NMC commends media during the elections

The Joint Consultative Committee of the National Media Commission and the National Communications Authority has expressed their satisfaction with the performance of the media during the elections.

The Committee calls on the media to exercise extra circumspection particularly in these final days of the elections as the nation prepare for the declaration of the final results by the Electoral Commission.

This was contained in a press release signed by Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Saturday.

The Committee noted that the media had generally refrained from carrying political adverts and messages in the last 24 hours before the elections and had continued to exercise restraint to date.

It said with a few days to the declaration of the final results, the Committee wished to remind the media that results could only be declared by the Electoral Commission and should avoid the risk of becoming a platform for political interest groups, who might be motivated for any reason to declare their own results.

The release said the media were particularly advised not to offer their platforms for the making of unsubstantiated allegations calculated to undermine the credibility of the polls and incite people to conflict.

It said the media must diligently and independently work in investigating all allegations and claims by interest groups before putting them out.

The release advised media to avoid live interviews in situations of heightened tension and agitated multitudes unless they could fairly ascertain that the message of the live interview would not undermine our collective peace and security as a people.