Ghanaweb.com is the worst perpetrator of media ethics violations for the period of September 1-15. The news website recorded 52 ethical violations to top 25 other media organisations who are being monitored by the Media Foundation for West Africa under its media ethics monitoring project.
Ghanaweb.com was followed by two pro-partisan radio stations, Power FM and Oman FM. Pro-NDC’s Power FM which recorded 34 violations was immediately followed by Pro-NPP’s Oman FM with 31 violations. Hot FM also followed with 21 ethical violations
Over the two-week period (September 1-15), a total of 962 media content were monitored on the 26 selected media organisations which are made up of 10 Akan language broadcasting radio stations, 10 newspapers and six news websites. Out of 962 media content, 149 ethical violations were recorded on 13 media organisations.
Out of the total 149 ethical violations recorded, 92 (62%) were recorded on radio stations. News websites recorded 55 violations (37%), with the remaining two (2) violations (1%) recorded in Newspapers.
Power FM’s afternoon political talk show, Inside Politics, which is hosted by Mugabe Maase, recorded the highest number of violations (18) during the period of monitoring. This was followed by Oman FM’s morning show, National Agenda, hosted by Yaw Amofa, with 12 violations. Oman FM’s afternoon political talk show, Boiling Point, which is hosted by Kwabena Kwakye, recorded the third highest violations – nine (9).
Power FM’s afternoon political talk show, Battle Ground, followed with seven (7) violations. The show is hosted by Oheneba Boamah Bennie. Power FM’s morning show, Dwaboase, hosted by Kwame Minkah and Hot FM’s political talk show, Dwene Ho Biom, hosted by Boamah Darko recorded six (6) violations each.
The monitoring of media ethics is part of a project titled: Enhancing Media Professionalism to Inspire Public Confidence and Support or Press Freedom in Ghana. The objective of the project is to identify and highlight incidents of ethical infractions in the Ghanaian media and draw attention to such breaches as a way of fostering adherence to ethical principles by media organisations.
The full report contains the specific ethical principles violated and the names of the media outlets that violated those principals among other findings. Kindly click here to access the report.
The instrument being used for the monitoring, which contains the category definitions for tracking and reporting of ethical principles is also available here. For further clarifications and media interviews, contact Programme Manager, Abigail Larbi (0244867047), or Programme Officer, Kwaku Krobea Asante (0249484528).
