A NEGATIVE PRESS OR A NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENT
There is a growing perception of the Ghanaian media that it only feeds into negative news. They rarely report or give much attention to positive news or happenings in this country. This, as the argument suggests, emboldens foreign media to also report only negative news about Ghana and even Africa as a whole.
I strongly disagree with such perception about the Ghanaian media on grounds that the media gives attention to issues that are prevalent in its environs. Because Ghana is fraught with so many challenges, the media is forced to focus on giving attention to the same to draw the attention of the leaders.
Yes, the news must be balanced with both positive and negative stories. But if the country is suffocating under so many challenges, the media cannot turn a blind eye just because they want to put the country in a positive space on the international front.
So, if almost all the roads in this country are worthy and not deplorable, the media would still report negatively about roads? When roads are claiming so many human lives, because of the failure of state authorities, the media shouldn’t question them?
Roads have now become death traps. When more than 50% of roads in the country are of poor quality, the media should keep quiet about it and let them continue to kill the ordinary citizen? When for some reasons contractors leave sites before projects are completed, the media should shut up about it?
In fact, my next article may be on the poor and deadly nature of a section of the Accra - Assin Fosu road. I have been travelling between the two places for almost two years now and every time a vehicle gets to that spot, it's prayer time. It should take no more than 30 minutes to cross that section but it takes more than an hour due to the nature of the road and you want me (the media) to keep quiet about it?
When Accra is so choked with people and dirt, the media should keep quiet about it, yeah? Because of inadequate development in rural areas, almost everybody is now moving to the likes of Accra and Kumasi to seek for some perceived greener pastures which basically don’t even exist. No proper drinking water, inadequate schools (even where there are schools, the structures there are in no proper shapes to enhance good academic work), inadequate access to electricity, deplorable roads which is killing a lot of people, just to mention a few are some of the major problems this country is faced with especially in the rural areas. Imagine yourself sharing the same source of water with animals, would you be happy with that?
When you come from a community where English Language is taught in your local language, that's when you know that this country has a long way to go.
When the country is dying of corruption with no prosecutions happening, the media should applaud who for what good work is done? Yes, some steps have been taken by some authorities but are these steps enough? Didn’t the media give so much attention to the establishment of the office of the Special Prosecutor? After its establishment, the same media and some civil society organizations fought for the office to be resourced adequately for efficiency but what is happening now? So, should the media continue to applaud just the establishment of the office or the fact that it hasn’t yet met the expectation of the ordinary Ghanaian?
When there are so many unresolved crimes in the country, should the media report otherwise?
When our politicians are always bickering over economic figures that really do not reflect in the life of the ordinary Ghanaians, should the media applaud them or report their seeming ineptitude?
When the president has promised to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa by 2020 and there are only a few months to 2020 but Accra is even dirtier, how should the media embellish this painful truth?
Neither the politicians nor ordinary citizens are really committed to ensuring the cleanliness of the city. Should the media trumpet this truth and rally both the authorities and the people to get working for a positive change or not because it wants a good image for the country?
When parliament will go the extra mile to pass a budget but will not do the same for the Right to Information (RTI) Bill, isn’t it frustrating? Shouldn’t the media report their seeming lack of commitment to passing the RTI bill? If my honourable member of parliament Kennedy Ohene Agyapong emerges as one of the most outspoken and active Members of Parliament in the chamber at end of four years, the local media in the Assin Central Constituency will definitely trumpet it to make the people proud but if it’s otherwise too, it has to be mentioned, no? Does that make the press negative news-oriented kind? In any case, didn't the media so colourfully report the new peace that has been found in Dagbon?
The sports section praised the Ghana Football Association and the entire football fraternities for a lot of work done well including supporting the Ghana Black Stars qualify for the world cup. In the same vein they criticized them for all the wrong things they did. They also praised Kwesi Nyantakyi for all the good things he did as they criticized him for his alleged corrupt practices as the then head of the GFA. By the way, the media must pursue this matter until finality is brought to it.
I could go on and on to recount so many issues that are suffocating this country and its inhabitants but that aren’t the point. The point is, the media is very fair in terms of reporting all sides, both negative and positive but the negative supersedes because that’s what we perpetuate more of here in Ghana.
Feeding into past glory always makes the individual complacent to strive for what is ahead. The media is not there to glorify anybody but rather to ensure that the right things are done accordingly. Yes, our leaders have achieved something, but is that the best they can do?
Ghana has come very far but it has more distance to cover than the one it has already covered. Even when the media is striving to expose the wrongs in society, more crimes get committed almost every day. What then will happen if it does otherwise?
The media can’t afford to be praise singing the past glory instead of exposing the wrongs in society to ensure that they are corrected for a brighter future.
Let’s not begrudge the media for severe scrutiny but instead correct the errors as they expose them.
Ghana deserves better. We can do better as a people.
YUSSIF AHMED
ahmed.yussiph@gmail.com
I strongly disagree with such perception about the Ghanaian media on grounds that the media gives attention to issues that are prevalent in its environs. Because Ghana is fraught with so many challenges, the media is forced to focus on giving attention to the same to draw the attention of the leaders.
Yes, the news must be balanced with both positive and negative stories. But if the country is suffocating under so many challenges, the media cannot turn a blind eye just because they want to put the country in a positive space on the international front.
So, if almost all the roads in this country are worthy and not deplorable, the media would still report negatively about roads? When roads are claiming so many human lives, because of the failure of state authorities, the media shouldn’t question them?
Roads have now become death traps. When more than 50% of roads in the country are of poor quality, the media should keep quiet about it and let them continue to kill the ordinary citizen? When for some reasons contractors leave sites before projects are completed, the media should shut up about it?
In fact, my next article may be on the poor and deadly nature of a section of the Accra - Assin Fosu road. I have been travelling between the two places for almost two years now and every time a vehicle gets to that spot, it's prayer time. It should take no more than 30 minutes to cross that section but it takes more than an hour due to the nature of the road and you want me (the media) to keep quiet about it?
When Accra is so choked with people and dirt, the media should keep quiet about it, yeah? Because of inadequate development in rural areas, almost everybody is now moving to the likes of Accra and Kumasi to seek for some perceived greener pastures which basically don’t even exist. No proper drinking water, inadequate schools (even where there are schools, the structures there are in no proper shapes to enhance good academic work), inadequate access to electricity, deplorable roads which is killing a lot of people, just to mention a few are some of the major problems this country is faced with especially in the rural areas. Imagine yourself sharing the same source of water with animals, would you be happy with that?
When you come from a community where English Language is taught in your local language, that's when you know that this country has a long way to go.
When the country is dying of corruption with no prosecutions happening, the media should applaud who for what good work is done? Yes, some steps have been taken by some authorities but are these steps enough? Didn’t the media give so much attention to the establishment of the office of the Special Prosecutor? After its establishment, the same media and some civil society organizations fought for the office to be resourced adequately for efficiency but what is happening now? So, should the media continue to applaud just the establishment of the office or the fact that it hasn’t yet met the expectation of the ordinary Ghanaian?
When there are so many unresolved crimes in the country, should the media report otherwise?
When our politicians are always bickering over economic figures that really do not reflect in the life of the ordinary Ghanaians, should the media applaud them or report their seeming ineptitude?
When the president has promised to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa by 2020 and there are only a few months to 2020 but Accra is even dirtier, how should the media embellish this painful truth?
Neither the politicians nor ordinary citizens are really committed to ensuring the cleanliness of the city. Should the media trumpet this truth and rally both the authorities and the people to get working for a positive change or not because it wants a good image for the country?
When parliament will go the extra mile to pass a budget but will not do the same for the Right to Information (RTI) Bill, isn’t it frustrating? Shouldn’t the media report their seeming lack of commitment to passing the RTI bill? If my honourable member of parliament Kennedy Ohene Agyapong emerges as one of the most outspoken and active Members of Parliament in the chamber at end of four years, the local media in the Assin Central Constituency will definitely trumpet it to make the people proud but if it’s otherwise too, it has to be mentioned, no? Does that make the press negative news-oriented kind? In any case, didn't the media so colourfully report the new peace that has been found in Dagbon?
The sports section praised the Ghana Football Association and the entire football fraternities for a lot of work done well including supporting the Ghana Black Stars qualify for the world cup. In the same vein they criticized them for all the wrong things they did. They also praised Kwesi Nyantakyi for all the good things he did as they criticized him for his alleged corrupt practices as the then head of the GFA. By the way, the media must pursue this matter until finality is brought to it.
I could go on and on to recount so many issues that are suffocating this country and its inhabitants but that aren’t the point. The point is, the media is very fair in terms of reporting all sides, both negative and positive but the negative supersedes because that’s what we perpetuate more of here in Ghana.
Feeding into past glory always makes the individual complacent to strive for what is ahead. The media is not there to glorify anybody but rather to ensure that the right things are done accordingly. Yes, our leaders have achieved something, but is that the best they can do?
Ghana has come very far but it has more distance to cover than the one it has already covered. Even when the media is striving to expose the wrongs in society, more crimes get committed almost every day. What then will happen if it does otherwise?
The media can’t afford to be praise singing the past glory instead of exposing the wrongs in society to ensure that they are corrected for a brighter future.
Let’s not begrudge the media for severe scrutiny but instead correct the errors as they expose them.
Ghana deserves better. We can do better as a people.
YUSSIF AHMED
ahmed.yussiph@gmail.com
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