Standards of journalism falling – Dean

Mr James Asante, the Dean of Journalism at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Accra, has noted that the standards of journalism are falling hence the need for efforts to reverse the trend.

He said the principles of journalism, which require journalists to be fair, balanced, independent and loyal, have become increasingly difficult to practice.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, he said: “Previously, censorship regulated the operations of the media. However, the current media pluralism has led to some journalists writing articles, which are not supposed to be in the public domain.

“Newspapers needed license to operate but now only registration is required unlike radio and television, which require frequencies to operate,” he said.

He added that the influence of media ownership and reportage are geared towards ideology, which compromises some journalists to toe the lines of the owners.

“Most of the media houses are owned by private individuals, mostly politicians, who have their own ideologies. Journalists who work in these media houses are forced to report in accordance with the philosophy of the media,” he said.

He said some journalists are influenced by low remuneration, which affects their judgments as far as writing stories are concerned.

Mr Asante said another worrying trend is the lack of laws and disrespect of the ethics regulating the activities of the fourth estate.

“Statutes and laws to regulate the activities of the media are hanging.

“The ethics of the profession are not constitutionally supported. Regulatory bodies such as the National Media Commission, Ghana Journalists Association, and Independent Broadcasters Association, invite editors to appear before them whenever there are problems with their reportage but these editors and owners fail to do so.

“Unless journalists respect and comply with their own codes and ethics, the standards would not change.

“Every media house should have ethics and ensure that sanctions accompany anyone who flouts them.

“Orientation/ in-service training should be provided to the staff and journalists should research into their stories before disseminating the information to the audience,” he advised.

Source: GNA