A 2023 survey conducted by the School of Communications at the University of Ghana, has reported that approximately 40% of journalists have experienced attacks while performing their duties.
The survey further reveals that 70% of practitioners are aware of colleagues who have also been subjected to such attacks.
Dr. Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin, a Senior Lecturer at the School of Communications, discussed these findings with JoyNews on February 13. She highlighted that these incidents have instilled fear among journalists about the execution of their responsibilities.
“At least 38 percent of those who have been sampled experienced. An even bigger number—nearly 70 percent of those sampled—said they were aware of colleagues who have experienced attacks in their line of work.
“Altogether, therefore, quite a good number expressed feelings of insecurity; they generally felt unsafe doing the work of journalists in the country,” she said.
Dr Yeboah-Banin said this was a cause for concern as the rate of attacks on journalists kept doubling with no measures to curb the situation.
“Report after report has suggested that the rate of attacks on journalists for doing their work, is increasing but the actions that you would see to make a statement to perpetrators that this will not be countenanced—such an action does not seem to be as swift or even existent in quite a number of instances,” she bemoaned.
In the wake of recent attacks on journalists by politicians and their followers, there have been notable developments. Mohammed Aminu Alabira, a correspondent for Citi FM in the Northern region, was reportedly assaulted while covering the NPP’s parliamentary primaries, allegedly by Farouk Aliu Mahama, the Member of Parliament for Yendi Constituency.
Additionally, individuals suspected to be supporters of Mavis Hawa Koomson, the MP for the Awutu Senya East Constituency, are accused of attacking a journalist in the Central region.
Consequently, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has called for a media blackout on these lawmakers. Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has endorsed these calls and urged the GJA to intensify pressure on both the Ghana Police Service and the Judiciary to effectively address incidents of violence against journalists in the country.