Ghana cannot continue to inundate our television airwaves with South American and Asian content and expect the population to retain age-old social norms and values.
These content by virtue of their popularity have crept into the way of life of many people especially the youth, who are subconsciously living by the foreign values and traits communicated.
That is the observation of marketing executive and Chief Executive Officer of Prime Network Limited, McBen Adu-Asamoah who contend the time has come for the corporate world to partner local content producers to grow the local creative industry and to uphold Ghanaian values and morals, which is fast on the decline.
Contributing to a discussion at the Chartered Institute of, Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Annual Marketing Conference on Wednesday, Mr Adu-Asamoah noted for nearly two decades, soaps operas from foreign countries have flooded the airwaves, showcasing lifestyles of flamboyance, greed, obsession and other negative virtues.
These series started with Telenovela's and now to Indian productions, which are now translated into our local language twi, to reach a bigger audience.Â
With impressive sponsorship from the corporate world, these programs have dried up funding for local producers, pushing many out of business.
Mr Adu-Asamoah believes the local movie industry can be equally competitive and productive if given the needed sponsorship, creativity will be rewarded and encouraged. The content can then include in them the values of Ghanaian society which would be passed on to the consuming public.
The CEO of Prime Network Limited also observed a similar situation in the music industry which now tilting towards the adoption of the Nigerian accent and style. A lot of Ghanaian music now sounds like Nigerian - a gradual but sustained rejection of our own way of life.
He argues it is not too late to make a turnaround to promote local content to meet the standards of the foreign ones the public warm up to. The marketing fraternity in this vane has a responsibility to promote this partnership for the development of Ghana, he added.
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