Prof. Emmanuel Asante
The media have been urged not to compromise their gate-keeping role especially as the country prepares for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The National Peace Council (NPC) which made the call at an evening encounter with media owners and editors in Accra on Tuesday evening said the media must operate with a sense of responsibility at all times to ensure that powerful people are held in check.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the NPC, Prof. Emmanuel Asante, said the media must hold on to its responsibility of educating the public on their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
“We believe that we have a responsibility for the people of this nation for our democracy, for the development of Ghana and we believe that the media have a responsibility to educate the people and also hold others in check as gatekeepers. You should not compromise on this role,” he said.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Affail Monney, said the media must always put the national interest first.
He said the engagement with the peace council must be a wake-up call for media practitioners, especially as electioneering periods in Ghana are almost always volatile periods.
“The national interest should overshadow everything we do. This is a country that wobbles anytime it is an election year. We tether on the brink of self-destruction and this meeting should serve as a wake-up call to us,” he stressed.
The NPC has been playing a pivotal role in maintaining peace in the country by engaging various stakeholders on ways to dialogue and engage meaningfully.
Apart from the engagement with the media, the council has also engaged with political parties especially on the holding of national elections.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri