At a forum organised by the National Commission on Civic Education in Accra, Prof. Kwame Karikari, Executive Chairman of the Media Foundation for West Africa, echoed the concerns of many, when he said media ownership by politicians could be dangerous.
The former Director of the School of Communications Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, was of the opinion that the ownership of media outlets by politicians, tended to vest too much power in them, and suggested a means of discouraging politicians from owning media institutions for information flow.
It is a serious cause of concern which should agitate the minds of all Ghanaians. The Chronicle, though, is unable to buy into the Professor’s suggestion that politicians ought not be allowed to own media houses, on account that they could use such outlet(s) to foment trouble.
According to state-run Daily Graphic, the University don said examples from countries in the West African sub-region and Rwanda suggest that politicians used their media establishments to fan tribal and political conflicts and promote genocide, and that Ghana needed to guide against the phenomenon.
Much as The Chronicle shares the concerns of the head of the Media Foundation for West Africa, we are of the view that one need not own a media outlet in this environment to foment trouble. We, therefore, need not disturb the beautiful arrangement under Article 162 of the Constitution, which does not discriminate against the ownership and operations of the mass media.
We are of the view that strengthening the National Media Commission to call editors and other gate-keepers of the media to order, when necessary, would be a better means of dealing with those who would normally want to use the media to cause trouble.
The history of the newspaper and the electronic media is rooted in publishers who establish newspapers, because they need the medium provided to propagate their own gospel. This phenomenon does exist in this country alone, but all over the world.
In Ghana, when the Bannerman brothers conceived the idea of publishing the first newspaper owned by a native of this country, and established the ‘Accra Herald’, it was handwritten to put out messages. The founding fathers of independent Ghana used the newspapers they founded to put the message of self-government across.
The first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, exploited the power provided by the Accra Evening News to get the message of ‘Self-Government Now’ forcefully across.
On the attainment of independence, he founded the Guinea Press, now the New Times Corporation in 1958, and charged the publishing house with forcefully disseminating the message that the Ghanaian was capable of managing his or her own affairs to the colonial establishment, who were still controlling vital areas of economic activities in the country.
Media ownership by political elite is an idea borrowed from Britain and other established democracies. Up till now, leading newspapers in Britain, the United States, Germany and other major democracies still toe certain party lines. It is not a problem peculiar to this country.
We believe that any attempt at gagging politicians from owning newspapers and other media for mass communication would fly against the 1992 Constitution, which is helping to open up this nation to free speech and expression. We can ill-afford to ban anybody from owning a media outlet. It is simply undemocratic!
Source: Chronicle/Ghana
More here:
Editorial: Politicians have a right to own media houses