Must media consumers have expectations of the media? Must those expectations be met by the media? Or the media can dismiss those expectations on grounds of the consumer’s person or their perception of the consumer?
In the case of Adama Barrow’s installation as President of The Gambia – and the attendant controversy that has led ECOWAS troops to the nation’s borders – has the Ghanaian media met its audience expectations? Answer for yourself, as those expectations can only be individual based. Mine haven’t been met. The only actions we have no explanation for, are the ones we deliver on. As for excuses, they are for the lazy and faint-hearted.
Often media houses create an impression that their audience members are satisfied with what is offered, no matter how poorly delivered. What is more, practitioners carry themselves as though they own the world, even when they lack the requisite knowledge and expertise in delivering on most subjects. What we don’t know is that a huge number of media consumers are better educated, more informed and above all more knowledgeable on too many topics than we can ever dream of. This only requires humility and a desire to learn more to serve our audiences better. After all, our sources are audience members too.
Therefore, it becomes offensive for journalists to take any media consumer to the cleaners, for merely expressing a desire. This isn’t a naive audience member.
The outgone Foreign Minister of Ghana, Hanna Tetteh, is not just well educated and a top professional but also exposed, expressive and engaging. One of the few political operatives who has kept a Twitter account for the most part as a minister. I took the trouble to tag her in stuff I worked on that required government’s attention. When I attended a press conference at the Foreign Ministry sometime in 2015, over the Biometric Passport issuance and challenges that bedevilled it, a deputy director of passport gave an indication of how my tweets were ‘destroying his job’ by telling the Minister stuff via twitter.
Therefore when I saw a journalist take it out on her for suggesting she hoped some media houses in Ghana had sent reporters to Gambia, I couldn’t hide my disgust for the journalist’s response. That response seemed to gain him some traction. Very disappointing. It’s like suggesting that it’s ok to abuse people simply because they did our country a favour by putting their expertise and experience at its disposal. That sort of behavior must not be encouraged.
That is not to say the former Minister is an angel, I’ve had my own issues with her approach sometimes, but who is clean? We all have our days. Many politicians are suspicious of journalists because of how some of us carry ourselves. From blackmail, through extortion to pestering politicians for the least of favours, how do you gain a shred of respect by that sort of behaviour. Journalists must count themselves lucky to still have people who trust the profession in Ghana, given the sheer amount of scandals that have plagued it in the last two decades.
I agree with Madam Hanna Tetteh that given Ghana’s envious position as a beacon of democracy on the continent, the growth of media and its proximity to The Gambia, it beggars belief that media houses in Ghana were missing from the troubled country but are depending on local stringers. Again, Ghana has a large community in the neighbouring country, over 40 of whom were murdered in cold blood by the power-drunk Leader, whose intoxication will soon be cleared by the ECOWAS forces, if they stick to their plan.
Media houses exist for a purpose: key amongst them is keeping their publics informed. ‘If you want education go to school’, is the maxim of a great communications professor, who will remain anonymous. This mandate comes with huge expectations, particularly, given the growth of citizen journalists with more sophisticated gadgets, often closer to action spots, hours before professional journalists arrive. Professionals only become relevant if they provide the right context and expert presentation of the situation to capture the imagination of the ever-hungry media consumers.
Any media house worth its salt made frantic efforts to reach a reporter or even residents in The Gambia to say a word or two about the situation in the country. The small West African country has dominated international media discussions since early December, when the Despot was ousted through the ‘ballot barrel’. Yahya Jammeh is still processing the humiliation he suffered from the December 1 polls.
These efforts will certainly lack the style and details that systematic planning by any media house could deliver. Monitoring BBC’s coverage, one can only be impressed. From its location in London, the British Broadcaster has become the standard for consistent coverage of happenings on the continent. It doesn’t come easy. Media houses in Ghana don’t even send reporters to cover Togo, Cote D’Ivoire or Burkina Faso during their elections, let alone installation of their elected leaders.
The situation in The Gambia had become unusual. Jammeh rescinded his acceptance of the poll’s verdict, the Electoral Commission was besieged, the boss abdicated, ministers resigned, the victor lost a child, he fled the country to nearby Senegal, parliament voted to extend Jammeh mandate by 90 days, the Vice President resigned, subregional leaders failed to massage the villain’s bloated ego, ECOWAS forces pitched camp in Senegal ready to strike, finally they are delivering, and Barrow gave indication of a swearing in on the due date, despite the state of emergency and the accompanying directive to the military. Certainly, events of the last forty-six days, gave us all a cue. Any media house that was interested in covering The Gambia could have sent reporters.
I heard two Joy FM reporters say something to the effect that they couldn’t take their election headquarters to The Gambia to cover happenings there. Interesting, news coverage isn’t child’s play. I appreciated many BBC reporters during the Arab Spring, their courage and ability to capture events, including discovery of decaying bodies and how they were buried. That is what journalism is about. Capture the people’s imagination through your reports.
Media houses must place their monies where their mouths are. That way, elections in Nigeria, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and even South Africa, would be adequately covered by those media houses that want to remain relevant.
By the way, congrats to Adama Barrow on his inauguration as the President of The Gambia, though it fell short of the pomp that the event deserved. I was impressed with the dispatch with which Botswana dismissed Jammeh. It is interesting that not many leaders on the continent withdrew their recognition for the Sour Loser in Jammeh.
ECOWAS is saving face, the forces must fish out Jammeh from his rathole and smoke him out to send a strong signal to other despots on the continent. Democracy is here to stay, all must embrace it.
I rest my case.
