Radio stations responsible for 70% of media violence, says MFWA

Radio stations are the “worst perpetrators of ethical violence” among all Ghanaian media, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has said.

The monitoring of media ethics by MFWA forms part of a project: “Enhancing Media Professionalism to Inspire Public Confidence and Support for Press Freedom in Ghana”.

According to the MFWA, from 15 to 30 June 2020, it “monitored ethical violations on 26 news organisations”, made up of ten Akan-speaking radio stations, ten newspapers and six news websites. “A total of 936 pieces of content from the 26 organisations were monitored and analysed, out of which 116 ethical violations were recorded,” the foundation said.

The report also revealed that pro-party stations such as Power FM and Oman FM recorded the highest incidence of violence.

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“Pro-NDC Power FM’s afternoon political talk show, Inside Politics, hosted by Mugabe Maase, and the station’s current affairs programme Battle Ground, hosted by Oheneba Barnie, had the highest incidents of ethical violations of 13 and 12,” the report said.

“Pro-NPP Oman FM’s morning show, National Agenda, hosted by Yaw Amofa, and Happy FM’s current affairs programme, Epa Ho a Daben programme, hosted by Nana Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah, also recorded 12 ethical violations each. 

“Overall, radio stations emerged as the worst perpetrators of ethical violations, accounting for 70% of the violations recorded.

“This is followed by news websites (25%) with Ghanaweb.com as the main culprit, accounting for 12 violations. The remaining 5% of violations came from the ten newspapers.”

Unregulated platforms for insults

The MFWA also noted that gatekeepers in the media space do very little to help bar unethical language.

The report observed that most radio show hosts rather incite their panellists and listeners to make unethical comments.

“Hosts of many political talk shows and news anchors on radio are complicit in the use of unethical language on radio, as they make no efforts at restraining panellists and interviewees who used inappropriate words on their programmes.

“Some news anchors and radio show hosts were noted to be inciting and encouraging panellists and guests to make unethical and offensive statements.”

It further noted that some website editors also fail to regulate their comment sections, allowing readers to insult and make unsubstantiated claims.

“Editors of some news websites leave the comments sections of their pages unregulated, making it a platform where readers often trade insults and peddle unsubstantiated allegations,” the report said.

E A Alanore

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