Review NMC Act

Political party leaders and senior journalists have called for a review of the constitutional provision on the National Media Commission (NMC), as well as the NMC Act, in the light of its experiences after its formation.
According to them, the review must ensure that the NMC was empowered to seek an order of the High Court when its recommendations were disobeyed, in the light of the increasing cases of media houses refusing to publish rejoinders and retractions.
They also called for modifications on the commission’s procedures, its composition, functions, mode of operation and powers of enforcement to enable it to better play its role in promoting the freedom and independence of the media as defined under Article 162 of the Constitution.
The two bodies made the call after a two-day workshop at Akosombo at the weekend. It was facilitated by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)-Ghana Political Parties Programme (GPPP) for senior media personnel and political party leaders to discuss the critical role of the two stakeholders in Ghana’s democracy as part of its commitment to ensure the conduct of free, fair, peaceful and transparent elections.
Some of the signatories of the communiqué were Dr Kwabena Adjei, the National Chairman of the NDC; Mr Ladi Nylander, the National Chairman of the CPP; Mr Kobina Arthur Kennedy, the representative of the NPP; Mr Roland A. Monney, the Vice-President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA); Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo, the General Manager for Newspapers, Graphic Communications Groups Limited; Mrs Jean Mensa, the IEA Administrator; Ms Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, the Editor of the Ghanaian Times; Nii Laryea Sowah, the Executive Secretary of PRINPAG, and Mr Haruna Sumani, Policy Analyst, PNC.
The communiqué said the NMC must be moved away from group and lobby-based interest representation to one of principled representation.
It also urged media houses to develop in-house accountability mechanisms, including the establishment of an in-house Ombudsman system to which the public could complain when they felt aggrieved.
“The media must be accountable, but who they must be accountable to, how they must be accountable and for what they must be accountable must be the subject of public debate to feed into any future reforms, which must also consider the issue of prominence and time limits for the constitutional prescription of compulsory rejoinders, as well as the consequences of failure or refusal to publish such rejoinders,” it said.
On the enforcement of media code of ethics, the communiqué noted that the media, as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, did not enjoy the kind of immunities available to the first three estates — the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature.
“What is required is a kind of regulation in which media practitioners themselves will play a leading role to enable them to ensure that professional and ethical principles are maintained,” it said.
It said ethical re-writing of stories to maintain professional standards and ensure conformity with the editorial policy of media houses was allowed in media practice, adding, however, that any re-writing that resulted in factual inaccuracies was unacceptable.
The communiqué said the proliferation of FM radio stations had taken place in the absence of a framework for the liberalised airwaves and private broadcasting and that had culminated in some of the excesses on some of the stations.
It, therefore, called for a Broadcasting Act to provide the requisite framework for public, private, community and educational broadcasting and also that employers of media personnel must incorporate the GJA Code of Ethics into their employment contracts with their journalism staff so that they could be enforced at the organisational level.
The communiqué said with the continued maturation of Ghana’s democracy, one of the roles of the media was to continue to work to lessen political polarisation and tension in the society, especially in this election year when there was the temptation on the part of both the media and the political class to resort to rumour mongering, exaggerated claims, provocative utterances and character assassination.
“Fairness, accuracy and balance are the minimum demands to be made of journalists in an election year. While ensuring that basic professional standards are respected, practical and sustained efforts must be made by the media to get all sides of a story before publishing it to ensure truth and objectivity in reportage,” it said.
The communiqué said media personnel who interviewed politicians in this election year “must be competent, capable and confident. They must research into the subject matter of their interviews and seek to draw from the politicians what they can do and how they will do it”.
It called on politicians to avoid mudslinging and desist from utterances that raises political tension, while media interviews should also focus on issues.
“Given the importance of the 2008 elections in the consolidation of democracy, the GJA and the NMC are urged to update their guidelines for election coverage this year,” the communiqué said.