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Journalists have been urged not to declare anybody winner ahead of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the forthcoming December elections, the Western Regional Director of the EC Effie Wilson has said.
“Never decalre results when the EC has not verified them. What happens when your results differ from the EC?.This could lead to chaos in the country," she stated.
She therefore urged journalists in the heat of the election period not to speculate in their reportage but to contact the EC for clarifications on issues that they were confronted with to promote peace.
Mrs Wilson, gave the advice when she spoke on the topic "Reporting on Electoral Processes, What Must the Journalist Know" at the Zone Five training for journalists from the Western, Western North and the Central regions, in Takoradi, last Friday.
The training, an initiative by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), with funding from the United States Embassy in Ghana, was to ensure peaceful discourse in the media ahead of the 2024 general election.
Mrs Wilson in her presentation also cautioned journalists against broadcasting "planted" stories by some politicians or party followers without any proper due diligence, which tended to harm the peace and security of the country.
"Promoting peaceful journalistic discourse in the various media platforms in the country ahead of elections 2024 is very critical and a duty on all Ghanaians to consolidate the country’s 32 years of democratic principles," she said.
She said the media, as a source of information to most people in their decision-making process, must adopt the right communication tools to promote peace in the country.
The Registrar of the Takoradi Technical University, Dr Moses Maclean Abnory, who took the participants through fact-checking, misinformation, disinformation and malinformation in elections coverage, also urged media practitioners to abide by the ethics of their profession.
Dr Abnory also drew the media’s attention to their role in nation-building and called for circumspection in their work. He commended the GJA for organising the workshop for its members, particularly in an election year.
The President of the GJA, Albert Dwumfour, stressed the need for practitioners to refrain from using unsavoury words. Mr Dwumfour, therefore, called on all practitioners to regularise their membership with the association.
The Public Relations Officer of the GJA, Rebecca Ekpe, said findings from research conducted after the 2020 elections necessitated the nationwide training of Journalists in the country, to avoid misguided reportage.
