Some journalists are deep in the pockets of politicians

President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Roland Affail Monney, has said that he has observed that some Ghanaian journalists are influenced by politicians in their line of work.

He, however, noted that these journalists are not to blame as our “system” has allowed that.

Explaining further, he told Samuel Eshun on e.TV Ghana’s Fact Sheet show: “The naked truth is that some journalists are deep in the pockets of the politicians and this is because of our system where we witness on a constant basis the invasion of the media space by politicians. So no wonder we have pro-NPP or pro-NDC stations in the country.”

Sharing his view on this phenomenon, he stated that it is understandable or acceptable that a politically inclined media house will extol its party while criticizing the other; provided this is based on facts.

He cautioned that journalists must do well to strike a balance between “partisan journalism” and independent journalism. That way, the citizenry can decide for themselves what information they choose to keep.

“Journalism is about facts and not falsehood. Independent journalism should operate side by side with partisan journalism and the people will decide,” he said.

According to the Media Ownership Monitor Ghana, one-third of all media outlets in the country are owned by politicians or people affiliated with the dominant political parties.

Much of the content they produce particularly news and current affairs are partisan.