The present-day journalist boasts so much on the claim that the Media (Journalism) is the Fourth Estate of the Realm of the Government of the Republic of Ghana without critically assessing him or herself to find out whether the Watch-Dog role assigned to him or her by the laws of Ghana is effectively being carried out and yielding its purpose.
The proliferation of Media Houses in Ghana and the fact that nobody needs any specified license to practice Journalism here in Ghana is gradually making the Journalism profession very unprofessional.
Many who are ignorant about the nature of the job and the constitutional responsibilities of the Fourth Estate of the realm, are of the perception that all bloggers, tiktokers, actresses and actors such as Akwesi Buadi (Akrobeto) Nana Ama Mcbrown, and many others, hosting shows on national televisions, radio stations and social media platforms such as twitter, and many others, are professional journalists. This is a big no!
It is of a matter of urgency for the media authorities in Ghana to rise and speak to clear this misconception in the public domain.
It about time the general public receive an intensive education on what actually defines a person as a professional journalist.
Because we live in an era where everybody is giving information, everybody has suddenly become a journalist. Journalism goes far beyond information dissemination.
Real Journalism is getting the information, searching for the fact, interpreting the facts, and going beyond the facts to dive deeper into the existing problem to identify solutions; communicating this wholesome information to society so society can make informed decisions.
We are in the dispensation where information dissemination has become a very critical component of human life because information is needed to do virtually everything as far as human lives are concerned.
Extra care must therefore be considered when one says he or she is into journalism, considering the ethics, conscience, norm, values and standards of the profession.
The profession is not just about shouting on air or expressing one’s extreme grammatical gesture online or in print to disseminate a half-factual information just to have the rating bragging right.
No! It is about being Socially Responsible and fulfilling the mandate of the profession and its ethical principles.
Ethics is the branch of philosophy; (that is higher thinking) which attempts to appreciate the nature of man in terms of morals and also distinguishes between what is right from wrong.
Ethics has therefore been applied to all aspects of human life including the role of the media in society and more precisely the Journalist who uses the media as tools to inform and educate society so society can make an informed decision.
In the Republic of Ghana, there are stipulated and well-defined ethical principles that guard the Journalist or the messenger.
Prominent among these ethical principles is that of the Ghana Journalists Association Code of Ethics which serve as a monitoring tool and guards the everyday dealings of the practicing journalist.
This code encompasses all the challenges across the traditional media, new media, social media and across media as far as news gathering, processing and dissemination are concerned.
The main purpose of this code of ethics is to inevitably promote accountability, build trust and integrity, and add value to the output of journalism and media organizations and raise the image of the profession.
Among these ethical principles of the Ghana Journalists Association is “Reporting the truth at all times”. This principle requires the practicing Journalist to desist from all manner of lies and falsehood and report nothing but the absolute truth.
Truth is an integral element of honesty, loyalty and integrity in all human endeavors and it is extremely important that journalist exhibit this quality in order to ensure and promote fairness in their reportage.
At the just ended 26th edition of the Ghana Journalists Association’s prestigious Awards Launch at the international press center, the former president of GJA, Mr. Ransford Tetteh, who chaired the occasion, advised journalist to always be fair in their reportage and not lose their ethical principles in their quest to always be the first to break news.
Today the credibility of the Media is on the line. This is as a result of fake news being produced by both unprofessional journalists and imposters. This practice is giving everyone a bad name and is gradually setting media houses at each other’s throats.
To restore public trust and confidence in the media, some practitioners are expending invaluable time and resources to counteract this onslaught of information.
Their efforts are however a lost course because in recent times the creation of fake news has been metamorphosed from pranks into lucrative businesses.
Some news channels have been set up solely to propagate fake news, abysmal failure, and grand achievements of celebrities, allegations of immoral conducts of high ups, unimaginable cure for ailments, promotion of fetishism, sexuality and sophisticated inventions and so on which as a matter of fact have no aorta truth.
These and many other publications of same feather, have left society confounded, depressed and frustrated as they are forced all the time to find out the truth about what they read or hear.
In many instances this is not only a herculean task but also a fruitless search because corroboration of a news item by another is no guarantee for its credulity as both sources could be birds of a feather.
Most worryingly, when journalists who are seen as the guardians of democracy choose to be in bed with politics then society risks being endangered because democratic norms and ideations will be compromised and the ruled will eventually rebel, resulting in chaos and anarchy.
Sadly, the ‘Montie’ 3 is a classic example of journalists in such unethical practices.
Lawyer and a lecturer, Barrister Osei Kwodjo, is of the opinion that present day journalism is a total disappointment to the good people of mother Ghana.
He says, most journalists of our dispensation are not well educated though they have the requisite qualifications they boast of.
Our journalists have no understanding of what society is, they have no in-depth knowledge in Political Science, Public Policy Analysis, Constitutional Law, Economics and many other Social Sciences which are the foundation of Communication.
Deeper understanding in these courses equips the journalist and makes him or her effective on the Watchdog role.
According to him, the Ghana Institute of Journalism, was established by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the foremost president of the Republic of Ghana, to help with Governance. Hence the Watchdog rule.
The concept of Watchdog Media according to Ettema & Glasser, 1998; Norris, 2010; Spark, 1999, ‘is defined as a role which asks journalists to hold the government, individuals and institutions responsible and accountable for its policies and actions.
Journalists play their watchdog role by exposing abuses, corruption, evil practices, fraud, waste, maladministration or malfeasance of the government.
Waisbord, 2000 explains it as monitoring and having checks and balance on the government and exposing the malfeasance, corruption and wrong deeds of the government.
Per the watchdog role, Journalism is supposed to help society select the best people to lead the country but ironically, the very people the media must monitor and check (the Legislators, the Executive and the Judiciary) establish the media houses and employs the journalist (the Watchdog) who now becomes subordinate to the governing body.
How can such a watchdog watch right?
Our media space has been totally polarized and it is the innocent society which suffer the most. Most vibrate journalists in the land have sold their legitimate rights and liberties to the politician and society is left hanging upside-down and none cares.
It is true that the appropriateness of watchdog model in various parts of the world and allegiance of journalists toward this very ideation in their media practices are challenged by researchers.
Scholars claim that objectivity and watchdog role of media cannot go hand in hand; they have a potential clash in between them.
Because, the critical nature of watchdog idea requires media personnel to choose and shape news information in an active way which converts the reporting into interpretation function of media (Weaver & Wilhoite, 1996).
It must be noted that the freedom of the media is above the freedom of expression and the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law relished by the GJA is not to encourage irresponsible, unfair and other unethical journalism in the country.
The 1992 constitution guarantees freedom of expression, and one can say or publish anything one wants to, but the same 1992 constitution holds people responsible for any malicious or defamatory comments or publications. It is the normative responsibility of the media to play this role.
In this situation, if media play their watchdog role, by having checks and balance on the powerful people and exposing their misdeeds and as a result, the awareness level of the public becomes high, society will appreciate and participate in the political activities more actively and in a more informed manner.
In this way, the watchdog role serves people and strengthens democracy. This ultimately makes the lives of the people better.
To restore public trust and confidence in the media, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA)must call to order journalists perpetuating irresponsible and unethical journalism.
Moreover, the National Media Commission (NMC) should erratically name, shame and sanction media houses that abuse the freedom of expression of the media that came with the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law.
Besides the Ghana Journalists Association(GJA), media owners and all accredited media institutions in the country must ensure that all journalists are professionally trained to carry out their duties appropriately.
It is my highest expectation that one day the Articles 173 of the supreme laws of the Republic of Ghana which stipulates that “the national media commission shall not exercise any control or direction over the professional functions of a person engaged in the production of newspapers or other means of communication” will be amended.
I look forward to the period where professional Journalists will be given a License to operate in Ghana and to the scope where a journalist’s License can be revoked by a constitutionally empowered body, when the journalist acts contrary to the stipulated rules, ethical principles and standards of the Journalism profession.
That notwithstanding, the professional journalists who are ready and willing to redeem the good image of Journalism in Ghana must use their powerful tools; the Radio,
Television, and Print Media to incite the general public to continuously prosecute imposters and journalist who unlawfully and unethically defame or infringe on their rights. This will help redeem the good image of journalism in Ghana and restore sanity in our media space.
By Yamoah Seth Barack
