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March 11, 2016
Government allocates 1.7 billion cedis
to NMC
Accra, Nov. 16, GNA - The Government has increased its
budgetary allocation to the National Media Commission (NMC)
to 1.7 billion cedis from 1.5 billion cedis in 2005 to
strengthen the Commission's regulatory role and ensure that
the media performed in a manner conducive to peace building
and national development.
It is also to reposition the media as a partner in the
nation's development process using the Growth and
Poverty-Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II) as the basis, Mr
Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic
Planning stated in the 2007 Budget Statement presented to
Parliament on Thursday.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said the objective was to enhance the NMC's
monitoring of media content, identify and address
professional deficits as well as build the capacity of the
Commission to track media content, and identify triggers to
conflict as an early warning mechanism.
Monitoring would also track how much of development content
is in the media, the direction of coverage (positive or
negative) and the general tenor of media content.
This is necessary to identify the kind of content available
to the citizenry bearing in mind that negative media
influence on the public mind can undermine confidence in
elected leaders and push the nation to the brink of
conflict.
Mr Baah-Wiredu said the second objective for capitalisation
of NMC was to enhance its capacity building programmes,
which aimed at moving the media to become agents of
development by using the GPRS II to drive the process.
The focus, according to him was to ensure that the media
contributed to the achievements of the objectives of GPRS II
by ensuring the effective participation of the media in free
and credible pre-election activities, including
development-based coverage of the presidential and
parliamentary primaries.
It would also enhance the media capacity to promote
efficiency and accessibility of national markets, develop
national media framework to promote sustainable and
systematic media participation in positioning Ghana in the
global and regional markets.
"Develop a policy on how to use community radio to support
the modernization of agriculture and strengthen
infrastructure, enhance the capacity of the media to raise
and discuss national concerns with special reference to the
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Youth
Employment Programme," he said.
He commended the NMC for embarking upon a process of
retooling aimed at developing an efficient strategy for
democratic regulation of media for peace building.
On the future of Public Broadcasting in Ghana, Mr
Baah-Wiredu explained that public broadcasting offered the
best platform for education and national cohesion, but
expressed concerns about the management and financial
sustainability of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, the
only public broadcaster in Ghana.
GNA
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