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Dr Wilberforce S. Dzisah, the Rector of Ghana Institute of Journalism, has urged political journalists to be factual, balanced, fair, and above all to endeavour to serve the Ghanaians with undiluted information.

Speaking at a just ended three-day seminar for Journalists on Effective Election Campaign Reporting at Sogakope in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region, Dr Dzisah said the media has the responsibility to be answerable to society.

“We cannot claim to be the mirror of society if our reports are slanted, jaundiced and tainted with the very ills for which we berate others and try to hang. Media accountability must be seen as both horizontal and vertical,” he added.

The Seminar was organised by the Ghana Institute of Journalism in collaboration with the American Embassy in Ghana to enhance objective and balanced political reportage during and after the 2016 general elections.  

He stressed the need to redefine the traditional function of the media within the context of attaining balance and journalistic objectivity in the country’s election coverage.

He said the watchdog function of the media appeared to focus only on official wrongdoing because from a traditional point of view under liberal theory government is the sole object of media vigilance.

He noted that conception need to be recreated whereby the media are conceived as being a check on both public and private power.

Dr Dzisah said that modification diminishes the case of ‘market freedom’ since it could no longer be equated with independence from all forms of power.

“The issue is no longer simply that the media are compromised by their links to big business: the media are big business. The media are assumed to be independent, and to owe allegiance to the public, if they are funded by the public and organised through a competitive market.

“This theory ignores the many other influences that can shape the media, including the political commitments and private interests of media shareholders,” he added.   

Dr Dzisah said while that poses a major challenge, the ethical responsibility imposed on the media and by virtue of the professional training should be the guiding light, adding, “we must not lose sight of the wider relations of power and the influence exerted through news management.

“The most debilitating component is the ideological power of leading groups in society as well as our addiction to ethnic and tribal allegiances.

“While Article 162 of the 1992 Republican Constitution in principle insulates the state-owned media from governmental control, we must equally be worried about the threat posed to the private media by shareholders/owners.

“We are yet to see unfettered freedom and independence of the private media by way of legislation that shields private media from corporate owners…catechism subscription of to the free market is not the best way to secure fearless media watchdogs that serve democracy.

“Instead, practical steps should be taken to shield the media from the corruptions generated by both the political and economic systems of both public and private spheres within the nation. Therefore in our election coverage of the various political party candidates and their parties, we must go behind the veil to establish a sense of legitimacy,” he added.

Mr Kwesi Jonah, Senior Research Fellow at Institute of Democratic Governance, blamed the current tension in the country on the growth of vigilante groups, political pluralisation, interpret language, competing interest, media ownership and unholy alliance between the hosts of programmes, reporters and politicians.

He said context is very necessary composite in giving clarity and urged political reporters to add good political context to their story, adhere to principles of balanced and fairness and always ensure that their stories are popular with the people and have a democracy enhancing values.

Mr Kwesi Gyan Apenteng, Chairman of the National Media Commission, presenting a paper on “Reporting Electoral Conflict”, said lots go into training and peace-building in places where elections go on successfully.

He said elections should be celebrations of democracy and must come with joy and not tensions and fears.

Mr Apenteng noted tensions go up because the citizens hear and see things that are frightening, thereby defeating the peaceful and joyful nature of elections.

“Elections by itself is a mechanism to resolve a conflicts. Elections, though it is good, we do not it because it is nice; it is a serious business and the journalist must begin to understand what is at stake, what the people want their leaders to do if elected,” he added.

He attributed election conflicts/violence in developing countries to high unemployment levels in those countries and stressed the need to strengthen weak institutions that are to ensure that elections are free and fair.

He suggested the need to develop a tool for peace journalism, which would drive on voter education, peace-building and watchdog functions of the media.

Ms Sara Veldhuizen Stealy, Press Attache at the American Embassy in Ghana also reiterated the need for political journalists to go about their reportage professionally by asking questions, analysing them and interpreting them factually.