Media must commit its heart to election coverage guidelines

By Ebenezer Hanson

Last Thursday, the ‘Group of Eminent Persons’ led by Adwoa Yeboa-Afari, Editor of Ghanaian Times, presented the draft Guidelines on Election Coverage to the Ghana Journalists Association(GJA). The eminent group deserves tons of commendation considering the gamut of area covered in the eight-page document comprising 20-clearly spelt out guidelines. Equally so, the French Embassy must be praised for sponsoring the document.

The presentation of the guidelines comes at the heels of the outdooring of the Political Parties Code of Conduct 2008 under the joint aegis of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the various political parties last week. The Code provides the rules and regulations for decorous behaviour on the part of the political parties to ensure free, credible and fair elections.

Although the guidelines are meant primarily for the media and the code essentially for the parties, there is a commonality that runs through both documents and that is: all key actors and stakeholders in the December 2008 general elections, which many political pundits have described as crucial, is conducted in an atmosphere peace in order to preclude any post election dispute as have been witnessed late in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

As rightly observed by the eminent persons, the role of the media in the building of democracy, elections inclusive, cannot be over emphasized, and this is “underscored by the prominence and protection in the Fourth Republican 1992 Constitution”.

Article 162(5) provides that “All agencies of the mass media shall, at all times, be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of this Constitution, and shall uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people of Ghana” and Article 163 also enjoins all state-owned media to “afford fair opportunities and facilities for the presentation of divergent views and dissenting opinions.”
The Constitution sets high standards for the media, especially when it comes to political reporting in general and elections in particular. During elections the media play a key role in ensuring that democratic outcomes that reflect the will of the citenzry by enabling them make informed choices at the ballot box.

Additionally, a distinctive role is assigned to state media as indicated in Article 55(11) of the Constitution, “The State shall provide fair opportunity to all political parties to present their programmes to the public by ensuring equal access to the state-owned media.” This obligation is further emphasized under Article 55 (12) which provides that “All presidential candidates shall be given the same amount of time and space on the state-owned media to present their programmes to the people”.

It is from the media that voters receive such election-related information as those relating to candidates, election rallies, debates, campaigns and campaign messages. It is therefore imperative that the media practitioners and institutions ensure accuracy, balance and fairness in their work.

The Group of Eminent Persons did not develop the guidelines unilaterally; it worked in conjunction with the Electoral Commission (EC). The EC, according to the guidelines, concedes that the important complementary work of the media in the political process, and enjoins the media to act responsibly by providing balanced, fair, accurate and timely information on the electoral process.

While the guidelines have come at an opportune time and will ordinarily go along way to help achieve a successful election, the onus rests on the media to make it work. That calls for a hearty media commitment, in whose absence the potentially useful guidelines will remain a mere piece of document “signifying nothing”.

The Ghanaian media history is replete with cases of journalists flouting with impunity and violating with abundant recklessness the GJA Code, National Media Commission’s Guidelines for Political Reporting and relevant Constitutional provisions. Evidence abounds that these journalist committed these acts in order to political cause mischief but in the end they backfire as the orchestration boomerangs.

Thus until journalists resolve in their hearts to firmly commit themselves to the guidelines those with diabolical intentions will run counter to the spirit and letter of the guidelines through their write-ups and pronouncements.

Similarly, it is equally incumbent on politicians to eschew “verbal diahoerroea” in order not to provide the ammunition for the media to embark on a political massacre.

It is this vein that both the NMC and GJA should continue to monitor the media terrain and calling to order aberrant journalist.