What is Media Freedom ?
Media freedom is the ability for journalists to freely report on matters of public interest. Media freedom is linked to the human right of freedom of expression and to the right to access information. Being able to freely report news is an indicator of democracy as freely sharing information with others without the fear of censorship or reprisal is necessary for a free society. Everyone needs to be able to form their own opinions, and receive and share ideas through different media outlets without public authorities interfering.
Why is Media corruption an issue?
Media corruption can occur in many different forms but it typically involves the abuse of one’s position when making editorial decisions such as covering (or not covering) certain news stories and intentionally providing biased information to the public. This violates human rights because it allows the audience to only access certain pieces of information. Media corruption is also closely linked to political corruption as politicians can also feed stories into the media to influence political opinions about certain topics.
The Situation in Ghana
Media corruption is very common in Ghana as a number of journalists accept bribes to cover a certain story. In Ghana, private media’s reporting is biased due to various factors including a lack of investigative journalism and limited follow-up reporting which weakens the fight against anti-corruption in Ghana.
Undercover journalism is not widely practiced in Ghana to uncover corruption. When journalists do attempt to complete undercover work, they face different threats and might be harassed. For example, in 2019, journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela was murdered moments before he was going to give evidence in a major football scam of the Ghana Football Association involving influential Ghanaians.
Reporters have a duty not to allow money or their political affiliation to affect their work. There is more media freedom nowadays due to anti-corruption movements such as #fixthecountry through which young Ghanaians campaign against corruption through social media however, there are still many improvements that need to be made to reach a true state of democracy. Everyone’s opinion should be respected so that the media remains unbiased.
