MEDIA'S ROLE KEY TO DEVELOPMENT (SEPT 16, 2010)

THE power of the media to inform, educate, entertain and set the agenda is phenomenal but in certain cases some media practitioners abuse the honour of belonging to the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
Indeed, the challenges facing journalistic practice in the country will not be overcome without a bold step to cure the ills of the profession, such as the blatant disregard for the code of ethics of journalism.
The code of the profession is underpinned by the conviction that journalism is a public good that rejects the philosophy that the best journalist must be the first to break the news even when the facts are not available.
Our media practitioners can help grow and renew the country’s democratic life through the building of public trust in the media. That new partnership between journalism and its audience/readers can only be achieved if the practitioners use the new era of information and journalism to inform accurately, inspire and educate the present generation about opportunities available to them.
Another imperative relates to how to ensure that journalism remains independent of political influence and also keep government hands off the media?
It is for this reason that the DAILY GRAPHIC considers the assurance by President J. E. A. Mills that there is no incentive for the government to gag the media very heart-warming.
Speaking during a visit to the Castle last Tuesday by members of the National Media Commission, (NMC), the President advised the NMC and the media to be guided by their conscience in the exercise of their freedom to prosecute what was right and proper for national development and democracy.
There is little doubt that many of the crises in journalism today has its roots in the blatant breach of the code of ethics by a section of media practitioners.
For the way forward, journalists are called upon to turn their back towards the verbal assault on the character of public office holders and join the NMC and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to defend the ethical core of the profession.
Although a section of the media does not use the columns and airtime to promote public good, many journalists have raised issues that have led to policy interventions to change the status quo.
The DAILY GRAPHIC appeals to all journalists to reflect on the admonition by President Mills and resolve to restore public confidence in journalism. The expanded frontiers of journalism since the advent of constitutional rule has helped to shape governance in such manner that the people had had the opportunity to vote out sitting governments on two occasions.
However, the threat to media freedom may not be from outside, but from within although some public office holders are unable to stand media criticism. Indeed, a critical and functional media will continue to matter in upholding public accountability and transparency in the conduct of national affairs.
The future of journalism, even in our country, is captured succinctly by Bill Korach, a former curator of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, when she said, “Journalism does more than keep us informed, it enables us as citizens to have our voices heard in the chambers of power and allows us to monitor and moderate the sources of power that shape our lives”.