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GBC's statute must be reviewed to
improve its performance
Akosombo, Dec.18, Ghanadot/GNA - Mr. Berifi Apenteng, a
Media Consultant said the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
(GBC) was very well placed to be transformed into a true
public service broadcaster if its statute of incorporation
was reviewed to state its functions more clearly and
comprehensively.
He said the National Liberation Council Decree (NLCD 226) of
1968 was almost 40 years old now and since the environment
had completely changed, it needed to be reviewed to state
the public service functions of the GBC more clearly and
comprehensively.
"This should take into account provisions in the current
proposals for a national broadcasting law," he said when
presenting a paper on; "Public Service Broadcasting in
Ghana, The Way Forward," at a two-day Primary Stakeholders
meeting at Akosombo on Monday.
The meeting would discuss the unique role that public
service broadcasting plays in giving voice to all shades of
opinions and thereby strengthening democratic culture in the
country.
It was organized by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA)
in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and
KAB Governance Consult and is the last in a series of
consultations before the GJA adopts a formal position on the
matter and that which would be communicated to the
Executive, Legislature and the National Media Commission (NMC).
Mr. Apenteng said the new law should make appropriate
arrangement for independent financing of Public Service
Broadcasting whose common mandate was to inform, educate and
entertain to improve society and not for commercial gains.
He said for 60 years, GBC had been the only public service
broadcasting station in the country but with the plurality
in the current broadcasting environment, GBC had lost most
of its workforce to the new stations and that the station
should be allowed to derive funds from a variety of sources
which would complement each other to enable it to train its
staff to meet the current trends in technology and
programming.
There are currently 124 radio stations countrywide and with
four private free on air and three local cable subscription
television stations in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.
Mr. Apenteng said the NMC should be empowered by
Constitutional Instrument to increase the TV licence fee to
avoid the situation where politicians dragged their feet
with the fear of public backlash and that taxes on imported
radio and TV sets and mobile phone usage should be paid into
a fund to support public service broadcasting.
He said GBC must change its programme outlook to satisfy the
different groups of the public, carry out advertising and
provide technical facilities and services on commercial
basis where it had excess capacity but these activities must
not compromise its public service role.
Ms. Oboshie Sai-Cofie, Minister of Information and National
Orientation who opened the meeting said the prominence of
GBC being the premier station, had diminished in the face of
competition yet it had been deprived to go into open
competition with other stations because of its public
service mandate.
She said the Constitution insulated the media from
government and set up the NMC to ensure this, but there was
an anomaly, in that, the extent of the divide was not
clearly spelt out.
"One school of thought holds the belief that what the spirit
of the constitution means by insulation is non interference
in the content and provision of the media. Others have
inferred that the term refers to a total break with all
structures of the media."
The Minister said though the government had kept strictly to
the provisions of the constitution and stayed away from any
sort of editorial direction of the GBC while providing the
whole of its financial and technical needs, voices were
raised when it had a say in its restructuring.
She proposed that this inconsistency would require a
judicial interpretation, probably by the Supreme Court.
Mr. Ransford Tetteh, GJA President called on the Executive
and the Legislature to review the sub-vented Agencies Act
and take out of its list any state owned media to give
meaning to Chapter 12 of the Constitution which stressed
freedom and independence of the media.
He said GBC's professionalism and impartiality during
election 2008 was critical since the public goodwill for the
Corporation would be eroded if it considered its coverage as
being skewed in favour of particular political or sectarian
persuasion.
"Ghanaians are more discerning now and any acts or omissions
that undermine the provisions of the constitution will be
frowned upon. I am however hopeful that the present
Management and Board of GBC and indeed all state owned media
will live up to the challenge."
Mr. Clifford Siaw Buabeng, Chairman of the Media Committee
of the NMC, who chaired, said, an efficient public
broadcaster was critical to national development and that
all efforts would be made to ensure that GBC performed its
role to foster national unity and promote civic
responsibility.
GNA
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