JOURNALISTIC ETHICS IN GHANA
A.Y. SIZALO
The recent outburst of the Chairman of the National Media Commission to the effect that journalists must be objective and fair in their reportage as well as the appeal by the Arcbishop of Catholic Archdioces of Accra, reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle call for some dosage of journalistic ethics in Ghana. This call consolidates the concern expressed by the Chairman of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Ransford Tetteh, at a serminar on ethics, where the code of ethics for the membership of GJA was launched.
To bring home the essence of journalistic ethics, all the presenters at the seminar touched on the princples and practices of professionalism in journalism. Professor Kwame Karikari touched on the values of liberty in journalism; the president of GJA, Mr. Ransford Tetteh, touched on liberty and responsibility; the Minister of Information, Hon. J. T. Akologo, added maturity to liberty and responsibility; Dr. A. Bonnah Koomson added integrity to liberty, responsibility, and maturity; Lawyer Akoto Ampaw added legality to liberty, responsibility, maturity, and integrity.
The lead speakers of the programme, Dr. Anthony Bonnah Koomson and Lawyer Akoto Ampaw advocated for certain principles in the practice of journalism. Dr. Bonnah Koomson favours value/conscience driven journalism while Lawyer Ampaw courage and conviction journalism. The summary of the collective concern of the presenters is that there is the need to nurture and nature journalistic ethics in Ghana.
During the questions and answers session, the principles, practices and the problems of journalistic ethics in Ghana were deliberated. The seminar scrutinized issues ranging from the ethics of enpanelling a discussion programme to newspaper headlines. What was missing was the definition of ethics. So, this writer asked the rhetorical question, WHAT IS ETHICS? Prof. Kwame Karikari indicated that ‘ethics is a code of values which people by’. This was supported by Dr. Bonnah Koomson. The book PHILOSOPHY by Richard H. Popkin and Avrum Stroll, endorsed the definition of Prof. Karikari when it defined ethics as ‘a code or a set of principles by which people live’. For ETHICS AFRICA, an NGO, ethics is ‘considering and adhering to proper principles and practices in ones intentions, decisions, actions, motivations, and obligations.
All these definitions of ethics serve as guides and guards for the journalists. The expectation was that those who participated in the ethics seminar would be educated on journalistic ethics in Ghana. The matter is, the matter of ethics is complicated. This is because the participants left the seminar room with most marching in search of answer of the question: What is right in journalism? The answer to the question will facilitate journalistic ethics in Ghana. The code of ethics of GJA states in Article 12 that:
1. A journalist shall obtain information ... only by straight forward means.
2. The use of other means can be justified only by overiding considerations of the public interest.
3. The journalist is entitled to exercise a personal conscious objection to the use of such means.
In Article 13, GJA Code of Ethics states:
1. Journalist should respect the right of the individual to privacy and human dignity.
2. Enquiries and intrusions into a person’s private life can only be justified in the public interest.
3. A journalist should guard against defamation, libel, slander and obscenity.
In Article 17 of GJA Code of Ethics states
1. Newspaper headlines should fully be warranted by the contents of the article they accompany.
2. Photographs and telecasts should give an accurate picture of an event and not highlight an incident out of context.
Public Interest reigns supreme over private interest in the GJA Code of Ethics. What is Public Interest? A definition of public interest will determine whether Anas Arimiyao Anas is rightly justified in his investigative intrusions?
Jounalistic ethics in Ghana would be enhanced when definitions are considered in the practice of journalism. The point is journalists in Ghana need necessary ethics education to practice properly and professionally. And the Ghana Media Standards Improvement Project (GMSIP) has what it takes to organise another ethics seminar. Until that comes, some ethics education brief will suffice.
A British Philosopher by name of A. J. Ayer stipulated several stages of approaching ethics in life. These are description, prescrption, definition and justification. He emphasised the importance of definitions in any discipline, especially journalism.
Description goes with the question Who is a journalist? Prescription goes with the question How does a journalist work? Definition goes with the question What should a journalist focus on? Finally, justification goes with the question Why must a journalist do his work? The answers to these questions are in the code of ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA). A journalist is one who has had formal training or trained on the job by recognised insitution; this is the who.
The journalist must abide by the code of ethics in pursuit of work; this is the how. A journalist must dwell on topics within his/her competence, capability, and code; this is the what. A journalist must have reason for pursuing a particular issue; this is the why. It is in finding reasons that most problems of journalistic ethics arise.
The approaches to finding these reasons are hidden in ‘News Rporting and Writing’ by the Missouri Group. In this book, three approaches of solving journalistic ethics have been identified. Formalism, situationalism, and contextualism are some of philosophical processes of solving problems of journalistic ethics.
Formalism entails principles like laws, rules, regulations, conventions, taboos, values, codes, etc. that guide and guard the profession of the journalist. Situationalism goes with the circumstances that the journalist finds himself/herself. Contextualism consists of the conviction of the journalist as far as an issue is concerned. In the first scenario, the formality is stipulated in societal systems. In the second stage, the exegencies of the circumstances determine the move of the journalist. While in the third, the cause and course of the journalist justify the move to take.
Many journalists lack the ethics education foundation to go about rationalizing their works. When ethics education is lacking, the call, conscience, conviction, caution, courage and canons of journalism are not utilised ethically.
This means that there will be professionalism in journalism when journalistic ethics is given adaequate, appropriate and accurate attention. And the Ghana Media Standards Improvement Project (GMSIP) is a good STANDARD BEARER to facilitate the appreciation of ‘what is right, correct, legitimate, legal and proper in journalism’? In other words, Journalistic Ethics!
The writer is a journalist with TV3 Ghana and an ethicist with ETHICS AFRICA.
