Panelists on GBC’s 85th Anniversary discussion programme have made a case for the media and their freedoms to be sustained to grow the country’s democracy.
They talked about protection of journalists, wrongful liberalisation of the media, monetisation of the media landscape that has led to the closure of some stations and political polarisation of the media.
According to them, these are threats to Ghana’s democracy with most of them describing the closure of media houses for nonpayment of regulatory fees as harsh and a threat to press freedom.
A lecturer at the Department of Communication, Innovation and Technology at UDS, Dr. Eliasu Mumuni, touching on the variety of threats the media face, said complaints from journalists regarding their abuse of freedom should not be overlooked because it amounts to stifling their freedom and does not consolidate the country’s liberty.
He said considering the happenings in the media space, there is the need to step back to review their progress in the fourth republic. He raised issues with the media ownership which has been captured by politicians and derailing professionalism.
A lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies at UCC, Dr. Micheal Serwornoo, made a case on why it is not wrong for politicians to own media houses but cautioned that a one-sided media which promulgates only the ideas of the owner is failing democracy.
Making a point on how the media is serving the public interest, a lecturer at UPSA, Dr. Theodora D. Adjin-Tettey, called on employers to train journalists to detect fake news and for them to be better and remunerated and well equipped.
