The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has expressed concern over the growing number of defamation lawsuits against journalists, warning that the trend is weakening investigative journalism and threatening press freedom in Ghana.
Speaking in an interview on the legal challenges confronting media practitioners, GJA General Secretary Dominic Hlordze said journalists are increasingly being forced to divide their time between reporting stories and defending themselves in court.
“Investigative journalism is the lifeblood of journalism. And if that is going down, you can imagine what is happening with our journalism in the country,” Hlordze said.
He revealed that more than 15 defamation cases are currently pending against journalists and media organisations, adding that he is personally handling 15 of those cases as legal counsel for the affected journalists, while noting that several other cases remain unreported.
According to him, the financial and emotional burden of litigation discourages journalists from pursuing investigative stories.
“A lot of journalists don’t have what it takes to even go to court. So if every day they are to go to the field to get stories, they now have to go to the courts to defend themselves,” he said.
Hlordze argued that the increasing legal pressure on journalists undermines the media’s constitutional role of promoting transparency and holding public officials accountable.
“We all believe that transparency, accountability, probity, fairness getting the people to know what is happening in society is good for democracy. And so if we are doing it and there are impediments, there are lawsuits, you are being prevented from doing what you have decided to do,” he said.
His comments come amid renewed debate over media freedom following the contempt case involving The Herald editor, Larry Dogbey, who was sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment by an Accra High Court before being granted bail of GH¢100,000 pending further proceedings.
Although Hlordze did not comment directly on the case, he said the GJA remains deeply concerned about the cumulative impact of lawsuits and other legal actions on investigative journalism, warning that continued pressure on journalists could weaken accountability, transparency and Ghana’s democratic governance.
