President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Affail Monney has bemoaned the level of unprofessionalism exhibited by some individuals in the media landscape claiming to be journalists.
According to him, the unprincipled and unethical approach in dealing with matters of importance by these individuals has contributed to wide-ranging problems witnessed in the practice of the profession.
Speaking at a public lecture in commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day, Mr. Monney argued that, the inexistence of laws barring people without qualifications from practicing journalism has contributed to a great proportion of fake news peddled and distorted information disseminated into the public domain on daily basis in the country.
“Anybody can practice journalism and our laws do not frown on that, so whether you are a Kenkey seller, a trotro mate (commercial bus conductor), or a politician, the law permits you to practice journalism,” he stated.
Affail Monney advised persons already practicing journalism to exercise decorum in their line of duty and urged others interested to indulge in the profession to oblige the code of conduct stipulated by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) stressing the need for rigorous training to tidy up the system.
“Anyone who decides to play the game of journalism should play it according to the rules and the rules contextually are the ethics of the profession and as far as ethics are concerned standards are not uniform…we have certain sections which also symbolize ethical bankruptcy,” he lamented.
He held that there is the general practice of press freedom which protects many journalists across the world, however the freedom they enjoy must in no way be abused in effect.
“The solution to this problem is training. The reality here is that many journalists are not educated, they are not trained in journalism. We have masonries who have invaded the media space and their intentions are clear for all to see. Many mascaraed as journalists but the fruits of ethical recklessness they bear, murderous intentions, slicing and dicing people’s hard-earned reputation.
We have the freedom to abuse but there should be a limit to the abuse of freedom,” Mr. Monney added.
He was speaking along the lines of the rate at which information is skewed by the press in the country where the Right to Information is sometimes curtailed in the absence of laws that warrants an individual to request for documents for educational and news worthy purposes.
Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo has charged the media to meet the threat of fake news head-on.
In his address at the World Press Freedom Day Awards Dinner on Wednesday evening, the President warned that the integrity of the media was at stake.
Like has been noted globally, he said the phenomenon of fake news, if not checked, has the potential to undermine democracies.
He also urged Ghanaians to continue to defend the right to free expression in the name of an open society and accountable governance.
The United Nations on another hand has urged the government of Ghana see to it that the Right to Information bill is passed into a law to ensure that transparency prevails in governance with accurate reportage from the perspective of the media.
The delays in the passing of the Bill according to Deputy Minister for Information, Ama Dokuaa Asiamah Agyei, is because other equally essential Bills need to be paid attention to first.
22-year journey of Bill
The RTI Bill, which is expected to make information easily accessible by the media and Ghanaians to boost the fight against corruption, has been in legislation for well over 17 years because successive governments have failed to ensure its passage despite several assurances.
It was first drafted 22 years ago under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs, IEA.
The draft Executive Bill was subsequently reviewed in 2003, 2005 and 2007 but was never laid in Parliament until February 5, 2010.
It was subsequently withdrawn to review some clauses.
Since then, efforts by several advocacy groups to put pressure on the duty bearers to have the Bill passed have also not yielded any positive results until now.
Observers have criticized successive governments for lacking the political will to pass the Bill.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government promised to pass the Bill when it assumed power in 2017.
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