Sunday 10 April 2011

A CAUTIONARY TALE FOR SECTIONS OF THE GHANAIAN MEDIA & THEIR POLITICAL PAYMASTERS!

For those clever Ghanaian media professionals, who collaborate with politicians (to whom they have sold their conscience!), to invade the privacy of critical media voices in Ghana, which they constantly seek to silence, here is a cautionary tale.

It is part of a news story culled from the BBC's website showing how the hubris of some of its journalists has got the UK newspaper, News of the World (NoW) into hot water, over a hacking scandal.

So let them all remember, when they are planting those daft stories that they think will trip some of us up, and hacking into our phones and emails, that they too will get their comeuppance, one fine day. Please read on, dear reader:

"....The NoW printed its apology in its latest edition over the long-running phone-hacking scandal.

The paper said of the victims: "Here today, we publicly and unreservedly apologise to all such individuals."

It added in a page two article that the hacking "should not have happened" and "was and remains unacceptable".

The NoW's owner, News International, has admitted there were at least eight victims and has put aside £20m for compensation.

'Fairly and efficiently'

The paper said a number of individuals had brought breach of privacy claims against it over wrongful "voicemail interceptions" between 2004 and 2006, and others were threatening to do so.

Mark Lewis, representing the publicist Nicola Phillips, said his client had turned down an offer from the NoW.

While lawyer Charlotte Harris, who is involved in several of the current cases, said the NoW's apology was "limited" and left several unanswered questions.

She told BBC Radio 5 live: "It's all very well saying 'okay, fine, we admit that happened', but how are we meant to know the extent of what happened?

"It's not just about money, we want to know who was it you listened to, who else was involved, how far up, exactly what period, what else have you got, why weren't we told?

"These questions need to be answered, and they can only be answered if we carry on with the cases and don't just settle them in one go." Culled from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13027211

Well, there it is, dear reader, that cautionary tale - and one hopes that those Ghanaian journalists and criticism-averse politicians (as well as the Telcos who aid and abet their crimes!), who collaborate to invade the privacy of critical media voices they wish to silence, will learn a useful lesson from the tribulations of the hapless News of the World.

They must understand that there is a world of difference between using subterfuge to trap a coup-plotter, and snooping on a patriotic individual speaking out against the many third-rate individuals in high places in society, whose unparalleled incompetence is ruining our homeland Ghana,

They must be careful - lest they are hoisted on their own petard. The falsehood about Sahara Oil and that daft coup story said to be by a lady from "Kanashie first light" were both daft entrapment attempts.

Just who did they think they were fooling, I ask? And what have they achieved in stopping us from being able to publish articles on our Ghanaweb blog? Its Ghanaweb's loss - not mine! They must be extremely careful. A word to the wise...

Tel (powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.

Post Script:
As of midnight tonight , 10/4/2011, I will be going off-line for a while. In the period I'll be away, I shall search for a new ISP. I am tired of the endless snooping and hacking I have to endure with my current ISP. Hopefully Glo's high-speed broadband internet service will soon be up and running for mobile devices.

So it will be goodbye to the prickly Vodafone Ghana (whose perfidy I shall now be able to tackle without fear of retribution in service denials!) and hello to the dynamic and super-fast Glo! And about time too. I do look forward to our conversations again soon, dear readers!

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