A HUNGRY JOURNALIST IS AN ANGRY MAN

Recent media reports about an alleged attempt to bribe some journalists in the northern part of Ghana could have come at an appropriate time like this.

I anticipate a strong resentment to my introduction but one can not denied the fact that in a democracy like ours where fragility can not be sweep under the carpet anything is likely to happen.

Many a time we have seen and heard of calls on authorities in charge of journalists welfare especially the Ghana journalists association and media owners to prioritized their members and employees conditions of service but to no avail.

Over and again it has been reiterated that the media’s role in  a democracy can not be over emphasized hence a corrupt media could only be connected with a corrupt democracy.

My concern over the years right from journalism school to now a full fledge freelance journalist has always be about how we can safeguard the independent of the media in Ghana if there is any at all.

So my question with regard to the recent alleged buying of some journalists in the northern part of this country is whether has things fallen apart and the center can not hold?

Are our men and women entrusted to looking at the welfare of its people falling asleep instead of standing up to their task?

Least we forget, a hungry man is an angry man.

For me i would be very much taken aback if the Ghana journalist association would want to take any drastic  action to please members of the republic instead of working hard to avert its possible  future repurcation.

My worry however is that we must make hay while the sun shine, they must learn to turn their tide properly.

NATHANIEL MENSAH

A FREELANCE JOURNALIST BASED IN ACCRA
WWW.NATMENSAH.BLOGSPOT.COM/NIIEQUAYE@YAHOO.CO.UK

RECONCILING THE DETRACTIVE NATURE OF OUR POLITICIANS TO IMPEDING DEVELOPMENT.

Politics is supposed to be one of the noble vocations in which people are seen always striving hard to protecting and defending the interest of their respective countries passionately while making or implementing useful plans beneficial to the system in which they live.

The impression the average politician  send each time they open their mouths to talk is the fact that when they are not in power  then government business must came to a stand still but are they the only people up to the task?

It is becoming obvious that politicians are employing diversionary tactics especially some leading members of the National Democratic Congress party and the New Patriotic party which is nothing but a waist of tax payers resources preventing us from achieving the necessary desires we all expect as a nation as far as development is concerned.

There is no enough time at our disposer to always be dragging our feet here and there making the steering of affairs of this nation a hell on earth for any one in power.

Without mincing words I want to state categorically that this piece is not about the National Democratic Congress nor the New Patriotic Party but any Ghanaian whose aim is to attain political power in this country with all the necessary means even if it means thwarting the developmental process of this country just to satisfy their meager myopic interests.

It is very much important for all of us to note that the mills administration have been given a one term of four years mandate renewable for another term if Ghanaians are impress with what his government is doing hence the need for us to allow him and his team to deliver to us what they have to offer until 2012 when we enter the electioneering year to retain or elect a new leader. But what we are witnessing these days clearly point to the fact that what our politicians want is to always enrich themselves at the peril of the common Ghanaians whose interest they are supposed to safeguard.

Politicians by congruent imaginations are equally expected to be middle men and women, spoke persons who are seen always toiling for the common good of the habitat in which they exist.

Many a time one would want to know what at all there is in the corridor of power that these greedy politicians will always want to clinch to without letting go of. Could it be because of their comfort and self satisfying lavicious life styles that they have become addicted to making it hard for them to let go off?

Our politicians must learn to appreciate that political power in Ghana is rising above diversionary tactics and propaganda to win power only for us to be exposed to excuses and blame games instead of delivering their promises but rather many eligible voters would want to be shown and proven to why they should be voted for or simply put ones track records as far as his or her political career is concern is becoming a fact file that one can not do without.

If the adage” A child that says his mother will not sleep will also not sleep” is anything to go by then I want to believe that as long as one political orientation continues to obstruct the other from focusing on their task while in opposition or government, when the table turn then the other must equally expect to be treated so but the one million question is how long are we going to continue treating each other with kick gloves?

The development of this country should go beyond our movement in circus monkey instead of aggravating the speed and passion with which they deliver what they promise the electorates.

Until our politicians jerk above mediocrity and start to prove to all of us that they are not detractors but partners in development, the question continue to linger on whether our politicians are detractors?

NATHANIEL EKUE MENSAH

WWW.NATMENSAH.BLOGSPOT.COM/NIIEQUAYE@YAHOO.CO.UK

THE WRITER IS A FREELANCE JOURNALIST BASED IN ACCRA

WHO CARES ABOUT THE JOURNALIST?

The desire to get something done should go beyound the mere fact of what one stand to get out it but the neccesity of the need for the thing to be done.I know many peolple may argue about the fact that what we do should be as a result of the passion for it but the fact still remain with us that many do and will continue to do what they do due to its economic benefit and many of those in the practice of journalism are not left out.

 It is important for us to note that journalism is one of the worlds oldest professions  and it is based on this knowledge that everyone can pick a pen and paper and write anything and some speak into a microphone without due recourse to the law however since society does not exist in isolation,there is the need for ethics and principles to guide what we do but not to curb what the journalist does.

Many of them just like their counter parts in other professions such as law, medicine, engineering, teaching and so on have mouths to feed hence the aggravating necessity to seriously take into consideration how they feed those mouths.

Most of them spend four good years in school studying one course or the other, some two years that is when you are fortunate enough to pass through the nations biggest journalism training university that is Ghana Institute Journalism (GIJ) or better still few with elementary level certificates but don't forget some have even gone to do their masters with renowned universities such as Cardiff and Leeds in the UK but the story is still the same.

While many live on what is termed as "SOLI"  or solidarity, others live solely on a minimum of  100 gh cedis to a maximum of 400 gh cedis i know that does not deserve the word maximum but that is what they call it. I know some may say it is not bad at all but i may disagree not because i belong to such a noble profession but because the fact is that for any action there should be an equal and opposite reaction.Nobody is saying or trying to insinuate that journalists should be treated like semi gods but like normal and genuine citizens who strive to make genuine earnings through their service to the nation. No matter our individual perceptions about some journalist and how they carry out their duties,we ca not reconcile it with the fact that there is a an iota of dot in every perfectionist.

The important of the media in every mechanical or organic society cannot be over emphasized and many have written to espoused their views on it and i do not want to pretend to be pouring water on a stone.The definition of democratic society can not be done well or better without the tip of the pen or the head of the microphone.

Some of us finds it very difficult to believe if indeed it is true that the media is the fourth estate or it is just a deliberate academic blunder calculated to throw dust into the eyes of the very serious studious and observers of political science.There is absolutely little or no effort by us as a country to deal with one critical arm of the state and hard i know they say always come at last.

My people used to say that when your neighbors house is on fire it is just appropriate you get water by your side.We are exposed to how through the actions and in actions of the media a once united society like Rwanda became a divided one who has to endure a civil war for some time.One does not hope for that in this country but deliberately ignoring simple and little things like how the journalist survives can lead to irresponsible media and you don't need a soothsayer to tell you what that can lead to.

The importance of the recent call by the Ghana Journalists Association to get a bargaining certificate for its members can not be ignored since that move at least would pomp some sense of serenity into the profession and it will go along way to portray a picture of decency to those who wish to join this noble profession but do not trust its economic prowess.

NATHANIEL MENSAH

NIIEQUAYE@YAHOO.CO.UK/WWW.NATMENSAH.BLOGSPOT.COM

THE AUTHOR IS THE S.R.C VICE PRESIDENT OF GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM