Mr Baba Jamal Mohamed, Deputy Minister of Information, on Monday called on the media to avoid concentrating on political and sensational issues, which could lead to confusion in the country.
Interacting with the press in Sunyani as part of a two day working visit to Brong Ahafo, he said “because of freedom of speech, what is happening on our air waves is currently a recipe for disaster”.
The media can criticize without creating crises and can also be assertive without insulting, Mr Jamal said.
He advised the media against using their ideology to twist and colour issues that could destroy other people, he however gave the assurance that the government was ready to work and cooperate with every media house.
The Deputy Minister emphasized that the media must be partners in development to interpret government polices to the ordinary person.
Mr Jamal said the government had promised a paradigm shift in the country’s body politic that would enable individuals to work in a peaceful atmosphere.
He said government is not ready to follow the bad example of the NPP administration that arrested people even at church, this has unfortunately drawn criticisms from people within the NDC party who suffered that fate and expected vengeance, he said.
“The President is a good leader of integrity, honesty and humility and is more interested in issues that will bring development to the nation”, the Deputy Minister added.
He asked journalists to help create a national diary by using their medium to inform the people about what was happening in their localities and the nation as a whole.
Mr Jamal earlier at a meeting with staff of Information Service Department (ISD) and cautioned that any ISD staff who was not ready to propagate good messages about the government in power had a hidden agenda and could be fired.
He stressed that “ISD staff are supposed to inform the people about government projects and send a feed back to government” and appealed to the Municipal and District Chief Executives to support the Department to work effectively.