The National Media Commission (NMC) has ruled that a Joy News investigative documentary ‘Militia in the Heart of the Nation’ fell short of ethical standards.
The Commission, however, admitted the operations of the alleged pro-government vigilantes De-Eye Group at the Osu Castle was a matter well within the public interest.
The much-publicized documentary produced by Manasseh Azure Awuni showed visuals of violence, some of which were file footage from the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. Others were operations of vigilantes in Kumasi.
The documentary sought to suggest that De-Eye Group, portrayed as a vigilante group, operated from a state facility.
But in March this year, government filed a complaint against Joy News at the NMC, a state institution responsible for media content, monitoring and regulation, demanding a retraction of the documentary and an apology.
The NMC concluded its investigations and ruled that aspects of the the documentary breached the ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
“In the end, the Commission found out that the attempt to expose the fact that the group operated from a Castle was in public interest.
“However, in the attempt, the investigation had not been consistent in following the ethical standards defined by the Ghana Journalist Association code of ethics, particularly guideline 23” which states that ‘a journalist ensures that photographs and multimedia content adequately reflect an event and do not highlight an incidence out of context’,” the conclusions read.
The NMC, however, commended both The Multimedia Group and the government for cooperating to pursue the matter.
Source: 3news.com |Ghana