The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Kwasi Gyan Apenteng, has called on professional bodies connected to the conduct of election in the country to exhibit professionalism in the discharge of their duties to ensure an incident-free election.
He said more often than not, people called on the media to live above reproach while they left out other bodies whose work also impacted on the election.
According to him, while calling on the media to be circumspect, professional and not to inflame passion, the same call must be made to other bodies whose actions or inaction could also have adverse effect on the peace being enjoyed by the country.
Election project
Mr Gyan-Apenteng, who was speaking at the launch of the NMC Election Project 2016 in Kumasi last Thursday, also urged the media not to be the cause of any bad thing that would happen to the country before, during or after the election.
He cited the example of Ukraine where the media coverage of the election led to the conflict in that country.
As such, he advised the media not to offer voice or space for people whose utterances might destabilise the country.
He said the elections were about issues affecting the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian and not about ethnicity or religions therefore, discussions should be based on issues and not on personalities.
Project
The project, which he said would be replicated in all regions throughout the country, would be managed by the regional media advisory committee and would include the monitoring of the media scene in the region and also serve as an avenue for people to seek redress for some of the excesses of the media.
He said the Ashanti Region was the nerve centre of the country and played a major role in the nation’s politics and as such, efforts must be made to maintain and protect the current peaceful atmosphere.
He said the project was to improve media regulation in the regions for a peaceful election.
Social Media
The Executive Secretary of the NMC, Mr George Sarpong, disagreed with those calling for a restriction on the social media due to what they perceived to its abuse, adding, “it is still better than for people to go to war.”
He said in spite of the complaints, social media provided a means for those who may feel maligned to respond and set the record straight, saying, “they have a better opportunity to confront the lies with the truth.”
According to him, the concern should not be about the conversation that goes on the social media platform “but those who convert social media into megaphone for war.”
He said the mainstream media should refrain from trumpeting issues seen on social media without cross-checking them.
According to him, the onus lied on the mainstream media to substantiate their claims when the need arises.
Membership
The Ashanti Regional Media Advisory Committee has its chairman, the former NMC chairman, Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi and Mr I K Gyasi, Mrs Adwoa Amankwah and Mrs Felicia Shraha as some of its members.
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