Broadcast of pornographic material on GHOne TV ethically reprehensible - GJA
11th April 2020
The Duvet show is aired on GHOne TV every Thursday at 10pm
The management of GHOne TV, a subsidiary of Empire Entertainment, have had it tough explaining themselves to Ghanaians after broadcasting an adult-rated content on their network last Thursday, April 9, 2020.
The incident since it came up, has stirred up the country as some have suggested showing 'pono' around 10pm local time on live TV was ethically unwise and strictly unacceptable.
The latest to express strong disapproval towards the act, is the umbrella organization which all journalists in Ghana belong, the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA).
The Association in a statement has blatantly condemned GHOne saying, it is deeply concerned about the broadcasting of the said pornographic material on a live television programme. It described the act as "ethically reprehensible, culturally repulsive and morally repugnant".
The statement signed by General Secretary of the GJA, Kofi Yaboah and copied to Ghanaguardian.com said: "Although it is an adult show, broadcasting images of naked sex on live television with wide coverage across the country is offensive to the sensibilities of viewers and totally unacceptable".
It added: "Moreover, the timing of airing the programme to coincide with the Nation Broadcast by the President to give an update on Ghana’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, was absolutely wrong".
Meanwhile, the Ag Manager of the station, Nana Aba Anamoah has earlier issued a statement apologising to the general public on the 'wrong behaviour'.
Below is the GJA's full release:
PRESS RELEASE
April 11, 2020
Broadcast of Pornographic Material By GHOne is Ethically Reprehensible
The attention of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has been drawn to the broadcasting of pornographic material by Accra-based GHOne, a television station belonging to the EIB Group. The television station reportedly broadcast the pornographic material on Thursday, April 9, 2020, on its late night adult show, Duvet.
The GJA is deeply concerned about the broadcasting of the said pornographic material on live television programme, as it is ethically reprehensible, culturally repulsive and morally repugnant. Although it is an adult show, broadcasting images of naked sex on live television with wide coverage across the country is offensive to the sensibilities of viewers and totally unacceptable. Moreover, the timing of airing the programme to coincide with the Nation Broadcast by the President to give an update on Ghana’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, was absolutely wrong.
The GJA urges the television station and other media outlets to always uphold the ethics of the profession. In the context of the GHOne case, we wish to particularly draw the attention of media houses to Article 24 of the GJA Code of Ethics, which provides that: “A journalist shows good taste, avoids vulgarityand the use of indecent language and images”. We further urge media houses to abide by other ethical codes of the profession, including Section 7(e) of the National Media Commission (NMC) Broadcasting Guidelines, which provides that: “Actual sexual intercourse between humans should at no time be transmitted”.
The GJA has noted the apology rendered by the management of the EIB Group to the NMC and the general public, as well as assurance given by management to sanction the erring staff in that regard and a promise to sin no more. These proactive steps taken, demonstrate good faith by management to accept blame and mend the trust and credibility damage the station may have suffered in the eyes of the public as a result of such indiscretion. We hope the measures being taken towards ensuring administrative sanction and production sanctity will be thorough and encompassing in order to curb the recurrence of such ethical breaches in the future.
The traditional functions of the media are to inform, educate and entertain, which ultimately help to promote national development. However, the GJA insists in the discharge of those functions, the media must uphold the ethics of the profession and serve the best interest of the public.
The GJA wishes to state categorically that the incident on GHOne however distasteful it may be, is by no means a justification for media censorship as advocated by some people. Apart from being an affront to Article 162(2) of the 1992 Constitution, the contemplation of media censorship is also a deadly virus intended to kill freedom of speech and expression, which is a fundamental human right upheld explicitly in the 1992 Constitution and by the good conscience of humanity.
SIGNED:
Kofi Yeboah
(General Secretary)