- "There is a standard... it is about specifics. If you want to do something, you have to do it well, if you are going to speak English, speak it well. If you are going to speak Twi, speak it well. I listen to radio programmes and I have heard people mixing the Fante with Twi, the Twi with English."
Fritz Baffour, a former Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South has reiterated the need for the government to enforce standards in the Ghanaian media landscape.
According to him, it will help bring some level of sanity in the media.
At least three individuals including the executive director of ASEPA Mensah Thompson and governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Bono regional chairman Kwame Baffoe (popularly known as Abronye DC), are currently being tried in court over statements they made in the media that the police say amount to false publications.
Talking to Tommy Annan Forson on the Vinyl Conversations on Asaase Radio on Saturday (5 March), the former lawmaker bemoaned the fallen standards in the media in recent times.
“My problem with the media today is that it is very explosive, how many radio stations do we have? And I don’t think we anticipated that we will have such an explosion of stations, where TV and all that, we didn’t look at the technological aspect.
“And I think the problem with Ghana on the media scene now is regulation. Naturally, we are all against censorship and things like that, but you need all of that,” Baffour said.
“There is a standard… it is about specifics. If you want to do something, you have to do it well, if you are going to speak English, speak it well. If you are going to speak Twi, speak it well. I listen to radio programmes and I have heard people mixing the Fante with Twi, the Twi with English,” the former information minister said.
Baffour further charged media practitioners to set example by adhering to standards in the discharge of their duties.
“But I think that regulations and the standards, we should have actually had a policy that will manage the radio waves properly, not to suppress information and views. I don’t mind if someone whom you are interviewing cannot speak the language and does that, but you who are in the seat, should be able to handle the language in a way that will show that there are certain standards,” he added.
Fred Dzakpata
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