Remain Impartial in dealing with parties- NMC tells journalist

THE National Media Commission (NMC) has asked media practitioners in the country to remain impartial in their dealings with political parties and be guided by the Code of Ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
It said adherence to the guidelines for political reporting by the media, particularly the state-owned media, would ensure fair and equitable coverage of political party activities before and during the general election in December.
The NMC, therefore, urged media practitioners to avoid activities that might compromise their integrity as journalists or damage their credibility in order to be effective in discharging their duties.
The Executive Secretary of the NMC, Mr George Sarpong, who made the appeal through the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, stated that media practitioners should endeavour not to be influenced by political or other considerations in their duties.
"The state-owned media should, under no circumstance, endorse candidates for political office. And personal preferences by individuals in the state-owned media for candidates, positions and other perceptions must not be permitted to spill over into news reports and other programmes," he stated.
He said political coverage must be balanced with analyses of issues in the overall context of good governance, adding that "the electorate must be given the opportunity to discuss and understand the issues”.
Mr Sarpong noted that apart from providing information on candidates to the general public, media practitioners should also balance discussions of personalities with analyses of the issues and must also offer a forum for the public to participate in those discussions.
"This must be done by collecting and disseminating truthful, unbiased information on the activities of political parties and candidates and, in turn, offer opportunities for the public to express their views on the candidates and their programmes," he emphasised.
Mr Sarpong acknowledged that peace was the bedrock of progress and development and, therefore, media practitioners must be active and purposeful in their search for ideas that might promote peace and national cohesion.
"In covering politics, the media must endeavour to identify the critical issues that can trigger conflict and encourage dispassionate discussions," he cautioned, indicating that such issues might include questions of marginalisation and identity politics based on religion and ethnicity.
He advised that views that had the potential to promote violent conflict, especially political, social, cultural, racial, ethnic and religious, should be handled with great sensitivity and balanced with efforts towards promoting peace.
Consequently, he admonished the media to ensure that the programmes and manifestos of political parties and candidates were explained comprehensively to the electorate by subjecting them to objective analyses.
He said it was the duty of the media to help the electorate to assess the candidates to make the elections meaningful, saying that required the provision of accurate information on the candidates.