Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Ghana, Audrey Gadzekpo has reminded the media of its role as an honest broker and an independent observer during national elections.

According to her, not all media outlets may be trustworthy but there are certain reputable media organisations that have earned the public's confidence.

Speaking on the 'Joy Change-Speaker Series VII' on Saturday, May 11, she said, “We need citizens to say, there are these media organisations that I know by all means, when I tune in to them or I read them or I watch them, I can get the truth about what is going on. I can have informed decisions.”

Prof Gadzekpo noted that there has been a marked improvement in how the media covers elections.

According to her, the coverage begins before the actual voting commences, extends to coverage of events at polling stations, and continues even after the elections have concluded.

“It’s a long process.  We don’t have a defined campaign season. So we can safely conclude that the media is already doing their job. And you see that they have been praised for providing access to contenders including minor parties. Sometimes there are disputes but minor parties, minor candidates do get a voice in the media, they do get access to the media."

“Even though sometimes the coverage is dominated by the two dominant parties, NPP and NDC, the incumbents are going to explore the power of the incumbency. But we can see a lot of progress has been made,” she said.

However, she noted that there is a persistent issue of extreme polarization and partisanship within some media organizations.

According to her, there are still numerous credible media houses that can serve as a counterbalance to the more partisan voices.

“We know that the Media Foundation for West Africa conducts monitoring of media during election times for language and has called out persistently strong language, personal attacks and some of these observer reports know that as well; Blurring of electoral line between opinion and facts, poor facts checking, in-factual reporting and the lack of depth and examination of issues and etc.”

“The European Union (EU) and CODEO [Coalition of Domestic Election Observers] for example, in their last report even though they praised the media, noted that there was still a lack of enforcement of media journalistic standards."