The Ghanaian Constitution in chapter five, after guaranteeing citizens the rights of speech, expression and of the press and other media, added that “[a]ll persons shall have the right to information.” This is such an onerous responsibility thrust upon the media in particular.
The framers proceeded in chapter twelve to guarantee freedom and independence of the media. I doubt many, even journalists and media owners truly grasp the import, and the summary in the hackneyed expression – the media is the fourth estate of the realm.
I once disclosed my most favourite part of the provision and the major reason I still do this job. It’s this article 162(5): ‘’All agencies of the mass media shall, at all times, be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of this Constitution, and shall uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people of Ghana.’’
I urge media practitioners to read this at least once a week for five months, memorizing and getting it right deep into our DNA. I can be certain of the perspectives and actions it will provoke in ‘radicalizing’ a journalist into a true patriot whose chief aim in this job will be to do the exact dictate of article 162 (5) with utmost integrity in the national interest.
The structure and purpose of my show (news analysis), may not give me room to do certain things, but President of one of Africa’s topmost think tanks, Franklin Cudjoe, has got me feeling guilty of under-serving the people in this my role.
I moderated a public lecture organized by the Christian Service University College in Kumasi yesterday evening, and the IMANI boss got me rededicating myself to this job for as long as remain in it.
I am not unaware of the media’s critical role in our democratic experiment thus far and what this country would have been without the media.
But it is true that we do have a massive lot of lazy practitioners who are failing the profession and citizens. We do very little or nothing at all about press statements or claims made especially by politicians.
Sometimes, all it takes to expose the lies and deceit, avoid damaging reputations of entities and individuals without cause is only a google away.
Franklin asked if the media, generally, asked politicians during the 2016 election campaigns how much their grand promises would cost and how they intended to fund them, and whether those who did insisted and exacted the answers to help voters make informed choices?
What did we even do with the research and analysis of some of these promises and jokes wrapped in manifestoes supplied to us free by IMANI? Which political party or candidate submitted a blueprint of any of the major promises?
A good number of those promises would, by casual estimates, cost many times more than the entire country is worth, we learnt. Don’t sell your conscience for those insulting and demeaning handouts, not even the promise of cars, houses to be procured with cash stolen from law-abiding hardworking tax-paying citizens, or promise better-paying jobs.
‘’All agencies of the mass media shall, at all times, be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of this Constitution, and shall uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people of Ghana.’’
Let article 162 guide your every action in this job.
Samson Lardy ANYENINI
29thApril, 2017
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