyekum Dodges Otumfuo, Rawlings insults Physically Challenged", Ghanaians Locked Up in Libya n 'Camp'" "Drug Money Tainting Ghana Poll", "Ghana Telecom Again"? "Gambians Butchered 40 Ghanaians" etc are just but a few that have caught my eye.

These stories may have some merit. But the question is if we could not have given them headlines that are tempered with the rotary four-way test questions listed above?

You will realize that I have not mentioned which papers had these headlines. This is deliberate with the view that on reading this they will see themselves in this mirror.

Is it any wonder some personalities are calling for a ban on phone-in programmes in the period leading to the 2008 elections while others are trying to put a lid on how journalists should report?

I read with glee and in full agreement an article in the Daily Graphic of October 30. 2008 by my friend Nii Moi Thompson titled: 'Whither Ghanaian Journalism?, It subjected the profession to a wake up call and hoped that we take the lessons in there in good faith. He was correct on many points. Two caught my eye in that "laziness seems to be at the heart of our problems and that we need to save ourselves from destruction."

Indeed, there are too many of us who fall foul of this charge. Too many of us are in this profession just to keep body and soul together. That must stop. There is nothing wrong with starting half full and gaining full knowledge and skill over time. What is dangerous is when we make ourselves Jack of all trades, knowing everything - from medicine to law right down to accounting practices and going to the extent of pontificating.

We must aim at specialization in an area and developing it to the fullest.

I am one of those eagerly awaiting the passage of the Right to Information Bill. However, we must prove to all and sundry that we are capable of handling the freedom that it brings, lest we will be digging holes for ourselves and God knows where it will lead this country in the aftermath of our election in December. We must not forget that all eyes now is on Ghana after the failure of Kenya and Zimbabwe to go the way of the US in holding a free and fair and election which would endear us to all peace loving people all over the world.

Let us do our nation proud. Let it not be told that. "it was the fault of journalists ..."

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