By Jeorge Wilson KINGSON
The members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC), which consists of journalists and media personnel who report from Parliament, are vigorously in search of funding to finance their programmes, and have therefore appealed to corporate institutions and individuals to come to their aid.
The PPC, which is in its 16th year of formation, has contributed immensely in deepening the country’s democracy by ensuring fair, accurate and unbiased reportage, thereby creating a niche for itself as one of the vibrant affiliates of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
The corps has on several occasions received praises from both sides of the House, as well as the Parliamentary Service Board, for their role in entrenching parliamentary democracy.
This is evident in a recent comment by the Clerk to Parliament, Emmanuel Anyimadu, who said “the nation, particularly Parliament, therefore owes the media an immense gratitude. In the words of Archimedes, ‘those who are able to see afar do so because they stand on the shoulders of some giants’ You are some of the giants on whose shoulders Ghana’s Parliament stands to excel as a model for the African continent.”
Despite all these, members of the corps have to struggle to file their reports from the House on daily basis, as they have no office to operate from. What they have is a glass cubicle, about 7x7 in size. Even that it is not equipped except for a table, a chair, an old cabinet and a disconnected telephone line.
Modern equipment such as computers, fax machines and internet services are clearly missing. Journalists have to continuously rely on the generosity and kindness of some staff of Parliament to wire their stories to their various stations. It is very common to see broadcast journalists hanging around the uncompleted ‘Job 600’ building or trooping to the Osu Cemetery area for a serene atmosphere so they can file their stories live. In most cases sitting is in progress and by the time they return a lot might have happened in their absence. Thus through no fault of theirs they are often blamed for misreporting or missing the story angle. This is strange compared to what happens in parliaments elsewhere.
The less said about the difficulties in assessing documents on time for stories the better, not to talk about researching on a particular issue by journalists. In some cases, media personnel had to break rules and enter out-of-bound areas, such as the printing room, where photocopies of documents are done. But even that they have become used to the phrase “We have run out of paper” by the officials of the Parliamentary Service.
In cases of extended sitting where journalists are privileged to be served with food, it is very common to see them carrying food in polythene bags and walking all over the place, looking for corners and shades to sit under. This is mainly because they do not have any place to sit and dine. They are not allowed to sit on the mostly empty seats that parliamentary committees use for their meetings which also serve as dining table for members of parliament (MP).
Until recently, Parliament as an institution had no hand in building the capacity of journalists, even though it is the number one beneficiary of the work or output of the members of the Parliamentary Press Corps. Even on the three occasions that the Office of Parliament sponsored a training workshop the number of participants were very limited.
Only 35 out of the over 77 members of the press corps were selected to participate in the last Parliament-sponsored training workshop for journalists, a concern that caused the dean of the corps, Andrew Edwin Arthur, to ask a very fundamental question that is still searching for an answer.
“Today, we have assembled here for this important workshop, only 35 out of our total membership of about 77 and still counting more, so the question, how do we impart same knowledge to our brothers and sisters who did not get the opportunity to be here?”
As usual, the Office of Parliament claimed it was constrained to limit the number due to inadequate budgetary support. It is on this bit that Arthur prayed the Office of Parliament to look for other sources of funding or better still seek other avenues to train these journalists who were deselected so as to bring them also in line with the corps’ resolve to improving parliamentary reporting in the country.
While on this bit, it is worth noting the efforts of some democratic institutions in Ghana in supporting the Parliamentary Press Corps in its capacity building efforts. Key institutions such as the Office of the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), the Lands Administration Project (LAP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) among others will forever remain in the good books of the PPC.
Just recently, with support of the Canadian Parliamentary Centre (CPC), about five members of the PPC visited the Ontario Legislative Assembly in Canada on a two-week study visit.
Led by the dean of the corps, Andrew Edwin Arthur, the delegation met with the Speaker and Clerk of the Ontario Legislature and held discussions on how best to help Ghana’s press corps to improve on the discharge of its core mandate.
Ghana’s delegation managed to strike a deal with their Canadian counterparts for an exchange programme, and this has already received the necessary approvals from the appropriate quarters and arrangements are already far fetched for the first delegation of seven to move from Ghana in December of this year.
“What this means is that, starting from December this year, we should be able to send seven of our members on an attachment in the form of an exchange programme to the Ontario Legislative Assembly for a period of about one month, and they would in turn do same,” Arthur stated last week when he briefed members of the corps about the outcome of the trip.
He noted that the deal falls in line with the vision of the current executives of the PPC to give their entire membership international exposure and to equip them with the skills and knowledge to be abreast with the changing trends in parliamentary reporting.
As elating as the news is however, the corps is currently mind rumbling about how to secure funding to finance its part of the agreement of accommodating and feeding seven Canadian journalists for about a month. Members of the PPC have therefore been tasked to use their mediums to seek funding to enable this noble vision to come to fruition.
Starting this Monday also, the Canadian Parliamentary Centre and the World Bank Institute, are collaborating with the Parliamentary Press Corps for a video conference training programme, which is further aimed at building the capacity of members of the PPC in parliamentary reporting.
According to Arthur, “The corps plays a very crucial role in deepening parliamentary democracy and good governance in Ghana, but we operate under very severe constraints, notable among them are lack of telephones to transmit our reports, lack of access to computers and lack of access to the internet.
These and other myriad of constraints militating against us have contributed in no small measure in affecting our performance. While urging my colleagues to always endeavour to approach their work with professionalism, let me humbly call on the Office of Parliament to ensure that we are at least comfortable,” he pleaded.
The President of the GJA, Ransford Tetteh, urged the parliamentary reporters to endeavour to be professional and committed to their call to make their reportage credible and relevant.
“From all indications, experience is so vital in the coverage of Parliament and it is for this reason that the GJA wishes to appeal to media houses to keep their reporters on the parliamentary beat as long as possible to enable them to acquire the necessary experience which tremendously enhances specialization process,” Tetteh stated.
He hinted at the association’s intentions to honour parliamentary reporters who excel during GJA’s awards for excellence in journalism.
“Our democracy has come of age and it is essential to recognize journalists who have made the greatest contribution to the promotion of parliamentary democracy in the country,” he said.
While expressing the hope that the award for parliamentary reporting will be included in the 2009 GJA awards slated for August 2010, he also expressed worry about funding for the awards and prayed the Parliamentary Service to assist in that endeavour.
Dawuro.com learnt that it was lack of funds that prevented the corps from being awarded the parliamentary beat last year.
Corporate institutions and individuals are therefore kindly requested to assist the PPC in cash or kind so they can continue to contribute their quota in building Ghana’s democracy.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Press Freedom: France overtaken by Ghana
The new international press freedom index, from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), confirms a sound democratic well being among a group of African countries. This is against a backdrop of many European democracies who, by virtue of this index, are losing their grip on press freedom, one of the premier pillars of the principle of democracy.
France finds itself in the 43rd position this year, behind Ghana and three other young African democracies. Despite this encouraging data among African countries, the general situation of press freedom on the continent is still far from impressive.
Is France still a model of press freedom? Not so sure, judging from the new press freedom index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last Tuesday. France, a historical force to reckon with is — as far as human rights is concerned — 43rd in the standings, just ahead of Cape Verde (44th) and far behind budding African democracies including Ghana, Mali, South Africa and Namibia, in 27th , 30th, 33rd and 35th positions respectively. According to RSP, these countries are among some of the most respectful of press freedom, worldwide. RSF insists that democracy is built on solid foundations and that freedom is guaranteed in the 5 African countries that appear among the top 50 on their index.
Continuing its progressive slump from 2002, when the first RSF index on press freedom was released, France lost 8 points this year after an equally unimpressive 2008 rankings. In 2002, France was number 11. Since then, Journalists have found themselves “summoned by the police" while been "forced to reveal their sources,” regrets Jean-Francois Julliard, Secretary General of RSF. "The interference of political authorities, including the Head of State, Nicolas Sarkozy” is also pinned in the RSF report.
Although significant progress has been made in recent years in Africa (at the expense of several traditionally democratic European nations like France, Italy or Spain), the overall state of freedom of press is still worrying on the continent. Madagascar, which was the scene of a violent political upheaval this year, lost 40 points, as it nosedived into the 134th position. The Congo, where the opposition journalist Bruno Jacquet Ossébi died under murky circumstances, also falls 24 points to 116th position.
Guinea, where a demonstration was violently suppressed last September 28, remains at the 100th place. Niger, recently suspended from the Economic Community of African States (ECOWAS) following a highly contested legislative elections declined 9 points, setting camp at a dismal 139th position. Surprisingly, Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe (136th), following the renowned journalist, Jestina Mukoko’s kidnapping and eventual imprisonment, gains 15 points! RSF indicates that, an announcement by the government of national unity, this summer, to return the BBC, CNN and the Independent daily newspaper, The Daily News (...) has brought some hope. Mauritania, where General Ould Abdel Aziz’s election went smoothly in July 2009, has assembled a few points. Not surprisingly, Sudan (148th), Rwanda (157th), Equatorial Guinea (158th), Somalia (164th) and Eritrea (175th), fought for bottom spots.
North Africa falls
North Africa has seen a marked decline in press freedom in recent years and is hardly better off. Algeria lost 20 points in one year, sporting the 141st place. Morocco descended to 127th position, down five points. It must be noted that this year, the northern African kingdom banned and seized newspapers while slapping media houses and journalists with lawsuits. Tunisia, where President Ben Ali has won a 5th consecutive term, got the prize of the worst country for press freedom in North Africa.
The 2009 international press freedom index, was put together by RSF, between September 1 2008 and 1 September 2009. Data collection involved a questionnaire, which identified some 40 points, ranging from attacks against journalists (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, disappearances, monitoring, etc..) to various forms of pressure that may be exerted on the Media (fines, censures, seizures, searches, advertising boycotts, etc..).
Source:
afrik
France finds itself in the 43rd position this year, behind Ghana and three other young African democracies. Despite this encouraging data among African countries, the general situation of press freedom on the continent is still far from impressive.
Is France still a model of press freedom? Not so sure, judging from the new press freedom index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last Tuesday. France, a historical force to reckon with is — as far as human rights is concerned — 43rd in the standings, just ahead of Cape Verde (44th) and far behind budding African democracies including Ghana, Mali, South Africa and Namibia, in 27th , 30th, 33rd and 35th positions respectively. According to RSP, these countries are among some of the most respectful of press freedom, worldwide. RSF insists that democracy is built on solid foundations and that freedom is guaranteed in the 5 African countries that appear among the top 50 on their index.
Continuing its progressive slump from 2002, when the first RSF index on press freedom was released, France lost 8 points this year after an equally unimpressive 2008 rankings. In 2002, France was number 11. Since then, Journalists have found themselves “summoned by the police" while been "forced to reveal their sources,” regrets Jean-Francois Julliard, Secretary General of RSF. "The interference of political authorities, including the Head of State, Nicolas Sarkozy” is also pinned in the RSF report.
Although significant progress has been made in recent years in Africa (at the expense of several traditionally democratic European nations like France, Italy or Spain), the overall state of freedom of press is still worrying on the continent. Madagascar, which was the scene of a violent political upheaval this year, lost 40 points, as it nosedived into the 134th position. The Congo, where the opposition journalist Bruno Jacquet Ossébi died under murky circumstances, also falls 24 points to 116th position.
Guinea, where a demonstration was violently suppressed last September 28, remains at the 100th place. Niger, recently suspended from the Economic Community of African States (ECOWAS) following a highly contested legislative elections declined 9 points, setting camp at a dismal 139th position. Surprisingly, Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe (136th), following the renowned journalist, Jestina Mukoko’s kidnapping and eventual imprisonment, gains 15 points! RSF indicates that, an announcement by the government of national unity, this summer, to return the BBC, CNN and the Independent daily newspaper, The Daily News (...) has brought some hope. Mauritania, where General Ould Abdel Aziz’s election went smoothly in July 2009, has assembled a few points. Not surprisingly, Sudan (148th), Rwanda (157th), Equatorial Guinea (158th), Somalia (164th) and Eritrea (175th), fought for bottom spots.
North Africa falls
North Africa has seen a marked decline in press freedom in recent years and is hardly better off. Algeria lost 20 points in one year, sporting the 141st place. Morocco descended to 127th position, down five points. It must be noted that this year, the northern African kingdom banned and seized newspapers while slapping media houses and journalists with lawsuits. Tunisia, where President Ben Ali has won a 5th consecutive term, got the prize of the worst country for press freedom in North Africa.
The 2009 international press freedom index, was put together by RSF, between September 1 2008 and 1 September 2009. Data collection involved a questionnaire, which identified some 40 points, ranging from attacks against journalists (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, disappearances, monitoring, etc..) to various forms of pressure that may be exerted on the Media (fines, censures, seizures, searches, advertising boycotts, etc..).
Source:
afrik
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