The National Media Commission (NMC) has described as dysfunction and unproductive, a directive by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to media houses to blacklist two MPs following alleged attacks on journalists.
The NMC Chairman, Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo made this remarks at an election reporting workshop for journalists organized by the GJA and the US Embassy Ghana Elections 2024 Project in Kumasi.
“Let me turn my attention to the recent violent, vile attacks on journalists for exercising their primary obligation of informing our people. This has resulted in the equally unilateral decision of the GJA in calling for a boycott of a blackout or blacklist of such people.
“While the approach is popular, it is dysfunctional. I still hold the position that while it is disheartening for journalists to be attacked violently, the unilateral resolve to black out or boycott the MPs is not the most productive reaction,” he stated.
Mr Ayeboafo, however, condemned the assault and emphasised the essence of resorting to legal structures to combat such acts of impunity against journalists.
“We cannot fight impunity with impunity. I will support any efforts to ensure that justice is done against all such deviant acts, rather than blackout or boycott. We must follow the rule of law and due process,” he asserted.
For the part of the GJA President, Albert Dwumfour, the comments of Mr Ayeboafo was shocking since they exhausted all relevant structures.
“We see this situation, the media itself, as abnormal, and in abnormal situations, you don’t need dysfunctional or functional minds to treat abnormal situations. You deal with it abnormally, and that is the position of the GJA. I’m utterly shocked that no other person came here to use our platform to chastise us than the NMC Chair.
“He’s a senior journalist and a veteran he didn’t take his time to even ascertain from us what informed the decision, he hasn’t communicated to us. And he just came here to say it’s just dysfunctional? He couldn’t give us functional ways to solve it, and he has run away,” he lamented.
Mr Dwumfour continued, “It’s unfortunate. The NMC has abandoned its core mandate, and you come and say this because you are heading a state institution, you come and disagree with the entire media body. The system has failed us, the system is not working.”
GJA has directed media houses to black out New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) for Awutu Senya East, Hawa Koomson and Yendi, Farouk Mahama respectively.
This comes after Mr Mahama and his team allegedly physically attacked a reporter while he was covering the NPP parliamentary primaries on Saturday January 27, 2024.
The directive against Mrs Koomson was also in connection with an alleged attack on a journalist by the MP’s thugs during the NPP’s parliamentary aspirants’ vetting in Cape Coast.
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