Award-winning media practitioner and the ‘Chairman-General’ of radio, Kwami Sefa Kayi, has proposed that the National Media Commission, Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), and other media bodies roll out basic standards for all radio stations to adhere to.

He said it will help prevent the outrageous things from being communicated on some radio waves, as well as guide presenters and owners of the stations.

According to him in an interview on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning, it would have been good if the rules were established with the advent of media in the country, but the authorities failed, causing people to say inappropriate things on the radio.

To explain his view, the ‘Chairman-General’ said, “I think that basic broadcasting journalism media standards have not been adhered to. First of all, I think we have too many radio stations, and unfortunately, the kind of quality that you’d expect from radio is usually very suspenseful sometimes, unless we don’t want to be truthful.”

He commended the evolution of radio and the media at large. However, he thinks the authorities could have paid proper attention and ensured that basic regulations were enforced at the primary stage.

The majority of stations, he said, are politically and commercially owned and tend to create content in their favour, thereby contributing to the unwavering unprofessionalism within the sector.

But Mr. Kayi feels that, “Between the two of them, someway in there, we should have found proper broadcasting content and standards to guide. Unfortunately, we did not, and we still have not.”

“Sometimes the things you hear on the radio are outrageous, to say the least. We have the Media Commission, the GJA, the Media Foundation for West Africa, and other media watchers, but I don’t know what can be done. You ask yourself, what really are the standards? I think there should be some basic standards we should all follow,” he added.

Having headed the Peace FM morning flagship programme ‘Kokorokoo’ for years, Mr. Kayi shared his reason for switching from the English language to Akan. 

He said he needed to change the narrative of people devaluing presenters at local language-speaking stations who were considered low-standard journalists.

As a result, he has no regrets about making the decision because he said he has learned a lot of things from the local dialect, which he was not knowledgeable of. He testifies that he has enjoyed every bit of the journey.

The ‘Chairman-General’ is willing to retire his career at Peace FM, as he has no plans of exiting the station anytime soon.

Below is the full interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Prime Morning.