By Sir Sam Jonah, a respected statesman and business tycoon, has called on Ghanaian journalists to uphold the principles and ethics of journalism to ensure political leaders are held accountable to the public.
Speaking at the launch of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra on Wednesday, April 17, the Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) urged journalists to exhibit diligence and fairness in their reporting.
Sam Jonah added that journalism is not a profession for the “lily-livered, the deceitful nor the greedy.”
“It is worthy of note that journalism, while it may propel diligent investigators, analysts and writers to great heights, is not a profession for the lily-livered, the deceitful nor the greedy. Through fair and foul weather, the journalist must be willing and able to tell the truth to the people.
“In the reflection of today’s mirror, we observe a landscape altered by the winds of change. The once united front of objectivity and patriotism appears, to some, fragmented by the divides of partisanship and the shadows of materialism. The noble quest for truth now competes with the allure of political patronage and its material rewards, a phenomenon which threatens the sanctity of your independence—the Fourth Estate.
“Yet, this is the period when the vigilance of the fourth estate is most needed. As we stand on the precipice of yet another electoral milestone, in my view, the most consequential, the echoes of past violence, the whispers of disenfranchisement loom and I don’t think anyone needs reminding that the conduct of the electoral exercise together with its outcome is so important that the nation cannot afford bias and unprofessional coverage of it by members of your profession.”
