By Issac Asare
The Director-General of GBC, Professor Amin Alhassan, says the absence of a legislative instrument to enforce content regulation makes it impossible for the country to develop protocols for engaging sub-regional partners on regulatory decisions.
He observed that the advent of technological convergence has, for the last two decades, presented its own challenges and, to some extent, influenced content regulation.
The lapses, he noted, have allowed for irresponsible journalism across boundaries with impunity.
Prof. Alhassan, however, challenged media scholars to generate conversation around such developments to influence reforms that can hold the media in check.
Prof. Alhassan was speaking at the launch of a Media Report titled “The State of the Ghanaian Media”.
The report chronicles the performance of the media and the challenges confronting the industry in the wake of new technologies and other evolutions.
The report is under seven chapters which discuss media freedom and professional journalism, working conditions in the media, safety of journalists in Ghana and Broadcast media ownership and regulations.
It highlighted the financial viability of the media and how the media space can be harnessed to remain relevant in these changing times. With funding from the College of Education of the University of Ghana and the US Embassy, the publication exposed the weaknesses in the Ghanaian media and underscored the urgency for stakeholders to support such research findings to influence reforms. Prof Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin is the Head of Department at the Department of Communication Studies.
The Director of GBC, Prof. Amin Alhassan, who was the Guest Speaker emphasised the urgency for a comprehensive regulatory framework to empower regulators such as the National Media Commission and the National Communications Authority (NCA) to sanitise the media space.
In a solidarity message, the Presse Attaché at the US Embassy, Kevin Brosnahan called on stakeholders in the media to work in partnership to guarantee the safety and security of journalism.
The launch of the publication brought together high-profile media practitioners and institutions like Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), the Media Foundation for West Africa, and the NMC.
Full report here:
