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March 20, 2005
Blame Canada
When a Ghanaian law enforcement official is called to task for detaining and beating up a Ghanaian reporter, he may have to blame Canada.
For a country relatively new to democracy and open expression, Ghana has a surprisingly active and diverse media. There are more than a dozen national daily papers, scores of radio stations, and four television stations. But the news reporting can be superficial, and the media seem hesitant to dig under the surface.
Enter the Canadians. Journalists for Human Rights is small nonprofit founded by our neighbors to the north. Its flagship program is here in Accra. Canadian journalists volunteer for a few months, mentoring Ghanaian journalists in reporting on human rights issues and instructing them on their legal rights as reporters.
Because of JHR, every Thursday, page three in Ghana's Chronicle is the "Social Justice" page, and it's filled with stories exploring Ghana's lack of habeas corpus, prostitution, domestic violence and more. Met TV, a national television station, airs an in-depth story on human rights every Saturday. And JoyFM injects human rights reporting into its daily newshours now.
Jamie, Bonnie, Colleen and Drake are the intrepid Canadians currently working in Ghanaian newsrooms. They typically work behind the scenes, giving the bylines and credits to the journalists they are mentoring, but they also do their own freelance reporting to supplement their small stipends.
Ato Dadzie is JHR's country director. When he was detained by police and beaten up two weeks ago, his story was featured on the Chronicle's "Social Justice" page.
Seeing the results of their work is inspiring. It strikes me that what JHR is doing is a brilliant way to foster good, investigative journalism in countries with new media freedom.
Posted by Cathryn Poff at March 20, 2005 4:33 PM