CDD-Ghana Lecture:  The Key Rationale Of Owning Radio Stations Is Politics

General Manager of Citi FM/Citi TV, Bernard Koku Avle

Accra, Ghana, November 7, 2020//-The General Manager of Citi FM/Citi TV, Bernard Koku Avle says the key reason why Ghana with a pupation of 30 million has 200 more radio stations than Nigeria (200 million) is the political motive of owning radio.

According to him, the Ghanaian politician sees radio as a tool to arrest and entrench power, divert attention from probity & accountability, and reduce the ordinary citizen into a mere voter.

Mr Avle said at this when he delivered the 16th edition of the “Kronti ne Akwamu” lecture in Accra on Thursday, November 5, 2020.

The lecture which was themed: ‘Radio, Rulers and the Ruled in the 4th Republic: 25th Years of an Evolving Relationship in a Democracy’, was organised Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), a leading research and advocacy think-tank in Ghana and beyond.

Mr Avle who is also the host of the Citi Breakfast Show, added: “No wonder in an election year like 2020, Ghana has already awarded close to 50 new radio frequencies, the highest annual allocation ever, and equivalent to the total number of existing radio stations in Senegal”. You can check all the new updates of radio at Radio Waves.

Worryingly, there has emerged in recent times, a more aggressive politico-media strategy where political owners of radio stations now become hosts and co-hosts to perpetrate party agenda and divert their follower’s attention from the real accountability, probity and change (development) issues, ultimately reducing the citizen listener into a mere voter”.

He mentioned Wontumi Radio, and Oman FM which are owned by the governing New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) Bernard Antwi Bosiako, alias Chairman Wontumi, and NPP MP Kennedy Agyapong to buttress his argument.

“Radio is growing, but is it growing the right way, to the benefit of Ghana? Is radio in the hands of journalists or politicians?”

Since 1995, over 500 radio licenses have been issued by the country’s National Communications Authority (NCA).

If this rate of licenses continues, the country will have over 3,000 radio stations within the next few years, Mr Avle told participants at well attended public lecture.

Majority of the existing 500 radio stations in the country, according to him are not doing well commercially.

Radio and TV stations in Ghana

Optimistic of the future

Despite the numerous challenges facing media practitioners including low remunerations, he was optimistic that the next 25 years of media practice especially radio would be better than the last 25 years.

To this end, Mr Avle advised young journalists to build their craft and credibility to enable them tap into the world of journalistic opportunities in the West African country.

In his words: “As a young journalist, you need to build credibility. Anybody who gives you money thinks he controls you. Nobody sitting in front of me will think that he can influence what I ask him, because I will not take money from you. And you need to learn that very early in life. Otherwise, by the time you become a ‘celebrity’, the platform will destroy you.”

Explaining that when an individual develops his or her craft, he or she gains credibility, which in turn presents him or her with opportunities.

Advice

“How do you survive when you are not paid? I tell young journalists; work to learn before you work to earn, there is always a period where you do not have money. We used to walk. Build your craft. If you build your craft, credibility will follow, and what credibility does is to open doors for you.”

“It is important to intern, work on a campus radio station where there is no money, walk to cover stories, take trotro; that’s how you learn to develop honesty not when you become a big guy on the super morning show,” Mr Avle emphasized.

Porous security for journalists

The recent attacks on the lives of journalists and other media practitioners did not go unnoticed.

He lamented that these attacks have increased despite the passage of the Right to Information Law and the repeal of the criminal libel law in 2001.

“The repeal of the criminal libel law in 2001 was a breath of fresh air for journalists and media houses. This has been followed by the passage of the Right to Information Law (awaiting implementation).”

“However, while these laws exist on paper, the attacks against journalists have gone up, with security forces leading the charge.

The promulgation of these laws does not seem to have guaranteed the safety and freedom of journalists to do their work,”  Mr Avle, stressed.

For instance, there have been 72 incidents of media freedom violations between January 2016 and October 2020 in Ghana, according to a research by the Media Foundation for West Africa.

These violations include the killing of a member of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ Tiger Eye team member, Ahmed Suale, physically assaulting journalists, arrest/detention and seizure/damage of equipment in the country. Many of the victims of these cases are yet to get justice.

Mr Avle expressed disappointment that a substantial number of these attacks were carried out by security agencies that are mandated to protect the journalists and the citizens at large.

“The irony of the matter is that of the 72 violations, 30 or a startling 41% were committed by security agencies. These agents of the state, who are supposed to protect citizens and defend their rights, are rather the ones perpetuating these violations against media practitioners and media houses. This is not only disappointing but very worrying.”

This year’s lecture was chaired by Madam Emma Morrison, a distinguished media practitioner and consultant.

While past speakers of the lectures include-the late former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan; His Lordship the late Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe; Dr Jendayi Fraizer, a former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and a distinguished service Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, U.S.A; and Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, a Co-founder and former Executive Director of CDD-Ghana.

The ‘Kronti ne Akwamu’ Lecture which is CDD-Ghana’s flagship annual public lecture on democracy and governance seek to bridge the gap between ideas, research and analysis on one hand, and pro-democracy and good governance advocacy on the other.

It is therefore aimed at enriching the quality of public discourse on democratic and governance reforms as well as offering alternative views for national development.

By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report

 

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