The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has urged the Ministry of Communications (MoC) to suspend its channel directive to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and other media houses for the closure of their channels on the Digital Terrestrial Transmission(DTT)platform.
It said the directive would “significantly impact” on the operations of GBC and amount to interference by government in the work of the state owned media against provisions of Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution.
“The directive by the Communications Minister has the potential of curtailing the operations of media houses, particularly a state owned media, which the Constitution has specifically asked to be insulated from governmental control by a constitutional body and will lead to some of its content or programmes going off the air,” the Association said.
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A release issued by the Association and signed by Mr Roland Affail Monney, its President, said the GJA, had observed with great concern the current controversy between GBC, and the MOC over the Ministry’s directive to GBC to reduce the number of television channels it carried on the National Digital Terrestrial Transmission, and said the National Media Commission (NMC) as well as broadcasters, both in the public and private sectors, should be brought into discussions on the arrangements on the use of the DTT platform.
It said the Association had taken particular notice of letters and public statements of the Ministry of Communications on the issue, the statement of the Ministry of Information (MOI) on the same subject and the petition of the GBC
Director General to the National Media Commission (NMC) on the MOCs’ directive and was of the view that there was the need for a thorough discussion on the matter and not the issuance of directives and statements.
The release said it noted further that the action of the Minister of Communications was not only against GBC but also one private media house, Crystal TV, which raised concerns about the tendency of “a Minister of State unilaterally issuing directives to media houses both in the public and private sectors to curtail their operations”.
It said discussions with stakeholders, including television broadcasters on the building of a DTT infrastructure and the migration of television stations to the DTT platform, agreed that there would be only one digital platform for all free to air television broadcasting stations, and that the platform would also be managed by government and the broadcasters.
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The release said, however, Government was managing the DTT platform alone currently as the infrastructure was yet to be completed.
“No transparent rules have been developed for the management and control of this very vital public asset, though most of the televisions stations in the country are now broadcasting on it,” it noted.
The Association said if government was left to solely determine the use of channels on the platform, it could lead to arbitrary and unfair actions that would negatively impact on media freedom.
“The GJA believes that control and management of the DTT platform is critical to the independence and freedom of the media and should not be left solely in the hands of Government”.
The release said, “Just as with the media houses, the GJA would want the NMC to insulate the DTT platform from governmental control and interference. And there should be transparent rules to guide its operations.
“The GJA is of the view that, the long term solution to this and any other issues confronting the highly sensitive media industry is for Ghana to attach utmost urgency to the enactment of a broadcasting law,” it added.
GNA
