I'm Not Surprised at Ghana's Media Freedom Rank - Kwaku Baako Jnr.

Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako Jnr. says he is not surprised at the Gullop poll which ranked Ghana as one of the leading countries where media freedom is unlimited. He stated: �I am not surprised at all because in the last twenty years but particularly since 2001, when the criminal libel law was repealed, the Ghanaian media has become active and has exposed many, many corruption stories�. �It isn�t always the case that all the stories we put out there is accurate or absolutely truthful but quite a lot was spot on. I am not here singling out any particular media house as such; there have been so many in that respect in recent times. We have had some journalists who have been very prominent in that respect�. The survey also indicated that the perception of corruption is high, with Ghana scoring 89% alongside Portugal, South Africa, Italy, Costa Rica and South Korea, all of which recognized as highly free press countries. The Editor-in-Chief of New Crusading Guide newspaper further opined that the outcome of the study is a �true reflection of the situation about Ghana, because the repeal of the criminal libel law, it opened up the space for the media. And for that matter the media became freer and could investigate issues across board. In so doing, it unearthed more corruption, especially in the public sector��. Kweku Baako maintained that due to the activities of the media and it propensity to expose crime a country could be ranked as corrupt. Though he admitted that there are people in the public sector who may be uncomfortable with such a development, the one-time Journalist of the year award winner insisted that press freedom is the best way forward for any developing nation.