The government has been urged to prioritise the passage of the draft Broadcasting Bill 2024 that has been in parliament for more than a decade.According to Professor Kwame Karikari, a Media and Communication expert, the passage of the drafted bill was necessary to help address challenges facing the country's growing and evolving media sector, especially in community broadcasting.Tracing the introduction of the broadcasting legislation back to 1996, he said it has been submitted to the various Parliaments in the Fourth Republic until the recent passed 8th Parliament in 2024, and still not passed to law.Speaking at a high-level consultation meeting organised by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Ghana in Accra on Thursday, Prof.
Karikari expressed disappointment over the media's lack of urgency in pushing for the bill.The meeting brought together representatives from the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), the National Communications Authority (NCA), as well as legal and academic experts to review the bill and examine its possible impact on broadcasting in Ghana.The country's broadcasting industry has expanded significantly, with nearly 600 radio stations, but he said regulatory framework remains inadequate, failing to effectively address key issues like frequency allocation, ownership transparency, and content regulation.The Country Representative and Head of Office for UNESCO in Accra, Mr Edmond Moukala, said the proposed law offers a chance to shape broadcasting in line with the country's democratic goals.He noted UNESCO has been working with stakeholders to improve provisions that support community media, adding that, Community media was understood to be a collection of independent, civil society-based media that operate for social benefit and not for profit.He stated that media outlets provide communities with access to information and voice, facilitating community-level debate and public decision-making.Despite media being at the core of freedom of expression, whether seeking, receiving, and imparting information, Mr Moukala said Ghana lacked coherent legislation in the broadcasting sector to ensure equity, diversity and pluralism."Media pluralism is vital for any democracy; excessive concentration of media ownership can lead to political capture by the ruling elite," he added.He pointed out factors that could contribute to policies, laws and regulations that enable community media development, including clear and explicit recognition of community media as a distinct sector, legal and regulatory system that provides straightforward and transparent processes for access to the radio spectrum and policy and legal framework that has regard to sustainability and resourcing of community media.A media advocate, Mr Samson Lardy Anyenini, suggested changes to the 2024 draft to better protect community media.He recommended automatic tax exemptions, clear rules for community ownership, and equal representation of women in leadership positions."The 2024 draft bill removes safeguards such as the ban on politically exposed persons owning community stations.
That must be reinstated," he underscored.He also recommended scrapping restrictions on advertising and providing financial support to help community stations remain operational. BY CECILIA YADA LAGBA
