Tuesday 3 January 2012

NATIONAL MEDIA COMMISSION: LET US HEAR THE AUTHENTIC VOICES OF GHANAIANS ON OUR AIRWAVES NATIONWIDE!

It is obvious that the vast majority of ordinary people in Ghana, believe in peaceful coexistence - between neighbour and fellow citizen: in all their day to day interactions.

Invariably, their main concerns are how families can put food on dining tables, pay for the education of the younger generation and be able to meet the cost of day to day living - including paying for unforeseen emergencies.

Yet, those authentic voices-of-reason-and-tolerance, Ghana's silent and peaceful majority, are seldom heard on the airwaves of radio and television stations across our country.

The overly-passionate (often feigned, incidentally) and mostly cynical voices that one hears daily, during current affairs discussion programmes on radio and television, often give one the rather false impression, that somehow, there is great tension in a nation that is also deeply divided. Luckily, that false picture doesn't actually reflect the reality on the ground.

The intolerant and often abusive submissions one hears daily, during current affairs discussion programmes on radio and television, come mostly from the opposing cabals of selfish active-self-seekers, amongst our educated urban elites.

Those cabals are made up of individuals who either are no longer in a position to milk the system - because their parties are no longer in power - or conversely, those who benefit from maintaining the status quo: because they belong to the ruling party.

That is why one seldom hears arguments based on principle and conviction, in such discussion programmes. It would appear that hypocrisy and cynicism, rule OK, on the airwaves, in Ghana.

So, although ultimately the verbose-hot-air that one often hears in such programmes are damaging to, and detrimental, for the nation they say they are so concerned about - and whose citizens' welfare they claim to seek - if truth be told, dear reader, those mostly-selfish individuals who benefit materially from the false impression that there is tension in a divided Ghana, clearly have an incentive to continue keeping that illusion alive.

Sadly, it does our country great harm, indeed. The outrage, is that it is simply a cynical propaganda tactic - literally designed to enable the divide-and-rule agenda of a few ruthless individuals, who seek to control the destiny of teeming millions in Nkrumah's Ghana, because they think they were born to rule others, to have traction nationwide.

It would appear, dear reader, that a ruthless mafia, made up of cynical politicians and mercenary journalists (the hacks-without-a-conscience!), has succeeded in hijacking access to the airwaves in Ghana.

And on a daily basis, they and their paid hirelings work energetically full time, either hopping from electronic media outlet to electronic media outlet, to participate in live programmes, or calling into radio and television stations during current affairs discussion programmes, to make contributions that help spread even wider, the miasma of negativity that is slowly enveloping our homeland Ghana - giving the unfortunate impression to the world that somehow we are a deeply divided people.

The question is: How did we come to such a sorry pass, that today, it is only those who gain materially from the system, or seek to milk the system someday when the party they support finally comes to power, who are mainly the ones with constant access to radio and television stations, and have now ended up literally taking over the airwaves in our country completely - to fight a no-holds-barred propaganda war, which they hope will ultimately enable their party to either continue holding on to power, or if they happen to be in the political wilderness, hope will return their party to power again, after the next presidential elections?

It would appear that there is a conspiracy between the media and the self-seeking empty-talking-heads, for whom political power is a personal wealth-creation tool. And it is for such base reasons, dear reader, that ordinary people and Mother Ghana are being held to ransom, alas. Imagine that.

It is such an intolerable situation for anyone who believes in democracy. Surely, the time has come for ordinary folk in our democracy to be allowed to speak freely, in the parliament-of-the-airwaves - and in what is an election year, is it not vital that institutions like the National Media Commission (NMC), act to ensure that ordinary people too can exercise their right to freedom of expression freely on the airwaves?

Radio and television stations ought to be compelled to do precisely what they were given licenses to operate for - provide a platform for a series of meaningful national conversations that educate and entertain their audience - as well as help move the Ghanaian nation-state forward.

With respect, they were not given licenses to become the propaganda outlets of political parties and politicians - and useful tools of same. They need to be reminded that they have an important role to play in entrenching democracy in our country.

It is time they engaged the general public in public spaces - seeking the opinions of ordinary people on farms in hamlets and villages - if need be; in towns and cities - even talking to them on pavements in urban areas; ditto markets and lorry stations nationwide, for example, in order to take the pulse of the nation from the people they chance upon during such on-location outside broadcast outreach programmes.

The question, dear reader, is, what exactly is the NMC doing about this unedifying situation? We must not allow the professional cynics and doom-sayers in our midst to continue to infect our nation with their poisonous negativity.

In this crucial election year, radio and television stations must be prevailed upon to enable the authentic voices of the masses in Ghana, to be continuously aired and heard nationwide.

That, not forever seeking yet more funding and extending their sodden influence in society, by stealth, is what ought to be the concerns of Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere's confounded NMC. A word to the wise...

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

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