Head of Media Studies at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), Dr. Paul Anzah Ackah Herzuah, has described as appalling the attitude of Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A-Plus.
A Plus, a panel of United Television (UTV) late Saturday entertainment show, United Showbiz, had on a previous episode torn apart a copy of the letter addressed to the management of UTV, by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The letter complained about the editorial style of the show, including its paneling, which the party alleged was not fair, as the party and the government were mostly bashed with no opportunity for rebuttal.
Last Saturday, some 16 aggrieved supporters of the NPP invaded the studio of UTV, where the show was taking place, forcing the host, who was introducing the guests to stop abruptly, after which the show was taken off the screen.
Though the NPP has come out to confirm their identity, but has also distanced itself from the action, claiming it did not sanction it.
Speaking on the Sunrise Show with Johnnie Hughes on 3FM on October 9, 2023 Mr. Herzuah said “It was unfortunate, given the fact that it involved a top political party like the NPP. The invasion was a despicable act and it can be condemned in no uncertain terms. But looking at what happened before the invasion, with A-Plus tearing the letter apart on live TV, was also still not the best, as far as I am concerned.”
As much as he said the attack on UTV was despicable and unfortunate, he blamed the media house, saying “UTV could have reined in A-Plus and prevented him from tearing up the communiqué.
“We have freedom of speech and freedom of action granted; he can defend himself, but I think that the media also have a responsibility to really check certain things,” he indicated.
Despite the fact that the media has the freedom to choose whoever they want on the show, they sometimes have to bear the consequences of the actions that they take.
To some extent, Mr. Hezrah said the media has brought this upon themselves, stating that “Once the program assumes a certain dimension in terms of politics, then it becomes quite compatible, in the sense that this country is partly divided, thus between NPP and NDC whatever action you take, you may be branded as belonging to party A or B, and that is why I am saying that you have the responsibility to rein in certain things in order not to be branded as belonging to a particular party”.
As a result of this, he urged the media to sit up and ensure that things were well streamlined.
“We are all aware that this country is polarized, in terms of NPP and NDC, and so if you are a media station and you profess to be neutral, what happens is that you have viewership that comes from both sides of the political divide, and so if something happens and some of your viewers realize that it didn’t go well, then you, the media station, have the responsibility to put certain things in place,” he added.
The lecturer, who further condemned the management of NPP, said that even though they had the right to say what they said, they (NPP) cannot dictate to the media how they should operate, because the media has the right to make things flow, according to the ethics of work.
In a related development, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former minister of environment, science, technology and innovation, said the attack shows how the government has fostered impunity.
He claimed that when NPP youth assaulted state officials in the past, similar actions were taken, but the government did nothing to punish them.
“Perhaps these thugs have taken cue from how the government and the party have allowed impunity to fester and grow in the NPP.
“If I recall, no one was allowed to be punished when similar groups went to the seat of government in the Ashanti region to attack the then-national security coordinator. Again, no one was made to face the law when these brutes attacked a court in Kumasi, making the lady judge who was sitting on that case run for her life in the full glare of the public,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the host of the show, Gloria Akpenenyarku-Acquah, known as MzGee, explained in an interview yesterday that the paper A Plus torn apart was not what the NPP submitted to the station.
According to her, because the party shared the letter on social media, A-Plus came to the studio holding his copy, and that was what he destroyed.
