Refrain from calling the elections -EC appeals to media

The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has appealed to media practitioners to desist from calling elections.
According to the Director of Training at the EC, Mr Michael Boadu, calling of elections is the job of the election management and not media practitioners, hence they should desist from doing so.
“We are advising you to refrain from calling the elections. Don’t do so before the EC does. It’s the job of the election management to call elections and not media”.
Mr Boadu made the comments when he was speaking on the preparations the EC is making towards the 2020 elections at a media engagement organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa and the National Communication for Civic Education (NCCE) with funding support from the Netherlands Embassy in Accra yesterday.
The program hinged on the theme: ‘Media and Election 2020 in Ghana’ sought to deliberate on issues regarding media professionalism, safety of journalists, and the role of the media in contributing to peaceful elections.
The Forum brought together key stakeholders in the electoral ecosystem, including the EC, the Ghana Police Service, political parties, security agencies, United Nations (UN) agencies, civil society organisations and the media.
Mr Boadu explained that the media plays a vital role in Ghana’s election so media practitioners should be cautious of the information they churn out before, during and after elections.
He indicated that any misinformation, especially on the day of elections, can spark violence and mar Ghana’s status of being the third most peaceful country in Africa.
He said in order to avoid some of this misinformation, the EC as part of its preparation has started organising training sessions for some media personnel to equip them with tools necessary for transparent and objective reportage.
He also said media personnel will be given accreditation to act as observers for the purposes of fair reportage.
The Chairman of the National Peace Council, Prof Emmanuel Asante, who chaired the engagement also appealed to the media to ensure that the 2020 elections is issue-based and not insults.
He said the media should ensure that the platforms they offer to people, especially politicians, are not one that is for insult and attacks but for debating issues that are critical to the development of the nation.
He said the media should guide the politicians to be decorous in their submissions so that the peace in this country is not jeopardized.
The Chairperson of the NCCE, Madam Josephine Nkrumah, also indicated one of the things that spark violence is misinformation.
She said one of the challenges likely to face media practitioners are social media platforms where people write and disseminate information.
She, therefore, called on the media houses to build fact checking platforms to guard against misinformation and falsehoods like to create fear and panic among the citizens.
Ambassador H.E Strikker of the Netherlands Embassy, who also spoke at the engagement, said that he was very optimistic that Ghana will triumph again in the elections as it did in 2016.
He, however, indicated that all institutions that matter in the electioneering should do their part to attain the peace that they desire to see in the country.
“Peaceful election is not only about the vote. It’s about transparency, objectivity, playing of the watchdog role well, avoiding hate speech and professional coverage. The EC, political parties, media and election observers should all do their part.”

The post Refrain from calling the elections -EC appeals to media appeared first on The Chronicle Online.

Read Full Story