Beating of Journalist must stop

I just heard today that the securits detail at the Ghana Movie Awards assaulted a journalist, in the name of subduing him, because he had crossed the line of some camera which were filming live. This is so unacceptable & it is just another example of the way we as Media people & journalist, and espercially leadership of this industry are allowing people to get away with this criminal tendencies. I am part of the failure, and it has to stop & it begins with all of us saying that not again. We will not accepting it in 2013.

listening to response of the events organizers on JoyFm’s Rthymn A-to-Z it was pitiful to say the least, that as event organizers they did not know that they bore ultimate responsibility for the misbehavior for whoever they employ at the event. The Media Coordinator who was there, though conceded that the Security people did not do well, did not see this primitive act was that bad & his response was an apology. I will not if I were present allow any media person doing his job to be assaulted at the peril of my life.

We should bear in mind that this phenomenon of beating journalist is not a new thing. We have had too many of it this year in particular. We have had friends of suspects in court beat journalist for taking pictures in public places,. Police personnel have also beaten us when covering a case of their collegue in court. In the Volta Region, Graphic Journalist have been beaten. Supporters of political parties have beaten us & destroyed properties of media houses. The list goes on & on.

This must stop & we as Ghanaians should not tolerate this. It is not that journalist are any special citizens. But as Ghanaians we should realize that it is the journalist that are the mouth piece of all of us espercially the voiceless in society. If we allow these journalist to be beaten in the course of their duties, then our freedom of speech & the media is being gradually eroded.

I support fully Peace Fm to take all legal action to seek redress from the courts to ensure that the victim gets justice. They should go all lenths, Fada Dickson & Kofi Brenya the ball is in your court.

I appeal to the IGP in the coming year to get his men to realize that we are partners in development & the incidence of the police assaulting media people in the course of their duties is unacceptable & must stop. We are grateful for the apologies rendered when the incidents happened in this year. But next year we media owners and media persons will not accept these again. Just as Police do not accept police shooters anywhere in the world, so too will we not accept this phenomenon.

We will also use our weapon of the pen & microphone to defend ourself just as the police shoot police killers on site, when they are attacked. They use the weapons by me & you rightlfully so to defend themselves, so too we have the same right. We are entitled to take pictured outside the courts & we will do it. We will go ahead & do our work without fear or favor. Once we are doing our work & in the right we will not tolerate any impedance & we will not capitulate in the face of any force. In the event where people think we are wrong, we do not deserve to be beaten, the law courts are there for people to seek redress. But physical assault we will not accept & we will use all LEGAL means at our disposal to defend ourselves. The public should help us protect their rights, for once they allow the media to be cowed by any group, be they the police, politicians, suspects, or anybody. Then our rights & freedom as a people is under severe treat. So this is a crusade all of us Ghanaians need to support us to fight.

I appeal to GJA to step out of the laid back stature & be aggressive in protecting us the members of the association & even those who find themselves out of our association but operate in the media. If leadership of GJA does not rise up to our defense & protection, the relevance of the association will be called into question.

The NMC also owes it to us the practioners to protect us, even as they regulate the way we ply our trade.

Also the media owners, we owe it to the men & women we employ to protect & defend them. Otherwise what moral right will we have to expect them to out there to go look for stories for us to use in our papers, radio & TV stations as well as on our website for which we make profits for our shareholders. A General that does not have his men & women at heart & protect them, is not worth fighting for. The men & women know that. Let’s rise up against the tyranny of the few people on the lunatic fringe who believe that they can use the laws of the jungle to cow us. We will be docile no more, we will show that we are are not toothless & we have legal teeth we will use to bite.

kenneth Ashigbey – GJA Member & Editor-In-Chief Graphic Communication Group Ltd

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