POLITICIANS ARE A THREAT TO GHANA’S MEDIA

The state of Ghana’s media has become questionable, due to the proliferation of political activists.
A research conducted by the department of Communication of the University of Ghana, indicates that there is high concentration of the media in the hands of politicians, controlling the public space through media houses they have established.

The Dean of the Department of Communication at the University of Ghana, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo stressed that the media is in “a few powerful hands”

“We find the political capture of the broadcast media space in particular and the increasing concentration of the media in a few hands as worrying for the country’s democracy and needs to be addressed.

The research, conducted in collaboration with the Media Foundation for West Africa with funding support from the US embassy and the College of Education of the University of Ghana, provided scientific evidence.

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The research was based on the welfare of journalists, safety, professional practice, and financial viability of media organizations, among others.

Digging much into the report, Prof. Gadzekpo said the study revealed that media ownership in the country is held by political faces leading them to set agenda for most of the broadcast media entities and which does not augur well for the country’s democracy.
She added that, whilst there is rapid establishment of media houses, the National Communication Authority (NCA) encourages a laissez faire attitude to foster transparency of the media houses.

The host of LuckyTV morning show programme, Mr. Oti-Faabin Kakra in the discussion segment with his panel members agreed to the research and called on authorities to save the media with regards to intimidation of journalist.

“Intimidation on journalist must be addressed and frequencies given must be scrutinized for the purposes of protecting journalists and the country’s democracy”