By Iddi Yire/Elizabeth Yaa Brobbey, GNA
Accra, Oct. 3, GNA – The National Media
Commission (NMC) has urged Government to affirm its unalloyed support for media
freedom and independence with the same vigour that it displayed in the repeal
of the Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws under the nation’s criminal code.
Mr Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh, the NMC Chairman
made the appeal on Thursday in his presentation at the Second GJA 70th
Anniversary Lecture in Accra.
Speaking on the topic “Is the Media under
Siege?” Mr Ayeboafoh applauded the initiative of the Ministry of Information to
develop a manual for the safety of journalists and media in the country.
He said it was left with all identifiable
groups to cooperate and lend their support in coming out with functional
policies to safeguard these freedoms.
He said all identifiable interest groups,
including political parties, government and non-government bodies, traditional
and religious entities, civil society organisations, the military and police,
must sign and pledge a declaration to abide strictly by the guarantees of media
freedom and independence, and in line with the International Federation of
Journalists’ (IFJ) nomenclature ‘to respect the rights of working journalists’.
He said: “But as media professionals, even
as we fight for zero tolerance towards impunity and attacks on media freedom,
we must learn from the IFJ when it submits that ‘a story is not worth the life
of a journalist’.”
“Journalists must learn to survive, to avoid
injury, jail, expulsion or any of the other perils of our profession and still
get the story.”
He said journalists must cooperate with the
NMC by reporting all such incidents officially since each of them involve abuse
of the right of media freedom and independence, which was under the mandate of
the Commission.
Mr Ayeboafoh said the safety manual of the
IFJ “Danger! Journalists at Work”, recommends that every attack on journalists
must be reported, noting that, “Publicity also increases public awareness of
this problem. If you know of attacks against journalists that have not been
published ask your union to back up the issue with your editor. Information is
the only weapon we have in fighting violence against journalists.”
He said the NMC was enjoyed by the
Constitution to present a report on its activities annually to Parliament and
the record of abuse or attacks on media freedom would ignite debate in
Parliament, which would go a long way to help orient people to respect the
right of media freedom and independence.
He said there was the need for Ghanaians to
be oriented and conscientised to accept the reality of the constitutional
guarantee of media freedom and independence.
Mr Ayeabofoh said the 1992 Constitution
guarantees not only media freedom and independence, but also provides absolute
immunity from criminal prosecution of journalists and publishers for their
editorial opinions and views or the content of their publications.
Mr Ayeboafoh, who also gave historical
perspectives of some infractions against media personnel from the 1980s into
the Fourth Republican era, noted that: “In spite of these reprehensible and
abominable developments, we cannot conclude with certainty and definitiveness
that the media are besieged and that the present is not conducive to the
practice of journalism with freedom and independence”.
GNA
