Towards a more pluralistic, responsive and ‘ethically-sound’ media

Access to information in any society is vital for two main reasons. First of all, it ensures responsible citizenship that allows the people to make informed decisions instead of acting out of ignorance or misinformation.

The public reaction to the Ebola crisis in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia attests to this. The governments failed to provide accurate and timely information and by the time the disease had taken charge the public message was not getting through because people were angry, upset and believed more in traditional practices to deal with the virus.

Secondly, information in the public domain allows citizens to monitor their elected representatives so that they uphold their oaths of office and carry out the promises they make to the electorate.

Media as link In this regard, the media are the link between those who govern and the governed. Indeed, the media are the fulcrum upon which governance and democracy are sustained. However, in many African countries, this seems to be lost on political leaders. It is not surprising, therefore, that the rumour mill is so rampant on the continent.

Even here in Ghana, for the past 10 years, activists have been trying to get Parliament to pass into law a revised version of the Right to Information Bill. This, really, should not be the case given the giant strides that the country has made since the bleak days of dictatorship and arbitrary rule. Given that Ghana is forging with a dynamic development programme, the more transparent governance is, things will get better on the economic front.

Strong media will yield dividends in governance, particularly those related to anti-corruption and the participation of citizens in the policy process. Added to these are checks by an independent media on the judiciary and on the electoral process that will allow free and fair elections. The latter means that candidates are given equal access to the media and campaigns are reported objectively.

But how responsive to these requirements are the media in Africa? In the last 20 years, Africans have witnessed a tremendous transformation of their lives – politically, economically and socially. In the areas of human and political rights, the changes have been astonishing. The military dictatorships and one-party oligarchies have given way to multi-party democracies, which, though, in some countries are once again being manipulated to the disadvantage of citizens.

Covering new political dispensation Obviously, the political process is one of the measures used for assessing human rights trends in countries that profess to be democratic. But first, those who are supposed to be the watchdogs of the democratic process have to be familiar with how the democratic process operates. For many African journalists, it has not been easy for them to cover the new political dispensation in their countries.

In the days of one-party politics or military dictatorships in Africa, it was difficult for citizens to be fully informed to make the right choices because the media was not free and the information that would allow citizens to make informed decisions on how they were governed was not easily available.

The state-owned media in Africa no longer holds the monopoly over the dissemination of news. Private newspapers and radio stations abound, thus creating a wide and diverse range of media organisations.

Of course, in this climate, the readership of newspapers and audiences for radio and television are becoming fragmented. In this regard, media organisations have to restructure their contents in order to maintain their readers, listeners and viewers.

As a result, in the realm of political reporting and monitoring of human rights, things have markedly changed for the better. However, for media practitioners, this does not mean that in the new dispensation, the media are free to cause insecurity and hatred in society by being irresponsible. Indeed, responsible media is the highlight of a free and open society. Having said this, the media should not operate in a manner in which they publish or not publish stories because they don’t like someone or they favour another person.

Of course, journalists can undertake self-censorship if they believe that publication of stories could lead to instability in society. Indeed, secure and stable societies are ones that have responsible media and open information systems.

In this regard, governments have a major role to play in developing and maintaining effective communication with citizens – with journalists as mediators. If this process is to be successful there should be two-way communication between government and the people.

If free media are allowed to operate in any society, the dividends can be seen in development, stability and improved human security. In this regard there should be continuous initiatives that will strengthen the professional capacity of journalists and media organisations. Apart from providing training, governments should be pro-active by regularly engaging journalists that will help them to better understand the complex nature of governance.

Therefore, I agree with the Chairman of the National Media Commission, Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, who we at the GNA reported as calling for the government to employ professional public relations officers to properly manage its communications. He said such professionals would be able to articulate the programmes and policies of the government better than untrained party spokespersons.

Focus on political communication Our London Bureau Chief, Mr Desmond Davies, a former Editor of West Africa magazine, made the same point in an article in the October edition of New African magazine when writing about governments’ communication failure in tackling the Ebola virus.

I quote: “Governments in Africa do not give public communication the priority it deserves. They invariably give press/communication officer roles to lowly placed officials or junior journalists who just disseminate official speeches that confound not only journalists but also the target constituents.

“These governments view the role for communication as a minor one, instead of one that should be part of senior management. Many do not understand the complexity of the communication process in government. They do not know how to communicate strategically.” Unquote.

In this regard, we at the GNA are planning to have a roundtable to help develop the capacity of those who find themselves in professional communication. We will be inviting media professionals, government ministers, politicians and civil society organisations to discuss the way forward for Ghana as it maps its way through what is now known as the information battle space.