U.S. Embassy Schools The Media On Election Coverage

A-list international journalism trainers hired by Embassy of the United States of America have underlined the need for Ghanaian journalists to maintain a firm pro-voter stand in this year’s election coverage in the face of campaign storms from politicians. 

Dishing out free bales of how-to materials in a 48-hour workshop for a cluster of journalists drawn from Ghana’s north and assembled in Tamale, the trainers observed with worry that every election campaign period had been the time when citizens needed strong, independent journalism the most but got it the least. Politicians, they also noted, habitually had continued to dribble past their ever-loyal voters with unfulfilled promises on the same media landscape that should hold them in thorough and regular check. 

Leading the call, Professor Bill Ristow, Senior Fulbright Scholar and Associate Professor at the School of Communication Studies (University of Ghana), stressed the need for the media to develop and keep a scorecard by which the performance of every public office holder could be monitored for the country’s much-needed development in all respects including her budding democracy. 

“Freedom is when the people can speak. Democracy is when the government listens. The media is the messenger. No matter how flooded you are with campaign messages from politicians, you need to find a way as a journalist to practically remember that this is who you work for: the voter. As a journalist, you should know that the people own the government. Think about the people first, not the government. The politicians may be captured in your election coverage, but it should be a citizen-based coverage. Be mindful of who will read, not the sources. Keep their pictures in mind. ,” he emphasised.  

On public use of inflammatory speech, Professor Ristow reminded participants that no one ever believed that war was going to rock the once-stable Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire until after a similar pre-election situation as being witnessed in the Ghanaian media today. He entreated journalists to go beyond “behaving like a tape recorder” by questioning reasons politicians “do what they do” and also giving the voters a voice to express their concerns, things affecting the daily life of ordinary people, ahead of the polls. 

“Inform rather than inflame. Reporters cannot censor what is said, but must report accurately. The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing. Think like a voter, bearing in mind the developmental issues bothering the farmer, the fisherman, the market vendor, the teacher, the elderly, all tribes and regions. Underline their interests, the real issues. Ask: ‘How are candidates treating them with unrealistic promises?’ Be their voice,” accentuated Professor Ristow.

Mrs. Theresa Morrow, a co-trainer at the workshop, asked the participants not to be swayed by what she described as “make-the-voter-feel-good” words from politicians, adding “It is your responsibility as representatives of the public to connect the reality with political promises and hold the winner accountable to the voters.” She tasked journalists to develop an election plan if they must be in control of the campaign coverage. The voters, stressed Mrs. Morrow, set the agenda, not the candidates. 

“The ordinary voters may not have a sophisticated understanding of what is going on; but at least, they know about their own life. There is something that matters to them. There is something they care about. The candidate’s party knows many people believe what they see and hear in the news media and for that matter creates soft news to make the candidate look appealing by showing him or her kissing babies, visiting voters in their homes and greeting crowds of enthusiastic voters. It is up to you as a professional to look beyond manipulation by thinking about what the voters need. Don’t throw away the campaign manifestoes after the elections. As a journalist, do your follow-ups on the campaign promises and demand accountability,” she affirmed.

Participants were taken through topics including Covering Speeches; Interviewing Politicians; Covering the Election Process; Conflict: Covering it…and not Causing it; After Election—Yes, We have a Role then too;  Fact-checking and Verification; and Citizen-based Coverage—What is it?

The journalists in attendance were full of praise for the Rural Media Network (RUMNET) who, as part of years-long commitment to standard election reporting in Northern Ghana, organised the workshop in collaboration with Embassy of the United States of America. 

RUMNET is a popular Tamale-based organisation using self-designed media outlets including its own monthly newspaper, TheAdvocate, to campaign for social change, peace and development. The organisation is credited with a successful crusade for the rights of the poor and marginalised, securing justice for them in land cases. It has encouraged scores of women to participate in elections and has been successfully involved in the demand for equity in the allocation of funds from the central government to District Assemblies in Northern Ghana as well as in the creation of additional Districts in the Northern Region.

The latest workshop with the U.S Embassy is the ninth of its kind for media practitioners from the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions. A similar event organised by RUMNET in Tamale before the 2008 elections was hailed with the phenomenal mastery by which the journalists who had taken part in the training, subsequently reported on the elections despite overwhelming pressure from all sides and the apprehension that nearly marred the polls.