I prefer a 'reckless' media to a meek one – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo has said although there are some irresponsible figures in Ghana’s media, he still prefers a loud and reckless press to the meek and praise-singing ones that dominated the scene prior to the birth of the Fourth Republic.

Speaking at a presidential lecture at the Academy of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Germany on Tuesday 13 June on the theme: “Ghana – A Rising Star in Africa”, Mr Akufo-Addo said the Ghanaian story could not be told without a mention of the media, which he described as one of the most vibrant in Africa.

According to him, although some journalists have a lot to learn in discharging their duties professionally, he was in favour of the dispensation of media freedom to the situation where journalists discharge their duties with fear.

He told the audience: “The Ghanaian story cannot be told without mention of those whose business it is to tell our story – the media. We probably have one of the most vibrant media on the African continent, if not in the world.

“Like many of the other institutions of state, the media in Ghana also came into its own in the Fourth Republic and the national constitution guarantees freedom of the media.

It is a loud and crowded media that we now have and some feel that many journalists are erring on the side of recklessness.

There is a lot to teach and to train those who practise journalism in our country, but I must say I will much rather have the loud and reckless media than the meek and praise-singing one that used to characterise our newspapers and radio and television.

“This is one of the sectors in which the Konrad Adenauer Foundation has been active in Ghana with funding for the continuous training of our journalists. And it is one of the many things for which we owe the foundation a debt of gratitude.”