Jefferson Sackey, a deputy communications director in the Office of the President, has attributed Ghana’s poor performance in the latest Global Press Freedom Index to the new methodology introduced to determine this year’s rankings.
Ghana dropped 30 places in the latest Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), which monitors happenings within the media in 180 countries.
The report scored Ghana 67.43, placing it in 60th position, a sharp decline from its 30th place last year.
The latest ranking is the lowest Ghana has ever had in the past 17 years after placing 66th in 2005.
Question of context
Touching on the development on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (11 May), Sackey said the introduction of an economic yardstick greatly affected Ghana’s performance this year.
“We should first of all bear in mind that the context of this year’s report is extremely different from all the contexts that we have had over the years, and also remember that we have been hovering around a 4% difference from 2006, 2016 thereabouts … The last report, we were at 30.
“Now if you introduce a new context, it changes the dynamics, and that is basically what we are seeing. If you look at the context that is being introduced this time, the economic context, you and I know as a practising media … you should tell me whether the media in Ghana really do pay good salaries or wages,” the international journalist told Kwaku Nhyira-Addo.
“It is not happening. And so, when you have these kind of things in place, it changes the dynamics, it changes everything … The media economically are not doing well. So the big question we need to ask ourselves [is]: how can we as a nation resolve this particular problem?” Sackey said.
Listen to Jefferson Sackey in the audio clip attached below:
Local index
Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, a former chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), has suggested that the media regulator set up its own index to assess press freedom in Ghana.
Reacting to the publication of the Global Press Freedom Index on The Asaase Breakfast Show on 4 May, Gyan-Apenteng said creating a local index will help the government carry out its own assessment of press freedom and freedom of expression in Ghana.
“You know every entity has its own means of measuring some of these things. So the government is entitled to produce its own figures, its own assessment.”
He added, “My view is that the National Media Commission should be the body to create its own index if it will and report on this regularly.
“So that, whether we are doing well or not doing so well, based on our own set of criteria, we will be out there very quickly. [And] if corrective measures are needed and responsibilities apportioned, then we will have clarity,” he told Nhyira-Addo.
Fred Dzakpata
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