Media must create open, enlightened society • Say Leonora Kyerematen

Page 14, April 10. 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Co-ordinator of the National Governance Programme (NGP), Mrs Leonora Kyerematen, has challenged the media to create an open and enlightened society that will demand transparent, accountable governance through fighting dictatorship, corruption and abuse of power.
She said the media must devise means of demystifying government in order to render it less remote and abstract to the people.
“The media is expected to expand socio-political and economic space that gives voice to the vulnerable and marginalised groups and offer opportunity for divergent views thereby engendering a sense of common ownership of, and commitment to the development agenda,” she said.
Mrs Kyerematen was speaking at a symposium organised by the Parliamentary Press Corps of Ghana as part of a week-long activities marking the 15th anniversary of the corps. The anniversary is being held on the theme: “The role of the Press Corps in parliamentary democracy”.
Mrs Kyerematen noted that Ghanaians had come to see the media as a great potential for peace building, saying that the media’s role in supporting the electoral process, through the levelling of the playing field, sharing information and exposing malpractice to ensure free, fair and credible elections, was commendable.
She said Ghanaians expected the media “to act as the Inspector General of the Political Landscape, in order to provide the necessary public criticism, to ensure a high degree of political integrity among power holders and brokers”.
Mrs Kyerematen, however, expressed concern about the unfair agenda setting and default in the cross-checking of stories and sources thereby bringing the media’s integrity into disrepute and negating the gains of democracy.
“We have witnessed cases of biased, sensational, politicised, trivialised and sometimes woefully exaggerated reporting, that has embarrassed or damaged the reputation of individuals or groups of persons,” she said.
Dilating on the theme for the anniversary, Mrs Kyerematen called on Parliament to protect a free and independent media while the media should also try to build public confidence in Parliament.
She suggested a mutual co-operation between Members of Parliament (MPs) and members of the Parliamentary Press Corps to ensure that activities of MPs were made known to the public.
For his part, the Minority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, urged members of the corps to see their reportage as part of the country’s development process and strive to be above partisan politics.
He called for measures to make the corps to be part of the Parliamentary Service and urged Parliament to provide the necessary assistance to enhance the work of journalists covering proceedings of the House.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Adenta, Mr Kwadjo Opare-Hammond, suggested to newspaper editors to devote a page to the activities of Parliament and MPs.
Launching the anniversary earlier, the Deputy Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Frank Agyekum, asked members of the corps to ensure a balance in their reportage to enhance parliamentary democracy.
He commended the corps for its role over the years and reminded members about the importance of projecting both the Majority and Minority in Parliament.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association and Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, said the association recognised the important role being played by the corps, hence the decision to include Parliament and Political Reporting as part of its annual awards programme.
He challenged journalists covering Parliament to be analytical in order to educate Ghanaians about bills and the role of MPs.
Mr Tetteh said the current trend whereby people called for a change when MPs spent two terms was not helpful to the country’s parliamentary democracy and suggested that MPs should be given more time to mature.
The Dean of the Parliamentary Press Corps, Mr Andrew Edwin Arthur, called on corporate bodies to assist the corps to periodically organise courses to update the knowledge of its members.