The NDC’s Director of Communication, John Mahama says although the press was vibrant and critical of the previous government's policies and efficiently played their watchdog roles which eventually contributed to the NDC’s falling out of power, the media now appears to have gone to bed with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
He said the press in playing their watchdog role, should be prepared to take criticism in good faith and stop lambasting politicians and opinion leaders, who dared to point out the mistakes or their faults to them.
Mr. Mahama who was contributing to a debate in Parliament said no one could claim infallibility and that it was pertinent for the media to put itself under the mirror to examine the attack it had launched on the Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin for saying at the World Press Freedom Day celebration that the Ghanaian media seemed to have gone to bed with the current government.
During the debate to mark World Press Freedom Day which fell on May 3, the Members of Parliament commended the Ghanaian press for their courage, entrepreneurial spirit and persistence in moving the society forward in entrenching democracy and respect for fundamental human rights.
Mr. Samuel Buor-Karikari, NPP Amansie West, told Parliament that the Ghanaian media was living up to its duty and role as the watchdog of government and civil society. "Through the activities of the media, a lot of corruption and rot in the society had been brought to the fore."
Alhaji Muhammed Mumuni, NDC-Kumbungu, supporting the statement said although the press was playing its watchdog role to an appreciable level there was the need to do more to ensure that journalists by the freedom they were enjoying should not be blinded to fall foul of the law.
He said although the Criminal Libel and Sedition Laws had been repealed the individual libeled still reserved the right to take a civil action to redeem any dented image he or she might have suffered from a false publication and that could even lead to some media houses folding up.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah, NPP- Sekondi and Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, said a nation without a vibrant press could not see its reflection in the mirror and that was why the government was bent on expanding and giving meaning to press freedom.
He said the government was doing that by allowing the press access to the Presidency and making sure that a cross-section of journalists accompanied the President on official visits.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah said the government would work in transparency with the media to give them support in their duties because they had a responsibility to the people and owed the society a duty.
