The Speaker of Ghana’s legislature has underscored the need for a balanced reportage in the media ahead of the November polls.

Edward Doe Adjaho explains the peace and stability of the country will be dependent on the information the media put out, hence the call for fairness.

“Already the atmosphere is charged with regards to the conduct of the 2016 elections and if people want to report on proceedings of Parliament they must do so correctly,” he said.

The Speaker disclosed this when he addressed Members of Parliament (MPs) on the numerous electoral instruments pending the approval of the House.

With barely four months to the November polls, many Ghanaians have urged the nation’s media regulators namely, the National Media Commission (NMC) and the National Communication Authority (NCA) to keenly monitor and regulate intemperate language in the media.

This call comes on the back of comments made by two panellists on Accra-based Montie FM in which they threatened to murder justices of the Supreme Court (SC) if their ruling on the electoral roll in a case brought by a former National Youth Organiser of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Abu Ramadan, and Evans Nimako does not favour the Electoral Commission. The two were challenging the credibility of the electoral roll.

The panellists, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn have been cited for contempt by the SC alongside the host of the “Pampaso” programme, Salifu Maase popularly known as Mugabe and owners of Montie FM.

Even though the case was called on Wednesday, it has been adjourned to Monday, July 18 to give the accused enough time to prepare their defence.

With this development, Mr Adjaho believes the only way to minimize the political tension in the country will be for the media to be circumspect in their reportage to avoid chaos.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has challenged the media to be responsible.

The media must guard against political influence in their reportage, he said.

“I am confident that majority of Ghanaians would express disappointment with what they are seeing in the media, but that wouldn’t be that they would say every media house, every journalist is not doing their work as it should be,” he stated.

Mr Braimah entreated the media to reshape its image in the eyes of the public ahead of the election.