Media Foundation Applauds The Media

By-Mohammed Saani Ibrahim- The Accra Times

The Ghanaian media has been applauded for generally exhibiting an appreciable level of professionalism in the coverage and reportage of the December 7th General Elections.

According to Mr. Suleiman Braimah of the Media Foundation for West African [MFWA] the conduct of the media during the election largely contributed to the success of the whole electoral process.

Mr. Braimah , who is the Deputy Executive Director for the MFWA, was addressing a cross section of the media in Accra when he made the statement adding that the media coverage drew the attention of the Electoral Commission[EC] to polling stations that were experiencing technical and other challenges.

In reporting results, the media were careful to differentiate provisional ones from certified Electoral Commission results, he said.

He also commended the media for not engaging in political advertising and discussion programs in compliance to the EC’s directives that there should be no political campaigning 24 hours before and during the voting periods.

The media’s coverage of the 2012 elections was very comprehensive as all parts of the country were covered whiles happenings in polling stations, communities and collation centers were fairly reported.

He however bemoans the attacks by some aggrieved supporters of the New Patriotic Party on some media houses and journalists respectively. He therefore condemns the attacks and called on the NPP leadership to instruct their followers to desist from any harassment of media personnel in the discharge of their duties.

Mr. Braimah Suleiman further called on the security agencies to provide security to media persons covering political activities and to make anyone found culpable of harassing or attacking journalist to face the full rigor of the law.

The Foundation he stated organized a number of fora prior to the elections in Accra and Kumasi aimed at sensitizing political activists , the general public and the media against the use of abusive language on radio as well as the need for the media to be more responsible and circumspect in the coverage of the elections.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Accra, Ghana , established in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedoms of the media, and generally, to help expand the boundaries of freedom of speech and expression in West Africa.