<<Print>>It is true that there are mothers who are caring and exceptionally interested in the wellbeing of their children. In the same vein, it is true that are mothers who are heartless, inconsiderate and sycophants; mothers who care about themselves only.
In the case of media practitioners in Ghana, we have a mother that is heartless and inconsiderate; as for being sycophantic is another topic for another day. Our mother indeed does best at providing award plaques than keeping her children safe.
She cares more for the praises that what happens to her children is none of her business until one of her children suffers brutality; then she will pretentiously behave like she cares. Sometimes, I wonder if she is really our biological mother or a foster mom who doesn’t want to adopt a baby but decides to get one so her peers wouldn’t ridicule her. Imagine such a mother trying hard to prove her abstract love for the child. It is better for the child to have no parent than to suffer in the hands of such callous woman.
This mother of the media has seen and heard threatening words written and said to her children. She has, of course, ignored the threats. She has heard people unnecessarily blaming her children for their own failures and released their “attack dogs” on her children but again, she is unperturbed. Some of her children have had to beef up security for themselves, yet this mother is sitting aloof.
She has suddenly forgotten her role. Oh sorry! I meant to say she doesn’t care what happens to her child until the worst happens, then she will don her misery cloth and write a “tribute” to condemn the act but what good is your final word when your child has been maimed or is dead?
I am one of the sons of this mother. The only difference between me and her other children is that I am not her biological son. I am an adopted child but does it even matter whether adopted or biological? Are we all not her children? Why is our mother this insensitive and so apathetic? In fact, I’d rather not have a mother than to think I have one but acts like a stranger with no heart for humanity.
The name of the woman I’m talking about – my mother – is Ghana Journalists Association. Her nickname is GJA. GJA is the mother of all journalists in Ghana. Of course, as an Association, one has to become a member to enjoy the right of being called a GJA member, hence entitled to all the benefits that come with the Association. GJA is supposed to take care of her members and to a large extent every qualified journalist in the nation. But GJA has over the years proven to be an Association with weak leadership.
It’s become almost defunct until it’s time for them to hold their annual Ghana Journalists Awards to reward the hard work of her members. It is only during this time that GJA is seen to be doing something of value. After the awards, the executives go back to sleep and wait for another year to present glassy plaques to well-deserving journalists.
Is GJA telling us they haven’t heard nor seen what is currently going on in the country against journalists? Is the GJA so dead that they haven’t heard that politicians are inciting their supporters to attack journalists for doing their work for God and country? Is the GJA so cowardly afraid to speak up and ward off the political threats? Must a journalist be hurt or killed before they put on their suits and as usual write a press release that serves no purpose other than reading?
Here, I am talking of GJA executives not members because it is the members and non-members who are under attack while the executives with the President of the Association sit in their air-conditioned offices to discuss the news undertone because of political favors.
In my earlier paragraphs, I did refer to myself as an “adopted son” of my mother, GJA, and this is because I am not an active member of GJA but it still doesn’t negate the purpose for which the Association was set up and their functions. Unless the GJA wants to tell me it is not their responsibility to defend their members and possibly non-members as well, then I stand corrected.
In case, as a reader, you’re still lost and confused about what the problem is or why I will stay awake in the night to type this. It is not that I have nothing to do with my typing skills but rather because I find it difficult to understand why a journalist would have to receive death threats for professionally doing his or her job and why the GJA is looking on for something bad to occur and behave like they care.
In order to make clear what this is all about, let me press play, forward and rewind for you to refresh your minds about the current happenings.
The issue is about the irresponsible utterances from the leadership of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) whose Presidential candidate wasn’t declared victor in the 2020 Presidential elections. The party leaders, who know better or let me say are supposed to know better, have been blaming the media for their defeat; a defeat that is majorly based on their own inability to be vigilant so as to avoid being outsmarted by their political opponents.
To give you a gist about what is going on, just in case you have not been following the news. The NDC and their Presidential candidate, former President John Dramani Mahama have refused to accept the election verdict because they claim election fraud on the part of the Electoral Commission, hence not recognizing His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as President-elect.
After voting ended at the various polling stations, it was time to collate the results and the figures were recorded by political party agents serving as polling agents in their respective polling and voting stations. The various party agents saw the ballots, heard the counting of the ballots, recorded the ballots and appended their signatures to certify the results.
These results were reported to the media by their reporters who gave nothing but the provisional and/or certified results which the political party agents themselves had signed and the media, performing its role as a disseminator, also tells the public the results for them to know how their political party candidates are doing in the polls.
So, how come the media is to blame for your candidate not pronounced a winner?
They claim the media massaged the figures. They claim the media reported wrong figures. They claim the media had been bought by the political party that won the election, the New Patriotic Party (NPP). They claim the media wasn’t fair to them. They claim the media is the cause of their failure but they hold press conferences and call the same media to attend, so they put their message across to the general public. Are they not humorously mocking themselves?
How could the media massage figures when the figures were the certified results from the collation centers? How could the media buy figures and announce the winner of the elections when it is not the Electoral Commission? How could the media declare a candidate President-elect if the Electoral Commission’s results show otherwise?
Of course, some media organizations did project the results they have received from their reporters and correspondents across the 16 Regions and per their election projection, pointed out a candidate who is in the lead. Let me tell you what election projection means. Election projection is mere prediction based on facts. It is never wrong or unprofessional whatsoever for a media organization to project election results.
So, to those politicians and their supporters [here, I refer particularly to the National Democratic Congress], there was absolutely nothing wrong with the media projecting their figures to the general public to make them aware who was winning or had won the elections. It didn’t mean the media had declared the President-elect because the only accredited voice enshrined in the constitution of Ghana to make such pronouncement is the Electoral Commission Chairman or Chairperson!
Why do you, politicians, know the truth and yet deceive your supporters – your foot-soldiers and grass roots – and pitch them against the media? Why do you tell them a lie about the media? Why do you go to the extent of putting the media in danger?
The questions I’m asking are for the wise minds to provide the answers, not the feeble minds who are blinded by their political colors and follow sheepishly whatever their political masters tell them to do without rational thinking.
I have declined to mention names because I don’t want to sound personal but those political party leaders, who have refused to tell their supporters the truth, know themselves and they should note that posterity will surely judge them.
What amazes me is the fact that a leader who has been a Member of Parliament, a Deputy Minister, a substantive Minister, a Vice President and a President before and is a Statesman has kept mute when he knows one word of truth from him will save media practitioners from harm. But for his earnest desire for power, he has declined to insulate the media from his supporters’ attacks.
It boggles my mind that he has been dead silent when he knows his word carries weight and a good word from him will save the country from destruction, particularly when his supporters are agitated. It’s even more shocking that, although significantly impossible, should the election results be overturned and he is declared President-elect, he will still have to work hand in hand with the media to relay his messages and policies to the Ghanaian populace.
I can’t think far [in Lil Win’s voice].
To also think that our own GJA has no “balls” to defend us is so sickening that I find it difficult to be lenient towards them. GJA executives are COWARDS!
Their cowardice is too loud and visible, and I dare say they either need a new orientation about their duties or the board needs to be dissolved with immediate effect. We can’t have cowards and inconsiderate leaders representing us. We can’t continue to witness journalists being killed in their line of duty and all we get is a press release, no action!
We can’t have a mother who behaves like a complete nonentity in our lives. GJA is a big shame!!
Indeed, I cannot end without making sure one of us straightens out. To think that we have among us a journalist [I will mention name] in the person of Paul Adom Otchere of Metro TV who decides to add salt to the injury of journalists under attack, makes an irresponsible statement that we got our election figures from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is not only preposterous but also an act of betrayal.
Mr. Paul Adom-Otchere, my colleagues and I had our sleep interrupted for four (4) days [from Sunday to Wednesday] as we remained in our office monitoring the elections, writing news stories about occurrences at the polling and collation stations including the EC headquarters and across the nation, and inputting the election results to update our news website readers.
My colleagues and I did a great and good job that demands a rapturous applause. We didn’t rely on the NPP or NDC nor any political party for results. We did our independent professional work.
Therefore, if you, Mr. Adom-Otchere, lazily relied on NPP results, please do say so and don’t generalize it to capture all media organizations because what you said is an insult to our hard work. I hope you rectify your statement but if you feel too pompous to eat humble pie, please leave my media organization out of this.
I rest my case!