Election 2020: GNA provided fair coverage to all

Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, General Manager, Ghana News Agency (GNA), says the Agency provided fair coverage to all political parties and candidates in the December 7 General Election.

He said, “The silence of the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission on the Agency in its (the Mission’s) report on the coverage of Ghana's December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections is an indication that the Agency provided fair reportage to all parties.”

Mr Owusu said this at the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA)/UNESCO review of election 2020 media coverage meeting in Accra on Thursday.

He said the ‘professional conduct’ of staff of the Agency at the presidential and parliamentary elections followed adequate preparation, including series of training on ethical journalism and election reporting and the use of institutional memory.

Mr Owusu said the Agency took a cue from the Ayawaso-West Wuogon Parliamentary by-election incident and focused on peace reporting with fair opportunity to all candidates and parties.

He said the Agency knew of its role in building national cohesion and the dependence of hundreds of radio stations, media outlets and international institutions on its products and services and prepared to offer them truthful, unbiased, credible, authentic and comprehensive coverage of the General Election.

The GNA General Manager said there were occasions where subscribers took advantage of GNA stories and twisted the information given them, using “insulting headlines”, however, when issues were raised about them, the Agency quickly pulled out its original stories from the files to prove its integrity.

He said ahead of the 2020 General Election, a number of media houses approached the Agency for collaborations and said such ventures would be explored in the future.

“So, this election, I recall that we received some proposals from some private media houses wanting to join forces with us, knowing that we have the track record of excellent election coverage with reporters and stringers across the country.”

Mr Owusu said the Agency deployed about 300 reporters and stringers across the country for the December 7 polls.

He informed that they were attached to political parties, candidates, constituencies and the Electoral Commission with a standby team.

Mr Owusu said knowing how the 2020 election was going to be keenly contested, the GNA formed partnerships with some key election stakeholders and institutions, which provided valuable content from the coverage of parliamentary primaries of the two main political parties to Election Day activities and post-election events.

The GNA Manager said the Agency was monitoring developments after the declaration of results and using its reportage to promote peace and coexistence.

Mr Owusu said Ghana’s first President founded the GNA in 1957 to inform the rest of the world about what Ghana and Africa could do for themselves and said the Agency was doing just that- promoting national cohesion, economic growth and opportunities and positive image for Ghana and Africa.

He said over the years, Government’s focus and financial support to the GNA had reduced considerably, affecting operations of the Agency and denying the masses access to credible and authentic information on government’s policies and programmes and their own circumstances.

Mr Owusu said the “private sector’s mentality of generating your own wealth through Internally Generated Funds (IGF) was being implemented to turn the fortunes of the Agency around” so that it could provide information to the poorest of the poor across the country and send their feedback to government.

The General Manager said GNA produced about 80 stories daily nationwide and was introducing audio and video contents for radio, television and online platforms.

Mr Affail Monney, the President of GJA, said the national interest was far bigger than the sum of the ambitions of political parties and their followers. “…and the national interest dictates that the media join moves to dust off and pick ourselves up after the closely fought but bruising elections which threatened to shake the fundamental underpinnings of Ghana’s democracy.”

Professor Kwame Karikari, Dean, Communication Studies, Wisconsin University, who delivered the keynote address, said this year’s general election, the eighth in the fourth republic, raised many important questions - the direction and future growth of democracy in Ghana.

Professor Amin Alhassan, Director-General, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), expressed satisfaction over the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission's report on the state-owned broadcaster's coverage of Ghana's December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.

He said the report was an indication that GBC had improved upon its performance in the 2016 general election.

The EU Election Observation Mission in its report, said“…The media reported freely on the elections in a polarized environment. State-owned GTV favoured the NPP in its election-related coverage. Furthermore, the ruling party and its presidential candidate benefited from extensive additional coverage on GTV, Uniq FM and in the Daily Graphic through news and live broadcasts of government inaugurations. Various private media analysed by the EU EOM showed biased coverage in favour of the NPP (UTV, The Chronicle, Daily Guide) or the NDC (Adom FM and Joy FM).”