Media Should Be Wary of 2012 Election Petition Reportage

A Political Science Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Aminu Dramani has cautioned media practitioners to be wary of televising the election dispute before the Supreme Court.

Mr. Dramani urged all journalists to be accurate in their reportage and not create unnecessary tensions.

He said, in an interview on Radio Gold’s newspaper review, that media reports have the potency to influence the public and prejudice, so, the need for the journalists to be circumspect when reporting.

He therefore advised journalists to seize the opportunity to televise the election case but be “very circumspect how we report on this, so as not to create unnecessary sensations…You and I must be very careful what we publish about that; what we say about that, so we don’t create any prejudices against the outcome of the court decision.”

He also admonished the parties before the court not to incite the masses but respect the verdict of the Supreme court.

“I believe that we really carry out the case in a very fair and firm manner. And as legal teams, they [organize] conduct themselves very well in the court, I believe that at the end of the day, we will get the results. And when the results come, because everybody saw it, and then everybody will accept whatever the outcome of the decision of the court will be. But if they go to the court, only to show or please their supporters by making whatever they want to make, especially if they come out; they make comments or inciteful comments. These are the things that will infuriate people. These are the things that will cause people to start getting agitated about the case,” he warned.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana