Guard against sensationalising NRC stories- Media Watch

Accra, Sept. 25, GNA - Media Watch Limited on Thursday advised Media Houses against sensationalising their reports of proceedings of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), adding that this could mar the overall objective of healing and reconciliation.

Mr Leonard Dey, General Manager of Media Watch Limited who presented the report of Media Coverage of NRC proceedings for the month of August said sensational news headlines, especially by some of the private newspapers does not augur well for the work of the Commission. The monthly report compiled by Media Watch was part of an agreement entered into by Media Watch Ltd and the National Media Commission (NMC) to monitor media coverage of the proceedings.


It was funded by the UNDP through the National Governance Programme and supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.


Mr. Dey said during the period under review, the Ghana News Agency published a total of twenty-stories that were all neutral in tone and in their portrayal of witnesses.


He said the Daily Graphic assigned the largest amount of space to the NRC proceedings as compared to all other newspapers coded. He said the Evening News and Accra Daily Mail were close contention compared to Chronicle, Crusading Guide, Daily Dispatch, Ghanaian Times, Ghana Palaver, Independent , Kumasi Mail, National Concord, Network Herald and Pioneer that were coded.

Mr. Dey said for the Electronic Media, GTV assigned the largest amount of television airtime to national reconciliation as compared to other TV stations, adding that for radio, Sky Power devoted the most airtime.


He said all stories were neutral in tone and recommended that media houses must enhance their stories, maintain their generally neutral tone and provide greater prominence to stories on reconciliation.


Mr. Wilson Kusi-Atansah, Member of the NMC, who chaired the meeting said the report was silent on the recent NRC sittings in the regions and called on Media Watch Limited to also focus its attention on the regional coverage to create a balance. He said the NMC would look at ways of supporting Journalists who cover the NRC programmes to sustain their interest and to give of their best.