It is more telling in a fledgling democracy like ours in Ghana. This is because the mass media since its inception, has been the vehicle that drives public opinion in any liberal and democratic society. By informing, educating, entertaining and now, by elevating what is important for the general public to form their own opinion.
It has been posited that, there cannot be a thriving or established democracy in any society without the ubiquitous power of the media. The media is classified as the Fourth Estate of the realm that keeps the checks and balances on the other arms such as the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary accountable to the people or the taxpayers. It is the mass media that has been the shuttle carrying information from the rulers to the ruled and vice versa, to create a well informed and well-ordered society.
The job of the media is so telling that where there is no opinion, the media forms one, where there is an opinion but skewed and scattered, the media shapes it and where it is shaped and pointed, the media disseminates it and most importantly where it is meaningful and with impact, the media elevates it.
This salient and powerful job of the media has been championed very well by one media house in Ghana. The 24 years TV3 has been in Ghana has been impactful and a scintillating media experience in that salient landscape. It has changed the once undynamic media landscape in the country into a very competitive and dynamic one as the captain leading the way to a once thought utopia. TV3 came into the game with the mantra “First in News, Best in Entertainment” but today a reality for the best of news and the hub for events, reality shows and entertainment.
Aside from the sterling media stewardship they have charged for the past 24 years, TV3 has kept excellent faith with their Corporate Social Responsibility. A type of international private business self-regulation that aims to contribute to societal goals of philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethically oriented practices. This is the new phenomenon the prestigious media conglomerate has introduced into the media space that has catapulted them a leap ahead of competition.
TV3 Ghana has produced so many famous people of all ages, classes and categories in entertainment, with their flagship programs like ‘Mentor’ and ‘Talented Kidz’ which have churned out music stars of both adults and children respectively. They have the most culturally celebrated ‘Ghana Most Beautiful’ pageant which has produced authentic beauty queens across the country coupling as cultural ambassadors and leaders for change regarding the concept of beauty pageantry in Ghana. They have the dating reality show ‘Date Rush’ that helps young men and women to find love by hitching them on a date. They have the brawn competition called ‘Ghana’s Strongest’, which paves the avenue for what we know as “macho” men to shine. These reality shows have given many young men and women, young boys and girls the opportunity to shine and be meaningful in society and an asset to their families, which hitherto was non-existent.
The real crux and nugget for me about the TV3 story is how they have kept faith with their Corporate Social Responsibility towards the poor and the needy in society. Over the years, the ‘media generals’ have championed the cause of the poor and the people who need help the most in our society. Appealing and using their clout to secure aid for needy but brilliant students who need help with scholarships and socially incapacitated individuals who need help for medical and social interventions in different parts of the country.
TV3 have used their far reaching power in Ghana to make way for individuals with problems without hope to have solutions in the form of aid that, on their own, would have been unattainable. The recipients of this corporate largess from Adesa We’s TV3 are so numerous to count and so barefaced for all to see in the country.
These social interventions by TV3 have revolutionized the media landscape, bringing hope to people without voice but have a lot to tell of their plights to those who can hear and share in their plights. Talk about constructive media reporting, the Media Generals have produced news stories that have yielded immense impact in the Ghanaian society, such as the galamsey menace and many other pertinent national issues.
They have become the go-to source for news with impact and the vehicle to tote the plights of the downtrodden to the affluent for attention and redress. Plights which would have left a lot of people in jeopardy if TV3 was out of the picture in the media landscape in Ghana.
This strong CSR towards the downtrodden citizens of our fast gentrifying country is the leverage that has propelled TV3 light years ahead of their competition. The willing availability of the wide reaching platform of the best network in the country and the sub-region to championing the cause of the underprivileged is what has made TV3 the choice station for many with diverse backgrounds and demography.
It is this positive and impactful CSR that has made the media conglomerate the apple of the Ghanaian eye and the epitome of the Fourth Estate of the Realm that drives the attention of the powers that be in Ghana. This is why I support and elevate the vision of the best television station in the country and the sub-region. All Bless TV3 Ghana for their egalitarian corporate social responsibility.
By Barima Kwabena Yeboah|3news.com|Ghana
The writer is an intern with the Media General Group. Views expressed in this article are entirely the authors and do not in any way reflect the position of the Media General Group or any of its affiliates, associates, agents and assigns.
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