The infamous attack by Presidential Staffer Stan Dogbe on a journalist of state broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), in August last year has contributed to Ghana being dropped among countries ranked as having robust press freedom.
According to media rights group, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Ghana has dropped from “Free” to “Partly Free” in the latest global world press freedom ranking conducted by US-based Freedom House partly due to the presidential staffer’s action.
A news release from the foundation on Tuesday said that the murder of radio broadcaster George Abanga, aka King George, in the Brong Ahafo Region and the absence of Right to Information Law are also among the key factors for Ghana’s poor showing.
MFWA noted that “for ten years now Ghana has remained one of two or three countries on the African continent rated as having a free press freedom environment. This ranking has always reflected extremely positively on Ghana’s reputation in the global community as far as press freedom is concerned,” adding, “But in its recently released ranking for 2015, Ghana has been downgraded from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’.
According to the foundation, Freedom House cited its extensive contribution towards ranking Ghana, saying “freedom House notes that Ghana’s decline in ranking is as a result of ‘stepped-up attempts to limit coverage of news events and confiscation of equipment; increases in violence directed at journalists by the police, the military, political party members, and ordinary citizens’.”
Other reasons for the decline, according to the report, “are violations against journalists that went unpunished by the state; inaction by the President on a petition by 155 journalists on the attack by his staffer on a journalist; and attacks on journalists by political party activists and security forces.”
“The GBC declined to file a police report, treating the case as an “internal matter.” Subsequently, the MFWA and 155 journalists jointly petitioned Mahama to sanction his aide, but they did not receive a response from the president by year’s end,” the report noted.
Censorship
The report also cited ‘censorship attempts’ through a Content Authorisation Law by the National Media Commission and a directive of the Information Services Department (ISD) requiring journalists working with foreign media organisations to seek approval from ISD before filming and after filming, as well as submission to the ISD for approval before filming as being responsible for the drop in ranking. Also cited is the power crisis that had a heavy toll on media businesses in the country.
According to MFWA, the decline in press freedom ranking comes after it had warned about increasing incidents of press freedom violations and the possibility of such trends affecting the country’s ranking.
The MFWA urged the government, security agencies and political parties to act in ways that fosters press freedom and protects press freedom, adding, “the MFWA wishes to also remind President Mahama about the petition submitted by the foundation and 155 journalists to which he has since not acted on.”
The foundation also called on journalists “to adhere to professional standards and safety principles in the discharge of their duties.”
According to the Freedom House report, “Ghana has a total of 58 authorised television operators and 390 FM radio stations, of which 37 are state-owned, 273 are private, 63 are community-owned, and 17 are operated by universities. Dozens of newspapers, including two state-owned and two private dailies, publish regularly. Use of the internet is growing, but penetration remains low, at approximately 19 percent in 2014. Blogging and social networking have increased in urban centres.
“Economic sustainability is a challenge for Ghana’s media. The GBC receives inadequate funding from the government and must sell advertising to support operations, which leaves the outlet dependent on the large corporations that can afford its rates. Meanwhile, electricity fluctuations, known as dumsor, had adverse effects on media houses in 2015, forcing them to turn to costly alternative power sources in order to publish or broadcast. Journalists are poorly paid, and many are willing to accept money in exchange for covering particular events. In April, Mahama’s chief of staff came under criticism for giving between 500 and 1,000 cedis ($130 and $260) to prominent journalists he had invited to a meeting, including some known for criticism of the government. Most reportedly accepted the money”.
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