Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has descended on the Ghana Police Service over recent arrests of some journalists over allegations of false reportage.
According to the speaker, the development takes the country back to the dark days of media persecution.
Speaking at the inauguration of the media centre in parliament, the former Nadowli-Kaleo MP stated that any attempt by politicians to use the police to serve as regulator for ethical journalism will fail.
He said there are civil remedies for errors committed by the media and must be triggered rather than resorting to arrests.
“Often times, in your quest as journalists to try and disseminate the information in a timely manner to beat the deadline you make some mistakes. Information sometimes turn out not to be entirely accurate , you end up making some misrepresentations, at times impugning the integrity and reputation of others.
“The legal space and the legal regime for the media anticipated this and has prescribed a way out. That is why we have the National media commission (NMC) and Parliament will focus on the NMC. We need to urgentLY revise the law for the NMC for the commission to be effective.
“As a lawyer, in the early days of my practice and also my political life, I was compelled to take a number of media houses to court using the rule of law, not the rule of man.
“I dare say that any attempt by any politician hiding behind the Police institution to act as the standard bearer of ethical and professional journalism or a regulator of journalism practice in this country is not only a pretender, but also megalomaniac.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana