‘Money doubling’ tops offensive media content complaint list – NMC

Money doubling tops the list of offensive media content, recording a total of 3,722 complaints from October 2023 to November 2024, the National Media Commission (NMC) has stated.

This is followed by fake lottery which recorded 2,190 complaints for the same period.

This came to light during a presentation at the regulatory meeting offensive media content in Accra on Thursday.

Mr Godfred Amartey, Coordinator, NMC, Monitoring Executives who presented the findings of the Commission mentioned “loan companies, occultism and money rituals” as some other forms of offensive coordinator content and on television and radio, registering 1,283, 849, and 783 complaints.

Also identified as other forms of violation were “sexual content and soliciting funds,” each of them receiving 101 and 143 complaints.

This brings the total number of complaints received by the NMC to 8,982 over the cause of one year spanning October 2023-November 2024.

In his remarks, Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary, NMC said the Commission had filed a notice with the National Communications Authority (NCA) for the revocation of the licenses of the Onua Television, a subsidiary of Media General, and Oyerepa television in Kumasi.

For instance, Mr Sarpong noted that Oyerepa Television was involved in broadcasting “obscene materials” while Onua Television was engaged in doing “something terrible and dangerous” than the obscene publications by Oyerepa.

He said the management of these media outlets would be given the opportunity to respond to the complaints made against the stations.

The NMC Executive Secretary said the Commission’s core mandate was to ensure the publication of “good quality contents” to enrich Ghana’s democracy, and protection of freedom of speech rather than any form of restrictions.

However, Mr Sarpong said it was better to consider and protect the interest of the society above the excesses and violations of radio and television stations.

For his part, Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, Chairman of the NMC, said it was the responsibility of the society to protect the vulnerable.

The General Secretary of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr Kofi Yeboah (GJA), underscored the need to distinguish between “revocation and suspension” in the enforcement of laws. He urged equitable application of justice in matters that affect journalism and appealed to journalists and media owners to ensure strict application of the code of ethics of the GJA.

BY MALIK SULLEMANA