By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
July 22, 2010
The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho, is crying against “media tyranny” as if he doesn’t know why that situation still exists despite President Mills’ claim to be a “Father-for-all-Ghanaians.” He is reported to have said that “the country is suffering from the tyranny of the media because journalists are holding Ghanaians to ransom” (MyJoyFm Online, July 22, 2010).
The lamentations of Koku Anyidoho raise important issues that shouldn’t be glossed over because they don’t only reveal the failure of the government’s own information management efforts but they also reinforce fears that the media are complicit in the agenda of the NDC’s political opponents to undo it by persistently damaging its image. Either way, the issues give us serious problems to worry about.
No one who has been following and observing closely developments on the media scene will deny the fact that there is mayhem in media reportage in the country. Of late, the unhealthy competition among media personnel to expose the government’s underbelly is maddening, to say the least; but they continue to do so because that’s what they have chosen to do. The question is: Does the government’s own Communications Directorate know how to deal with the situation to reverse the trend and fetch government the good press that it needs? I daresay that it hasn’t, which leaves me wondering whether Koku Anyidoho should blame himself for the unfortunate developments or continue to moan about it.
The problems that he is complaining about can be viewed from two main angles, which I present next.
1. Failures of the Government’s Communications Outfit
The confusion that erupted over the designations and functions of the Presidential Spokesman (Mahama Ayariga) and Koku Anyidoho (as Head of the Government’s Communication Team) might have died down but its effects are still evident. We can tell from evidence that Koku Anyidoho is not as effective as expected, either because he lacks the skills that his position entails or that he is not doing what he should to give government a better press than what has obtained so far. Managing the relationship with the media has not been done effectively, which has created the impression that the government “hates” some. And knowing very well that they are not in the good books of the government, why shouldn’t these elements do what they know best—continue to lambaste the government and create a bad name for it, damn the consequences?
It is apparent that the media onslaught on the government has taken a turn for the worse, considering the rebounding of those in the private media who have been hostile to the NDC since the Rawlings era. The Daily Guide’s report yesterday that residents of Nima hooted at President Mills while simultaneously hailing the NPP’s Akufo-Addo is just the tip of that damaging iceberg of creating disaffection for the NDC. Once that campaign of calumny catches on, the government’s image will be in tatters.
One expects the Government’s Communications Team to establish better working relationships with the media than what Anyidoho’s Directorate has done so far. After all, what such a Team is in office to do is to cultivate a good press and public image for the government instead of locking horns with media practitioners. It appears that Anyidoho and his Team have not learnt any lesson from the media war against the Rawlings-led NDC government that created favourable impressions for the NPP among the public, and which made it difficult for the NDC’s message to reach the public and be accepted. Even though the party won the 2008 elections, that hostility created by the media is still evident. Thus, anything from Anyidoho and his Team that stokes the fire will surely provide the ammunition for the media to damage the government.
On top of it all, the Ministry of Information hasn’t done anything better. It has not only been inefficient in disseminating information about the good side of the government but it has also allowed itself to be deflected from its proper functions and drawn into the factional intrigues going on in the NDC. Thus, credibility for it is eroding very fast. Utterances from the Minister and his Deputies don’t seem to be aimed at healing wounds so as to reverse the bad public perception of government. I have already called for the abolition of that Ministry and will say nothing more than blame President Mills for his lack of foresight in this regard.
2. The Hostility of the Media
It is no exaggeration to say that there is a purposeful agenda on the part of those in the private media hostile to the NDC to do all they can to intensify their destructive moves. Those in the private media who have identified themselves with the NPP are particularly complicit in this media war against the NDC, and they are prepared to go the whole hog in spewing half-truths and outright lies about the government, knowing very well who butters their bread and will rise to their defence if touched. We all know of the activities of the Coffee House Mafia, led by Kweku Baako, and its anti-NDC propaganda machinery. What may seem to be a calculated attempt to paint the government black has taken a turn for the worse, especially now that the NPP is gearing up to elect its flagbearer for the 2012 elections. I expect the hostility to be raised to the highest level after the NPP’s August 7 Congress as part of the media’s efforts to create much-needed favourable conditions for the party’s Presidential Candidate.
As if that will not be enough worry for the NDC government, there seems to be other problems. The various institutions tasked with monitoring the performance of the media and keeping journalists in check seem to be dominated by anti-NDC people. How on earth can one expect the National Media Commission to act against journalists whose conduct against the government raises serious ethical issues when the Commission is headed by a celebrated NDC opponent (in the person of Kabral Blay-Amihere)? Again, how does one expect the Ghana Journalists Association to rein in its members whose hostility toward the NDC is without question when the President of the GJA (Ransford Tetteh) is a known NDC opponent?
The problems will worsen, especially as the law begins being applied to prosecute errant journalists. We can see from what the Police have begun doing in the case of Ato Kwamena Dadzie and the Editor of the Ghanaian Times newspaper that the relationship between the government and its opponents in the media will deteriorate to be exploited by the NPP. Even though the government may claim that it has nothing to do with the decisions and actions by the Police to take on these journalists, it will be difficult for it to make its case acceptable by the journalists and their sympathizers in the Media Commission, GJA, or any other institution that claims to be upholding press freedom.
Anyidoho shouldn’t go far to look for reasons to explain this “media tyranny.” It is part of the political game being played by the NDC’s arch rivals who know how to use the media to advantage. The NDC doesn’t know how to do so and is suffering the backlash. Maybe, the Kufuor government had a better way to deal with these journalists so as to create the impression among them that they and the NPP are bed-fellows, which the NDC isn’t able to achieve. Reports have given me to know that the NPP used several means to induce these journalists to such an extent that they have become its warriors at the media front. Its repeal of the Criminal Libel Law was hailed by the media practitioners as a fulfillment of an electioneering campaign promise and upheld as a confirmation of the NPP’s commitment to press freedom and support for the work of the media. We all saw what happened, though.
Despite the repeal of this law, some NPP functionaries didn’t take on board all shades of journalists. They knew who their friends were and separated them from the rest. They took legal action against those whose publications they considered as libelous while feeding their lackeys with information to let out about their political opponents. With this legal action, especially against those journalists seen as sympathetic to the NDC, those NPP functionaries succeeded in widening the gulf and giving preferential treatment to those on the side of their party. Thus, this strategy of divide-and-rule has thrown the media front into disarray while giving those supporting the NPP an edge over their opponents. Such is the wily nature of politics in Ghana, which journalists in the private media have joined forces with the NPP to do.
On the other hand, the NDC hasn’t been able to create favourable conditions to get good press. It still cannot get around this problem with the hostile media and is reeling seriously from the comeuppance. It is pathetic that instead of using all the good techniques of media work (entailed by the rudiments of public relations available to the Communications Directorate at the Presidency), Koku Anyidoho and his team are fumbling. Presenting this helpless posture to Ghanaians will be the NDC’s undoing when the electioneering campaigns heat up. Where are the media relations techniques of the Vice President (John Mahama)?
Considering the reluctance with which the government is handling the Right to Information bill, one is tempted to conclude that the government is doing so because it knows it can’t withstand the avalanche of bad press if that bill (law, after all?) opens the floodgates to the sources of information in officialdom. In this sense, the government comes across all the more as incapable and inefficient. If this trend continues, the hostility with the media will pick up and the electorate will be fed with what will influence them against the government at the 2012 polls.
It is not too late for the President to reconsider the role of those he has entrusted with managing its public relations tasks. Shaking up the entire public relations outfit is a must. Then, looking for better ways to enjoy the goodwill and confidence of the press should solve some of these problems. Those who are determined to undercut the government should not be expected to abandon ship and toe the line overnight. Even if that becomes the case, something good may come from others. Then, government functionaries must live above reproach so that they don’t leave nasty traces of bribery and corruption or incompetence behind for any pressman sniffing around to pick and make a mountain out of.
Koku Anyidoho and his Team may be enjoying the comfort of their office and thinking that their occasional roars against the media might instill fear in those opposed to the government. At the end of the day, they will achieve nothing beneficial to the NDC. As of now, they have failed woefully to give the government a good working relationship with the press. Instead of rushing out to moan, Koku Anyidoho and his team should do a serious homework to straighten the line. His lamentations won’t solve problems.
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