Dear Colleagues, let me first of all congratulate you for the work you have been doing so far. You continue to keep people informed, educated and entertained. Most importantly, you provide opportunities for people to share their views and to participate in public discussions on issues that affect the development of our motherland.

There are many people who may have enjoyed their Christmas and New Year holidays simply because their television screens did not go off (except when ECG did their usual thing); their favourite radio stations were on air and the news websites were not shut and.  What this means is that you were still working even as others were on break and enjoying their chicken, parties and drinks. Thank you so much.

Having expressed my gratitude and commended you for your work, allow me to also acknowledge and put on record that you were not perfect in the discharge of your duties. There were several ethical and avoidable professional lapses in 2013. Given that this is supposed to be a New Year message, let me not dwell on what you may not have gotten right. Let me rather share some of the things I think and wish you do in 2014.

Parliamentary Correspondents: In 2014 and beyond, it will be crucial for you to go beyond reporting only the daily proceedings and matters arising. Do a lot more analytical and critical reporting on other parliamentary issues. For example, let us know the positions taken by some MPs on various issues and how consistent they have been. If possible (and I know it is), let us know the most absentee and punctual MPs during the year.

Let us know whether or not the appointment of some MPs as regional Ministers (eg. A.B.A Fuseini for Northern region, Eric Opoku for Ashanti, Evans Aidoo for B.A, etc) affect the level of representation they give their constituents in parliament

Give us some more background on the MPs when reporting about them. Which MPs supported or opposed what bills and why? Tell us who your best and worst MPs have been in a half-year or annual review on your station, newspaper or website, backed reasons. 

 Presidential Correspondents:  You may have little control over what you can or cannot report. At the same time, you may want to adopt a more critical attitude in your reporting.  Please try to get answers to some questions like the following for us:

Do the president’s speeches at various platforms reflect promises he made during the election campaign?  Are the speeches and promises in consonance with the NDC manifesto and his State of the Nation Address?

Are there any issues happening at the presidency that we should know about? Let us know! So why is/was that portion of the presidency being allowed to grow into a forest? Is the French Embassy moving anytime soon? Any impending reshuffle? You should be the first to let us know. 

What has been the impact of the daily press briefing? Has it been useful? Why haven’t you told us anything about Ben Dotsei Malor? Well, do let is us know when he is officially announced as the head of communications or spokesperson for the President.

Show Producers & Presenters: I think it’s time to have subject experts as panellists/guests rather than the current practice of consistently hosting NPP/NPP representatives and social commentators who attempt to know it all. In 2014, please give us expert views on the economy, energy, environment, corruption, education, health, etc. I suspect people are tired and fed-up with the monotonous and usually politically-biased voices.

Also, please do prepare well and read around the subjects to be discussed so that you can ask critical and very important questions. Once you prepare well, for example, when Dr. Tony Aidoo complains about the shutdown of his Monitoring and Evaluation unit at the Presidency, and insists it’s an important unit, you can ask him this question:

Doc, can you tell us what (in specifics) were the contributions of your M&E unit to good governance under the Mills government for which reason you say we should continue to pay you and others to run that unit?

All others: Yes, continue to tell us all the fine stories and promises from the people we pay to manage the country. But let us know what happens to those promises. So please do the follow-up stories. Don’t forget to follow-up on GYEEDA, SUBA, SADA, and all. It’s not time for those stories to die.      

Continue to let us know what is happening at the ministries, departments and agencies. But don’t feed us with only the fine stories and sweet promises that the people we pay to fix the problems will want us to hear, let us also know about the bad and ugly stories. Do less of the “he said and she said stories” and tells us more of what you are discovering. Don’t forget to give attention to developments in the rural areas too and how the folks there are being affected.

And always remember that your profession, if well practiced, makes you a very powerful and an influential person in the development of our dear country.

I wish you a prosperous new year.