Democracy Watch Vol. 2, No. 2&3 April-September 2001 1 A Quarterly Newsletter of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development 6&7 DemocracyWatch 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 statements. The openness to the media Volume 2, No. 2&3 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789 was underscored by President Kufuors April-September 2001 The Media in the news conference to mark his first 100 Post Rawlings Era days in office, an event never witnessed ISSN: 0855-417X during the 19 years ex-President Rawlings was in power. A new era of positive government- In this issue media relations? In an early gesture of acknowledging the contribution of the media to Ghanaian Among the media, media watchers, democratic development, the NPP and observers of Ghanaian politics, government decided to abort ongoing EThe Media in the Post Rawlings Era there is a well-justified feeling of relief state prosecutions against journalists for .................Page 1 and euphoria over the demise of a criminal and or seditious libel. Most media unfriendly-regime. Indeed, it significantly, it has made good on its promise to repeal the obnoxious criminal E The New Challenges in Intra-media was expected that the relationship Relations .............. Page 2 between the media and the new NPP libel law hitherto used by government to administration would be a departure harass the media. EThe Stadium Disaster and Other from the past, considering the Fallouts ...............Page 4 persecution some sections of the media The administrations policy of providing suffered under the nineteen years of access to the media has achieved dual goals: the dark side of the old regime is The New Council of State Rawlings PNDC and NDC E being exposed, new officials have been .............Page 5 governments and the pro-media positions taken by the NPP when it was able to articulate their intentions, and in many instances, have been successful in Questions Over Vetting in opposition. E winning public sympathy and Procedures ................Page 6 Eight months into its four-year term of cooperation. office Kufuors chemistry with the E Ripples from the June Fourth media has been warm. There has not Boom ............. Page 8 been any sign of the open hostility that .........the NPP government has characterized the relationship between made good on its promise to government and the media in the past. repeal the obnoxious criminal Towards National Reconciliation libel law hitherto used by E In a powerfully symbolic about-face ............ Page 10 government to harass the media. that reversed the previous regimes style of running a closed administration, the NPP government began its term by In addition, journalists have been honored opening up to the media and accrediting with presidential appointments. Elizabeth all segments of the industry to cover Ohene, formerly of the British the presidency: the private media have Broadcasting Corporation, is Minister of Media Relations; veteran Graphic EDITORIAL TEAM been given full access to the Castle, the official seat of government. Sports editor Joe Aggrey is deputy n Baffour Agyeman-Duah Minister for Youth and Sports; Kabral n Audrey Gadzekpo This new openness has been further Blay Amihere, publisher of the n E. Gyimah-Boadi strengthened by the decentralization of Independent and president of the West n Edem Selormey information flow. The President, African Journalists Association, is n Kwesi Yankah Ministers, MPs and party functionaries Ghanas envoy to Sierra Leone; Kwesi have all been readily available to the Biney, editor of the Guide is a District media through press conferences, radio Chief Executive; and Haruna Atta, Democracy Watch is published with funding from publisher of the Accra Mail, is a member the Danish International Development Agency, and television appearances, and press DANIDA Continued on next column E Continued on page 2 E Democracy Watch Vol. 2, No. 2&3 April-September 2001 2 of the National Commission on Culture and the Board of the Indeed, the episode presented a key test of the extent to Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). which officials of the new government were going to tolerate provocations by the media. After all, the manner in which the new NPP government reacts to aggravation from the But government-media relations have not been all rosy. There media is what will set it apart from its illiberal predecessor. have been testy moments. In spite of the enormous goodwill The episode also raised questions about what the media towards President Kufuor the media criticized his visit to was doing to improve its own level of professionalism. rr Togo to participate in the celebration of President Gnassingbe Eyademas coup as indiscreet and an affront to the 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 democratic forces in that country. The media also rattled his 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 government over reports of harassment of members of the 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234567890The New Challenges in 1 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 past government by the security agencies. The absence of 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 consultation and public debate before Ghana joined the HIPC Intra-Media Relations Initiative has also received criticisms from the media. And the media has trenchantly criticized the circumstances In further reverberations of the Obestebi-Lamptey and surrounding the governments award of a contract to lift oil Graphic story, Chronicle publisher and editor-in-chief, Mr. from Nigeria to a private company Sahara. These provide Nana Kofi Coomson chastised the Daily Graphic and its positive indications that the media will not shirk its watchdog editor, Mr. Elvis Aryeh in an interview on a local radio responsibility, nor its responsibility to monitor the performance station, for what he described as professional misconduct of the government and to point out its lapses for correction. for not cross checking the Obetsebi-Lamptey story. Mr. Jake versus the Graphic Coomson also said the Minister of Presidential Affairs would be right to sue if the paper did not retract the story. The Perhaps the first major test of tolerance for a government next day, the leading state-owned daily published a full-page considered liberal in its attitude to the press was the editorial under the headline Enough of the filth of Kofi altercation between the Minister for Presidential Affairs, Coomson the crimson pirate. Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, and the Daily Graphic over the publication of a Ghana News Agency (GNA) story during The Graphic editorial accused the Chronicle publisher of the Easter period in which the Minority Leader, Mr. Alban unprofessional and unethical behavior in gathering news and Bagbin, accused Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey of a conflict of the use of blackmail and extortion to suppress news stories. interest in the award of contracts to rehabilitate the Castle. The Graphic also claimed to have credible information about Coomsons shameless compromise of the ethics of The threat of libel action against Graphic, GNA and JOY- journalism in pursuit of his greedy motives and cited FM, and the huge amount of damages the Minister demanded instances of Coomson allegedly blackmailing named public from the Graphic in particular, was reminiscent of the officials. unofficial strategy of the NDC to cripple the press through libel actions in which they demanded huge compensations. The most obvious issue to be addressed is the propriety of Considering the fact that the originator of the story was a Mr. Aryeh using an entire page of a publicly-owned credible source the state-owned Ghana News Agency newspaper to launch an attack on a detractor, rather than it was reasonable for the Graphic to have assumed its seeking a rejoinder from the radio program on which he veracity. It seemed unfair on the part of the Minister to was criticized or writing a rebuttal addressing the specific accuse the paper of malice, even if the paper was at first accusations of a lack of professionalism that had been reluctant to retract the story. In the fast and competitive leveled against him and his paper. world of information, common newsroom practice the world over is predicated on the fact that established wire service The incident also highlights the problem that most stories are credible and publishable. newspapers, both state and private, are facing as a result of having been strongly aligned to political camps in the It is encouraging that Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey dropped the past and therefore having compromised