THE MEDIA MUST BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF SOCIETY AND SUFFICIENTLY DIVERSE TO PRESENT THE PUBLIC WITH A REASONABLY REGIMEN OF NEWS AND VIEWS

THE MEDIA MUST BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF SOCIETY AND SUFFICIENTLY DIVERSE TO PRESENT THE PUBLIC WITH A REASONABLY REGIMEN OF NEWS AND VIEWS

Issues concerning the MEDIA and SOCIETY have long been discussed at different levels and at different times around the globe.

Contradictions as to whether or not, JOURNALISTS are well taken care of by their employers remains unanswered, and their remuneration issues can be traced back to the beginning of the profession itself, where professionals were referred to as low income earners. Even it’s evident today. This thought concerning lean salaries for journalists seem to be true, and Africa relatively most affected.

The situation is not different in Ghana. The following points will depict our discussion in short notes.

·         Ownership and control/censorship

·         Freedom of speech and expression

·         Economics and sponsorship

·         Political persuasion

We start our discussion with ownership and control of the media. We are very much aware that there are individuals belonging to political parties, who are owners of media houses in Ghana. It will be very difficult for journalists and their media houses to practice diversity in the society they serve.

However, freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, provides enviable opportunities to citizens, young and old, to present views and also outline their concerns on Public or Social Policies that affect them negatively or positively. This is evident in talk-show programmes in the electronic media.

Moreover, media outlets continue to face challenges on the basis of economics and sponsorship issues. The airspace (for the electronic media) is very expensive and the MEDIA depend on advertisement to stay in business. Imagine a politician, who has injected huge sums of money into sponsoring your programme and at the same time the news item on your station has something that tarnishes his party’s image. This means that he will withdraw his investment without hesitation. This poses a threat to practicing professionalism and diversity in the industry to society.

Furthermore, the wake of mass media, including SOCIAL MEDIA platforms; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc, has provided undeniable opportunities to individual bloggers, to woo their followers through their artistic writings to set agenda. It is this same channel Barack Hussein Obama, the former President of the United States, in his presidential ambitions in 2008, at the time almost all media outlets in the country had denied him access to the mainstream media, reach his million audiences through Facebook, to vote him into power. The current President of the same country, Donald John Trump, seems to utilize twitter to send his message, even about his government/governance.

To conclude with, the MEDIA is not sufficiently diverse to present the public with reasonable news and views. One unanswered thought I had always had is, if we are aware of control of the media by the elites in society but that is not acceptable, that alone admonishes us to do something about it. It is high time we came out with new or different theories and ideologies that will avert political(cians) or the elites in society influencing situations, so that the MEDIA can be professional and diverse.

I recommend that we consider this discussion topic and comments, including many others, to reach a consensus to make our media landscape free from control, to provide diversified news and views to the public(s).

 

Source: The Future Projects

By:  Nyarko Abronomaa Walker

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