Snr Minister Laments Mediocrity In Media

THE standard of journalism in the country, especially with regards to the use of the English language, has fallen to an unprecedented low, says Senior Minister J. H. Mensah.

"Today, language is the first bane of Ghanaian journalism; the standard of language is not acceptable if we want to build a media that will help to move the country forward," he said.

Mr. Mensah was speaking in Accra on Wednesday at the launch of Stand Up And Be Counted, and Thinking Allowed, a compilations of editorials and articles that relive unforgettable moments in the country’s history.

The articles and editorials were written by Elizabeth Ohene, a Minister of State at the presidency, when she worked at the Daily Graphic between the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which period she also acted as Editor of the paper.

Mr. Mensah said the proliferation of newspapers and FM stations in the country seemed to have engendered mediocrity in the media landscape.

Consequently, he called for the consolidation of the media to ensure editorial quality instead of allowing a plethora of newspapers and FM stations.

He criticised the National Media Commission for not doing more to ensure the maintenance of high journalistic standards.

"Media quality is being undermined by poor editorial quality," he said and wondered whether the media today was educating or miseducating the citizenry.

Mr. Mensah stressed the need for media training institutions to give their students enough opportunity to study the language they would be working with.

Commending Ms. Ohene for her journalistic acumen,, Mr. Mensah urged up and coming journalists to patronise the books to study so as to be able to write in that fashion.

Ms. Ohene said two things motivated her to decide to publish the two collections of articles and editorials.

The first, she said, was in response to a journalist who had questioned her knowledge of journalism when it was alleged in the media that she had advised some students against pursuing journalism as a career.

Ms. Ohene said the second reason for publishing the materials was some people’s appeals to her to go back to writing which stemmed from their appreciation of the articles she wrote in her "World Cup Diary" published in the Ghanaian Times when she was in Germany to witness the tournament.

Ms. Ohene, who also worked with the BBC, narrated her days as acting editor of the Daily Graphic and said, some of the issues she wrote about in her editorials had remained the same to this day, citing the filth in Accra, post harvest losses by farmers and strike actions.

Reviewing the books, Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, BBC and Reuters local correspondent, said the two collections "transport you almost bodily and leave you smack in mid-May 1979 to the deep end of the putrid 70s."

He notes, however that, "These aren’t just stories Elizabeth Ohene told or events and scenes seen through her eyes. They are also her story.

"She’s an actor in the audience where the audience is part of the plot and the cast," he said.