SECTOR 1 Although these deterrents to freedom of expression exist, some panellists felt that “Ghanaians are too free to a fault. Nothing under the sun will keep them from articulating their views on every issue.” “If you really want to test that freedom, listen to how a serial caller will speak to the president on a call-in programme… I would not say that there is excessive freedom, but rather passable freedom of expression.” Although employees in the civil service are careful about what they give out, and those in the private sector may also be careful, overall, “people are willing to express themselves, even on heated and controversial matters.” In terms of media expression, on the one hand panellists noted that the media is too free, while others highlighted demands by the public for the media to express themselves even more. “People blame the media for not saying certain things! I’m not against people expressing their views, but I think that when people are talking about the rights of journalists, they need to put this into perspective.” Some panellists felt that the public also needed to understand that “journalists are not policymakers”, but information disseminators, and that this needs to be contextualised in the practice of the media’s freedom of expression. There have been threats to the free exercise of media freedoms. Notable examples in the past few years include an incident in February 2012 when NPP and NDC supporters stormed a radio station, causing a programme to be taken off the air. On 24 November 2012, People’s National Convention (PNC) supporters invaded Citi FM in an attempt to “deal with” lawyer Egbert Faibille for comments he made against PNC flagbearer, Hassan Ayariga. And earlier in 2013, journalists at Angel FM received death threats. “These are issues that hamper how a journalist can express him/herself. The right to freedom of expression can’t be freely practiced in this environment,” said a panellist. The NMC, which plays a regulatory role in the media landscape, is viewed by some as “a toothless bulldog” both in terms of media control and media freedom. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2013 15