WHEN the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) organised a workshop on promoting issue-based media reportage in Tamale recently for journalists in the three northern regions, little did the participants know that the workshop was going to be a platform to unearth unprofessional acts by some “self-styled” journalists.
For one thing, during an interaction after the workshop some media practitioners engaged in heated debates on the unprofessional media reportage on the recent registration exercise by some “self-styled journalists” in Tamale.
Consequently, the searchlight was thrown on a reporter who was heavily criticised for conniving with his colleague to carry an exaggerated story that was published on the front page of a private newspaper. The story alleged that some supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manhandled the reporter to the extent that he was “bathed in blood”.
Indeed, a cursory look at that particular private newspaper showed a gory picture of the reporter who claimed in that story that he was “given wild beatings and “but for the timely intervention of a youth chief, I would have been dead by now”.
Apparently, one could hardly believe that this supposed victim of a reporter was manhandled to the point of death as the story sought to portray.
The alleged victim who was portrayed on the front page as having been beaten to the point of death attended the CDD workshop and indeed participated in group discussions and even went to the extent of presenting a report of the discussions on behalf of his group.
It was perhaps at that point that it occurred to the other journalists in the Northern Region that something had gone wrong.
In effect, the demeanour of the supposed reporter did not portray somebody who had been a victim of mob attack.
Some of the journalists at the workshop questioned why the reporter behaved in that manner to give a wrong signal to the outside world about the ongoing registration exercise in the metropolis.
The reporter, who claimed to have been assaulted, ignorantly contended that he was right in doing what he did and his colleague who helped him to put out that story also got very angry in the process.
It is worthy to note that nobody has the right to either assault or intimidate any citizen but the situation becomes worrying when some people tend to exaggerate issues or engage in unprofessional acts as if the residents of Tamale are always “violent people”.
Later on, a resident in Tamale, who claimed to know the alleged victim (the reporter), told this writer that he (the resident) was aware that the reporter allegedly smeared blood of a carcass on his body at Sakasaka, a suburb of Tamale, ostensibly to portray that he was assaulted.
Undoubtedly, the media practitioners in the Northern Region have been lauded over the years but it seems in recent times, some self-styled reporters and their unprofessional acts are gradually denting the image of the noble journalism profession.
The worrying aspect of this trend is that the coverage of this year’s elections in the Northern Region, especially in Tamale, might suffer from unprofessional media reportage and consequently heighten tension between the two leading parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NDC, if the situation is not checked.
Talking about the registration exercise, although there were isolated cases of disturbances at some registration centres, the signals being sent out from the metropolis seem to suggest that the whole area is engulfed in conflicts and violence.
However, one good thing about the residents in the metropolis is that until a story is published in the Daily Graphic to confirm or deny any information they have heard or read in other media, they are usually in a dilemma.
That is the credibility the Daily Graphic has built in the region. The media has a crucial role to play in helping to unite the people of the Northern Region, no matter their political affiliation.
For this reason, exaggeration of stories and other unethical issues should be avoided. Tamale has over the years gained negative publicity and there must be damage repair to restore confidence in potential investors.
The purpose of this write-up is to correct the wrong impression of many people stemming from negative media reportage about the region for some six years now.
Media practitioners in the region would be doing more harm than good if they engage in unprofessional practices before, during and after the December 7 general polls.
Times without number, some veteran journalists and senior media practitioners in the metropolis have done a lot in their own small way to sensitise the new breed of media practitioners to how best to exhibit professionalism in their reportage.
However, like the popular saying, “you can take a horse to the riverside but you cannot force it to drink the water”.
As the senior journalists in the region have done their best, the young journalists must take a cue from them.
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