Loving the Ghanaian Journalist?

Two developments over the weekend have forced me to do something I hardly do publicly- to criticise (the works of) ‘fellow journalists’. The issues have to do with a publication by the Flex newspaper concerning Joselyn Dumas’ ambassadorial role with Range Rover in Ghana, insinuating the deal was a bad one, and the other by Ghanacelebrities.com about a story they carried on their portal that sought to portray that Ghanaian actresses were using black magic in the industry. My concern isn’t so much of the publications themselves, but the aftermath of the publications, especially the comments by the writers of the stories.

These stories were the subject of discussions on entertainment review programmes the past week. Discussants had issues with them, raising concerns about the level of reporting. The argument was that the writers could have gone a step further by at least contacting the persons involved in the stories. The Ghanacelebrities.com writer claimed he did, but did not pose any direct questions to the actress he spoke with. His reason was that the story was a delicate one, but the answers given by the interviewee confirmed his ‘suspicion.’ What I found interesting was his comment that he could have gone ahead to mention the names of the actresses and still have nothing to prove, once he used the word ‘alleged.’ 

For the Flex writer his justification for not contacting any of the parties involved was that they would have denied the stories, so there was no need seeking clarifications from them. A journalist has the right to his opinions, but as far as I am concerned the story was not an opinion. The editor/ editorial team could have enriched their stories if they had contacted either party. Even a ‘no comment’ from them would have been satisfactory to readers. Such omissions are only done by ‘interns’. I know such a comment will not go well with the editor. Speaking on the issue on Happy FM last Saturday, he was angry for being referred to as an up and coming journalist, touting the number of years he has spent in the profession. Does the number of years spent in the profession make a journalist an accomplished one? Or the quality of work done, albeit the number of years spent in the profession?

These developments are not isolated cases. They bring to the fore the standards of journalism in the country. It is a widely-held belief that the standards are low. I am not competent to judge, but I have reasons to compare what goes on here with what I read and watch elsewhere. Apart from challenging ourselves as media people, we also have a problem with language; the challenge of pluralism rather that quality is disturbing; the challenge of adapting to growing trends is worrying.

It is a fact that no effective communication can take place without language, and no language in itself automatically makes a good communication better. It is thus necessary that the language used in the media by practitioners is of the highest standard. It is also a fact that the media is an avenue for learning, and most people have used the newspapers and the electronic media as a tool to polishing their language and acquiring new expressions and usage of language. But is the media helping the citizenry to achieve this goal? The answer is not farfetched. The language of some reporters in the country is below expectation. How do we build a solid foundation as a nation with a communication gape championed by journalists?

The problems of language I have identified range from subject-verb disagreement, wrong pronoun usage, inappropriate use of the reported speech, breach of unity in paragraphing, tautologies, among others. 

The various online news portals in the country are worse off in editing and proofreading their stories. Radio isn’t any better. What is even worrying is how other websites and blogs replicate these stories in toto on their sites (of course with the errors).

What are the main causes of these problems?  Can the problem be attributed to the teacher who groomed all these writers and journalists? Or their superiors who fail in their efforts to edit rightly- either through ignorance or lack of time? Or the reporter who simply has failed to get himself acquainted with the trends of language? As media people, ignorance is never an excuse. People judge us by what we write and how we express ourselves. Unfortunately for us there is no substitute for good language. 

Has the indiscriminate granting of licenses to radio and television stations contributed to the mess we find ourselves? With print, the least said about it the better. The 1992 constitution grants us the freedom to establish media outlets, but should standards be thrown into the abyss, for the sake of financial gains?

Today, every reporter with just three years experience in the profession considers himself a senior reporter - a cliché that has been ‘superfluously overexploited’ by the Ghanaian press. From senior reporter, the next step is editor. No one wants to work under someone to be groomed. Is it any wonder that we have an abundance of 8 page and 12-page newspapers, manned by Editors-in-chief with limited knowledge and scope, with virtually no supporting staff? We all know the challenge of finance is there, but how many Ghanaians are willing to patronise these newspapers which have bad typography and layout? Not to mention the quality of print. Where then lies the financial will to hire trained, experienced and competent staff to help drive the vision of the media? 

The most appropriate solution to this challenge is mergers. But will the media owners be ready to shelve their personal biases and egoistic approach to journalism and put resources together so that the media in Ghana can be respected for once as viable business entities? 

It is also important for us to adapt to growing trends. The mass media is fast changing from what it used to be. Today the dynamics of radio, television and the print media have become more challenging. Hence, it requires that working with these tools also needs to vary to meet what pertains globally. But, in Ghana we tend to be stuck with the traditional approach to journalism and reporting in particular. The nuances of reporting have not changed; reporters are not challenged; neither do they defy the odds to create news ‘out of nothing,’ instead of becoming arm chair reporters- reporters who only report the mess created on radio by politicians who only find solace in using the radio and television to perpetuate their propagandist homilies.   

It is very important that we became mindful of the fact that journalism is not for journalists alone (to wit Rory O’Connor, the famous American journalist and filmmaker.) He asserts that ‘… the vast majority of media consumers (and a growing number of media makers) are profoundly dissatisfied with mainstream journalism and a deep funk over its future,’ O’Connor notes in his article “Journalism: It’s not for journalists anymore.” He challenges journalists to sit up in face of the advancement in digital technology, which is rapidly revolusionalising modern media, spawning unparalleled interactivity and turning those who were once mere news consumers into independent and increasingly sophisticated news producers.

Certainly, the wakeup call for journalists is obvious. Otherwise as he puts it, ‘as media satisfaction wanes, citizen-journalism projects take off.’ This is not just in the offing. It is evident. These days anybody with a little confidence, the will to write, the ability to speak and the enthusiasm to report assumes the role of a journalist, and he practices! The advent of blogs also offers million web loggers choices and voices, as dissatisfied media citizens take matters into their own hands to create ‘citizens media’(ibid). This should remind us that the ‘special’ tag that journalists enjoy is fast dead. We need to sit up!

Where then does the journalism teacher feature in all these? Of course, as one of them, the responsibility for this mess lays at our doorstop. Why? Because we are often blamed for grooming bad journalists and the journalists is often praised for his exemplary effort at uncovering a wrong. The challenge is on to help raise standards of the profession. I promise to continue to teach acceptable norms of the profession, and I undertake to ensure that journalism is left for journalists -those who are willing to learn, and not those who just hope to maim.