Prof Kwame Karikari
“There’s been too much recklessness and abuse of press freedom. There is too much unprofessionalism and a lot of citizens are insulted and abused and journalists go scot-free. But we do not have an effective regulatory system in the newsroom, industry or national level to check unprofessionalism in the media.”
Prof Kwame Karikari, communication expert and teacher is the source of the foregone.
Without doubt, he spoke for victims of reckless journalists in this country at a roundtable on exploring the boundaries of freedom of speech in the country recently.
In the past couple of months, many persons in the public and private sectors of the country have been maligned and insulted by reckless journalists. The professor could not have chosen a more appropriate societal ailment.
When the appropriate laws are applied on such reckless journalists, hell breaks loose in the media. After all, the media space is manned by colleagues of the sources of the foul effusions.
Even more damning and scary is when outright mendacious remarks are made and made to look otherwise.
It is as if society has singled out journalists for special treatment, a special breed of citizens who should not be queried or even subjected to applicable law when they breach same.
While some victims of reckless journalism turn to the courts, others are unable to do so because their occupations or professions would not allow them to. For those who are unable to seek redress, some have died slowly as they suffer the effects of the slander and libel against them. The decriminalisation of libel in the country has especially provided an impetus for the recklessness under review.
Many with hardly any understanding of the ethics guiding the practice of journalism have squeezed themselves into the inky fraternity, their recklessness even more pronounced than the journalists.
Considering the constructive role of media work in society, and looking at what has obtained in this country as a result of the politicisation of everything under the sky here, we are constrained to bemoan the spate of recklessness of wielders of the pen and those directing affairs in front of the consoles.
The relief we obtain when renowned personalities like the professor speaks out is overwhelming. It should not end there. No, not at all; something should be done because the foul status quo must not continue lest the values which stand us out as a civilised society, is completely lost.