The latest media ethics monitoring report by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) shows that indecency in language is the most prevalent ethical violation among the Ghanaian media.
The report reveals that out of a total of 508 ethical violations recorded from May to August 2014, violations against the principle of Decency recorded as much as 201, representing 40 percent of all the ethical violations recorded so far. The report further shows that news websites committed the most ethical violations with Ghanaweb.com being the worst culprit.
Comparatively, the incidence of ethical violations in the 40 Ghanaian media that are being monitored have slighly reduced from 152 in July to 135 in August.
Accra-based Adom FM has over the last four months seen a consistent reduction in ethical violations. Another notable finding from the report is the fact that the Today newspaper, which had recorded the highest number of ethical infractions in the months of June and July, did not register any ethical violation in August.
Of significant mention are the following radio stations and newspapers which have not recorded any ethical violation so far: ATL FM, New Crusading Guide, Peace FM, Public Agenda, Radio Gurune, and Radio Peace. The others are: Radio Progress, Radio Savanna, Rite FM, ROK FM, and Suncity FM.
The monitoring of ethical violations in the Ghanaian media forms part of the MFWA’s project, “Promoting Professional Standards and Enhancing the Watchdog Role of the Ghanaian Media,” with funding from STAR-Ghana. The aim of the project is to contribute to improved professional standards in the Ghanaian media and support them to play a more effective role in fostering transparent and accountable governance in Ghana through critical and investigative reporting.
Please click here for the full report.