SECTOR 4 The media practices high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. Panellists differed on their assessment of the standard of reporting in Ghana. Some felt that the media is “doing fairly well on average”, while others felt that “the quality of the media landscape is being drained”. “If you’re looking at accuracy and fairness as stipulated in the broadcasting standards code of ethics, the reality on the ground is that they can pronounce a person dead when the person is not yet dead. Of course, journalists make mistakes. Some correct them, but others do not.” Article 162 (6) of the Constitution requires that: Any medium for the dissemination of information to the public which publishes a statement about or against any person shall be obliged to publish a rejoinder, if any, from the person in respect of whom the publication was made. However, when media houses are compelled to publish a rejoinder or apology, they often give it much less prominence than the original story received, and sometimes relegate it to the classifieds section. The radio stations are usually better with making corrections. “With a phone call, they can allow you to make a correction as long as they believe that balance is necessary.” It is rare to find rejoinders or apologies in social media. This can be especially problematic, because mainstream media often take up topics from social media. An example of this is a case of an indecent photoshopped picture of the president being posted on social media, allegedly by an OmariWadie. Another example was a story alleging that the Asantehene, the absolute monarch of the Asante people, had been declared president. “On social media, accuracy and fairness does not exist.” Another problematic area is that journalists lack fairness and accuracy in reporting on allegations against people. For example, “they will call a person a rapist, when that person is alleged to have raped someone. This is pervasive across the media.” The dramatic presentation of information in some news media, with the use of “clouded metaphors” to embellish the news as being more histrionic than it actually is, also appears to signal a focus on entertainment only, without educating and informing the public. 54 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2013