Pro-partisan media organisations top media ethics violations – Study
A recent media monitoring study by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has shown that politically-affiliated media organisations perpetrate over 50 per cent of media ethics violations in Ghana.
The study, which covered the period of June 2020 to May 2021, found that out of the total of 2,710 ethical violations recorded in media organisations monitored, 1,469 violations, representing 54 per cent, were attributed to media organisations that are pro-partisan or affiliated to known political parties.
Two of the media organisations, Power FM and Oman FM, all based in Accra, are noted in the report to be among the worst culprits of ethical infractions.
The study said some of the partisan radio stations occupied the top five spots of programmes that recorded the highest frequency of ethical violations during the monitoring.
Also, the study monitored the incidents of ethical infractions and violations on 26 influential media organisations made of up 10 radio stations, 10 newspapers and six news websites.
A statement issued and copied to the GNA by the MFWA in Accra, said the objective of the study was to identify such incidents and draw attention to the breaches as a way of fostering adherence to ethical principles by media organisations.
In all, a total of 22,271 media content was monitored out of which 2,710 ethical violations were recorded.
Out of the total of 2,710 ethical violations recorded, 1,754 (65 per cent) were recorded on radio, 906 violations (33 per cent) were recorded on News websites whilst 50 (two per cent) were recorded by Newspapers.
Power FM, Oman FM and Accra FM, all politically-affiliated media outlets, topped the radio violation chart, according to the report.
It said Ghanaweb.com topped the news website chart with 906 violations whilst the Daily Guide newspaper, topped the newspaper chart with 27 violations.
On ethical principles violated, decency (1,292) was the most violated ethical principle, followed by accuracy (574), with Good Taste and Public Sensibilities (478) being the third-most violated principle.
The report cited Power FM as the highest violator of the principle of decency (364) whilst Oman FM took number one spot as the highest offender of the principle of accuracy (273).
Inside Politics, an afternoon political talk show hosted by Mugabe Maase on Power FM, recorded the highest violation with 411 incidents followed by National Agenda, Oman FM’s morning show hosted by Yaw Amofa, recording 326 violations.
The Media Ethics Monitoring project forms part of MFWA’s work aimed at enhancing media professionalism to inspire public confidence and support for press freedom in Ghana.
It was implemented with funding support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Source: GNA