State Of Ghanaian Media Report 2023 Launched

The School of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon, has publicized the State of The Ghanaian Media Report 2023 to mark its golden jubilee.

A Former Dean of the School, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo gave the overview of the study which culminated in the document. She said it is important that journalists and other communicators are paid better remuneration for the professional services they provide which ultimately guides all social forces and sectors of the economy. Thus it is her suggestion that media organizations find innovative ways to raise revenue to incentivize broad actuators like journalists.

She noted that despite the media being continually buffeted by all kinds of forces, most journalists believe that they are able to exercise their legitimate duties and that the pushback which remains an existential reality, is usually unpredictable.

The Director-General of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Professor Amin Alhassan gave the keynote address. He called for the regulation of media content in the spirit of safeguarding societal values as opposed to the conventional notion of censorship which he says has systematically been undone in the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

The primacy of media regulation in the current constitutional dispensation rests with the National Media Commission. However, alluding to platform transmission fees charged on the electronic media, he said that whilst that albatross could be a drowner, it also reveals that a slice of the regulator’s role could escape through the glaring backdoor due to the increasing reliance on the telecoms by broadcasting systems.

He recommended a collaboration of some sort since the telecoms are unavoidably interwoven in the scheme of things. One such involvement which tends to be positive was the expunging of a weaponized media outlet which had implications for the peace and security of the country.

Professor Amin Alhassan also called for a resolute response to the fast-changing media environment where the New Media have become sharper in their manifestations as a double-edged sword. While calling for their excesses to be checked, he said there seem to be legitimate grounds to cost online platforms for the use of content that is not their own.

The Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission, NMC, Mr. George Sarpong who is a lawyer and a communication expert felt it was home-coming because he is an alumnus of the School of Communications Studies. Months before this launch, Mr. Sarpong had publicly stated the oversight role of the NMC stopped short of regulation of media content. It was an apparent response to public outcry at reckless media reportage.

He invited Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah to perform the launch of the report. It was during Dr. Spio-Garbrah’s time as Communications Minister that he and his then deputy, former President John Mahama spearheaded the communication revolution that allowed and intensified digitalization and plurality in the sector from 1998.  Both are alumni of the School.

Supporting institutions for the report and its launch include the Embassy of the United States in Ghana which was represented by its Deputy Chief of Mission. Madam Nicole Chulick and the Media Foundation for West Africa. The United States embassy had in a recent release, cited Ghana for gross human rights violations including those perpetrated on the media. The Government of the United States stresses openness and transparency as some of the pillars for sound democratic development and protection of human rights.

Also present at the event were Dr. Bonnah Koomson and Prof. Kwame Karikari, both are authorities in the field of communication.