The Government says it favours peer regulation of the media over state control, has thus urged the media to take responsibility for regulating its own activities to prevent excessive government intervention and safeguard press freedom.
Mr Samuel Nartey George, Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, said the media must take responsibility for regulating its own activities to prevent excessive government intervention and safeguard press freedom.
“Government does not want to be the editor of Ghana’s newsrooms. We will not be. We cannot be,” he said.
Mr George was speaking at a public forum organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Accra on Monday on ending impunity for crimes against journalists in Ghana, with a focus on strengthening safety, accountability and press freedom.
He urged media organisations and professional bodies to enforce their codes of ethics, sanction members who breached professional standards, establish effective complaints mechanisms, correct errors openly and uphold ethical standards regardless of political affiliation.
He said strong self-regulation was the best defence against government over-regulation, adding that the media must demonstrate its ability to manage its own affairs.
Mr George, however, stressed that professional misconduct by journalists could not justify attacks or violence against them.
“A bad story is answered with a correction. It is answered with a right of reply, a complaint to the regulator, or, at worst, a court case. It’s never with a fist, never with a gun, and never with a threat,” he said.
He called for prompt and impartial investigations into attacks on journalists, prosecution of offenders and accountability irrespective of their political affiliations or positions.
The Minister also welcomed the MFWA’s Model Safety of Journalists Policy for adoption by newsrooms, urging media owners to provide risk assessments, emergency contacts, secure devices, and legal and psychological support for journalists.
Mr Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director of MFWA, said Ghana remained a relatively safer environment for journalists compared with other countries in the sub-region, but more needed to be done to improve their safety.
He said Ghana’s comparatively favourable position should not lead to complacency, as challenges remained in protecting journalists and ensuring accountability for attacks.
Prof. Amin Alhassan, the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), said the economic conditions under which journalists worked were an important part of their safety.
He called on the National Communications Authority to consider making payment of Social Security contributions for media workers a requirement for the renewal of broadcasting licences.
He said many journalists risked retiring without pensions because some media organisations did not maintain proper payroll systems.
Prof. Alhassan also called for discussions on net neutrality policies to prevent telecommunications operators that ventured into content distribution from giving preferential treatment to their own platforms at the expense of media organisations.
Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, former President of the Ghana Journalists Association, also welcomed the model safety policy and urged newsrooms to adopt and implement it to enhance the protection of journalists.
The forum formed part of efforts to strengthen the safety of journalists and promote accountability for crimes committed against media practitioners in Ghana.