Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale.
THE Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa Professor Kwame Karikari has advised radio stations in the regions not to replicate wholesale programmes from sister stations in Accra but that they must design their own agenda to address their peculiar needs.
“You should come out with your own programmes and initiatives that will help enrich the people and also accelerate the development of your respective communities because if you continue copying from elsewhere, you will soon become irrelevant to your own people,” he admonished.
Professor Karikari also expressed concern over the politicisation of issues in the country and cautioned that if it was not stopped, it will affect the growth of the nation since credible people would not feel comfortable in their actions and utterances because of the fear of being tagged of belonging to party A or B.
“You are labelled either belonging to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) depending on what you say at any particularly given time,” he noted.
Professor Karikari gave the advice at a media development forum in Tamale at the weekend which was attended by managers of radio stations from the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions.
It was themed: "The responsibility of the broadcaster in promoting free speech in a democracy." The forum which was under the auspices of the foundation's Ghana Media Standards Improvement Project (GMSIP) was funded by the Royal Danish Embassy in Accra.
Professor Karikari further cautioned media practitioners against allowing themselves to be used by politicians and indicated that such journalists are often dumped after they have been used to achieve the selfish interests of their pay masters.
“The interest of politicians are not always in the best interest of the public,” he reminded them and noted that even though such erring journalists are normally parted on the back by their masters, they are often scorned by the general public who see them as pawns.
He therefore urged media practitioners to be assertive in the discharge of their duties at all times and not allow themselves to be relegated to the background through their actions or inactions because “how you sell yourself is how you will be bought.”
Professor Karikari also underscored the need for the media to reposition itself and focus on issues of national unity and development. He said the media had the power to either construct or destroy but indicated that such powers should be used responsibly for national good.
He reminded them of the need to be truthful, accurate, fair and decent and to ensure social harmony and peace at all times in their reportage stressing, “we have a responsibility to be positive and offensive for progressive.”
A veteran journalist and media consultant, Mr. Edward Ameyibor charged media practitioners in the north to be objective in their reportage and also endeavour to portray the positive attributes of the area instead of always dwelling on the negatives that are often blown out of proportion.
“There are more violent crimes in other parts of the country, but while theirs are well managed, those in the north are sometimes exaggerated and blown out of proportions,” he observed.
Mr. Ameyibor called on the media to expose people behind the fanning and sponsoring of conflicts in the north to help stem the tide for development to thrive in the area that he noted has the potential for growth.
A registrar at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. A.B.T. Zakaria indicated that the media, particularly radio, is a serious business that needed to be operated and managed by fair minded professionals to achieve the desired results.
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