Professor Kwame Karikari delivering the lecture
Dean of the School of Communication Studies of Wisconsin International University College, Professor Kwame Karikari, has indicated that influence by military and one party government on state-owned media killed creative, imaginative and critical journalism in Ghana.
“State-owned press in my estimation were very strong in promoting national consciousness and the development agenda of governments but the state-owned press have been largely pro-government and, therefore, they have contributed to the stunting of creative, imaginative and critical journalism,” he said.
Prof. Karikari noted that despite the control by governments at that time, Ghana still produced some extraordinary column writers like Ms. Elizabeth Ohene and Ms. Ajoa Yeboah Afari, both of whom expressed their views through their writings.
He, however, said that the trend changed with the introduction of multiparty system which gave birth to watchdog and investigative journalism pioneered by journalists like Kofi Koomson of the Chronicle. There had been some progress in journalism in modern times, he added.
Prof. Karikari who doubles as the board chair of the Graphic Communications Group mentioned this when he delivered the first Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) 70th Anniversary Public Lecture in Accra.
It was the first of three public lectures lined up by the GJA, on the advice of its 70th Anniversary National Planning Committee (NPC), to discuss pertinent issues in the media landscape.
He was speaking on the topic: “Journalism yesterday and today: Re-positioning media with technology”.
Touching on the impact of technology on the media, Prof. Karikari said although the introduction of technology in mass communication had yielded some positive results, it had brought a new challenge of what is known as ‘fake news’.
He stressed the need for journalists in traditional media to ensure that these new technologies were made more positive for the news in mass communication.
Prominent journalist Ms. Elizabeth Ohene who chaired the event observed the need for the media to maintain high standards of professionalism in the production of content which is critical in journalism.
The public lecture was attended by media practitioners, academics, politicians, civil society activists and representatives of international partners of the GJA.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri