Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana, Ransford Gyampo, has said Ghana’s democracy risks irreparable damage if press freedom degenerates into media tyranny.
In an article, the Director of the university's Centre for European Studies explained that media tyranny in Ghana is characterised by some media houses sensationalising issues that require sobriety, and the unethical publication of offensive images.
“Some deliberately give wrong headlines to stories just for the purposes of selling their tabloids or directing traffic to their sites. Some do these with impunity and feel they cannot and must not be touched by anyone, simply because they belong to the Fourth Estate of the realm. This is what I call Media Tyranny,†Prof Gyampo explained in the write-up released on Thursday, May 20, 2021.
He said journalists must not feel they are above the law because of their job since “even the Executive President, clothed with all powers like a political king-kong, cannot be a tin-god in a maturing democracy like Ghana.â€
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Touching on the recent alleged assault on Citi FM journalists, Caleb Kudah and Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo, he said it is important it present all the sides of the issue and dispassionately answer a raft of questions that the matter brings up, including:
- Is there truly a law in Ghana that forbids us from taking pictures at certain security areas?
- Can this rule be violated by a journalist in the national interest?
- The whole idea of National Interest is nebulous. Who defines the national interest and whose interest is the national interest? Is the national interest the public interest? Who is the public? Can national/public interest arbitrarily defined by anybody?
- Can any Ghanaian enter the premises of any state institution or property and begin to take pictures? Can any Ghanaian go to the Jubilee House and begin to take pictures, just because the place is run with our taxes?
- Did the journalist violate any law in what he did?
- Was he truly beaten when arrested and is there any evidence to suggest so, beyond his own narration?
- Is it lawful to beat up any Ghanaian and for that matter, an identifiable Journalist who may have allegedly violated any law?
“Generally, (and this isn’t with specific reference to the alleged Caleb beating incident), we must not continue to hype the abuse of journalists over the infractions of journalists in a manner that only demonizes abusers and perpetuate media tyranny.
“We must deal with the phenomenon of media tyranny with the same energy we would deal with those who abuse journalists. Security capos must be civil, humane and law-abiding, in handling those who violate laws. But at the same time, no group of people can assert tin-god status over the rest of the populace,†he said.
He said allegations levelled against both parties involved in the Caleb Kudah, Citi FM/ Citi TV matter must be independently investigated without any cover-up.
He admonished the National Security to go ahead with its own investigations but said their probe should not prejudice any independent investigations into the matter.