As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: Of Politics & CITI97.3Fm's destination of choice in the "Write-Away" contest

For the past week, I have been struggling very hard to remember what has happened during the week -- and all I can think of is politics, more politics, and even more politics. Sometimes I wonder whether Ghana will ever change this predilection and grow up.

Truth be told, it is growing up: Ghana has become more discerning. At least, some of the media has. I continue to commend the English-speaking private radio stations like Joy FM and CITI97.3fm, who consistently offer a good mix of politics with "development-related" issues. But it can certainly be more.

This week, CITI fm has focused a lot of their discussions on education. It is what Citi Breakfast Show host Bernard Avle called the station's "pet" topic. I have to say that their "write-away contest" for kids between 10-14years is an innovation I have yet to see any other radio station emulate. The ability to get kids to think about their country, by assuming they were president is great.

My only beef is why do the destinations always have to be South Africa and London? Why can it not be another West African country -- like Senegal, Cape Verde?

Mid-Week Madness: Re-dux: This is What Young Ghanaian Journalists Should Aspire To; The Inconsistency of Spintex Road Police

Back in 2007, I wrote a blog post, praising Business&Financial Times Journalist Moses Dzawu (now a Deputy News Editor!) who picked up my story of a piece of news I had heard on the radio about Stanbic Bank wanting to take over Ghana's only Agricultural Development Bank. I had spoken with him on Sunday night. By Monday, the front-page of BFT was asking whether ADB was being sold to Stanbic!!

Three years later, I feel compelled to revisit the title, because I think CITI-fm Journalist Bernard Avle (back from studying an MBA at Warwick university in 2008/2009) a couple of months ago and back on the "CITI Breakfast Show" for Mondays-Wednesdays) deserves the accolade for picking up a piece, written by former Deputy High Commissioner in Ghana Craig Murray on his blog a few weeks ago.

The story was on corruption, and how the British government is being hypocritical by not touching on how British companies have been complicit in corrupting Ghanaian officials over a number of deals. I circulated the story last Friday afternoon. On Monday, I saw it in front of "The Insight" newspaper.

After Avle's interview of Craig Murray himself, and a hosting of a panel that included Ghana Integrity Initiative (local chapter of Transparency International)Vitus Azeem, the story has taken somewhat epic proportions. The actual story is here: http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/02/the_uk_and_corr.html#comments. I must, in fact, thank my British blogger-friend (since 2005) Daniel Hoffman-Gill, which website I found the link on last week! Thanks Daniel!

Meanwhile, I am getting frustrated in using the Spintex Road as the Ghana Police (motor Transport Unit) continue to show the same inconsistency I complained of in the last post. They simply are not deploying--either on time, or at all--police to stop all sorts of cars creating confusion on the road. When they're there, the traffic assumes a sanity that is refreshing. Refreshing because it is so rare for the road to be sane!

I wasted units calling the National Road Safety Commission hotline on MTN 18001 today. It didn't go through, so I was compelled to call their landline--only to be told that there was an electrical fault.

With a hotline?

Only in Ghana!

Truth be told, yesterday, when I did call, they picked it up and called me back to say that they have informed the Motor Transport Unit of the Ghana Police and they have been dispatched. Need they be told? I wondered. They didn't have an answer for me. This morning, I got the lie that the MTTU had been deployed. We had been on the road since 7.45am and it was as choked as ever, developing multiple lanes thanks to commuters using shortcuts that fed into the road.

I fear what tomorrow will bring, but I ain't giving up calling them, or radio stations to get the message across that Ghana Police are not helping us...

As the Week Opens in Accra: Mad Men in the Ghanaian Media

The week has opened with a lot of noise and speculation in the Ghanaian media about what the British call "cheque book journalists". I would like to think that no country is immune from this kind of journalism. In Ghana, it is just that it has a different twist--rather than the journalists being ashamed that they have succumbed to this kind of atypical journalism, they lament--like journalist Baby Ansabah (who is the talking point right now -- that they did not get anything from the previous government for castigating the incumbent President who was then in opposition. The claim that others got immovable property and cars is just...something else. Issues like these only deepen my perception of the media as riddled with more (square pegs in round )holes than a swiss cheese, and a lot of mediocrity.

It was refreshing to hear CITI97.3fm's Bernard Avle broaching the issue this morning on the "Breakfast Show". I would hope he can talk more about his colleagues in future.

In my view, only a critical self-reflection of the Ghanaian media by their own kind can take the future of journalism to heights that commanded respect in the era of Dr.Kwame Nkrumah when even Nigerians--better journalists these days in my view than my Ghanaian counterparts!--came to Ghana to study at the Ghana Institute of Journalism!

Reflections on the Ghanaian Media (1): Small Fries and Anna Bossman on My Mind

On Monday evening, I was priviledged to have a brief Facebook-chat with no less than the very personable and delectable Ag.Commissioner of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice(CHRAJ) Ms.Anna Bossman.

I like her; I've always done so. I think she often speaks truth to power. I love her candour, and the fact that she's so doughty--and such a strong woman. She has many endearing qualities, including her ability to talk to you like you mattered. I've met her personally before--but, then, she didn't know my name.

In short, we talked cursorily about the organisation of the 14th GJA Media Awards and how they could have rehearsed it. Plus the fact that we need to fight mediocrity in this country. I complained to her that I dropped the idea of meeting her at the panel because I'm small fry. It's difficult to tell with "celebrities" or people in the public eye, but when she wrote that I should have and she doesn't consider anyone "small fry", I kind of believed it. That she also engaged me first was a reflection of the degree to which she finds it important to do outreach even to people "beneath" her status. Did I say I like her?!!

All that said, I do not think you need to be a journalist to appreciate the work of journalists. Long before many of us knew what the Fourth Estate was in reference to, it was evident that their role was not to be sneezed at.

This is the reason why in scanning the media landscape, one cannot help but experience another level of frustration. Compared to my Nigerian counterparts, Ghanaian journalists in 2008/2009 have generally fallen short of quality and high standards. That might be rich coming from someone who is not a de jure journalist, but let's be real now: it's the truth! Grammar is often poor and, save the broadcast journalist, there are few that remain on top of the issues and give

robust interviews. One that easily comes to mind is CITI97.3FM's SHAMIMA MOSLEM, who is a very commendable broadcast journalist. (But more on her and CITI later!) Point is: many journalists and not just found wanting for quality, but napping.

Aware of this all-too-sorry state of affairs, which I consider a bit of a mini-crisis, I was greatly priviledged to sit on the 14th GJA Media Awards Committee out of the blue in June. The insights I have gained from these two months have only compounded the desire to do something constructive about it.

That I further got the opportunity to attend the awards night to see it all in what Graphic Showbiz's Francis Doku calls "Comedy of Errors" was not only humbling and a great honour, but a kind of great calling to blaze the trail on the improvement of standards in the profession. There is serious discontent among the fraternity of the inky kind and it needs must be resolved. I believe I would have failed if I do not take this experience to embolden a drive for improvement in the industry.

Even if I am "small fry".

The Elusive Ghanaian Middle Class

Is there a Ghanaian Middle Class? Each year I get the opportunity to ask myself that question when I see the number of vehicles rise astronomically on the road. Although I do accept that cars do not a class define, a certain number of private vehicles undoubtedly go a long way to confirm that capital is far from dead in this town!

The first time I got the opportunity to write a more coherent entry on this blog was back in 2006, when I looked at it in the context of CITI97.3fm's Salsa Mania.

In 2007, I reprised the question, and wrote a longer post, which found expression in a a three-article series -- shortly after the Accra Mall opened -- looking at the "Westernisation of Accra".

I submitted some of them to ghanaweb. To say the least, I was enlightened by the barrage of negative comments I received, including accusations of naivité to be comparing Ghana to the West.

On Saturday night, after walking Fenix gave vent to creative juices, I decided to re-visit the issue on Facebook. Below are some of the answers I received. Feel free to click on the image to view the conversation in bigger fonts.




What about you? What are your thoughts on the Ghanaian middle class?

Mid-Week Madness: At the Dawn of ECOWAS Day, am Livid about Coverage of AU Day by Ghanaian media

Tomorrow is the 34th anniversary of the the Economic Community of West African States, but I can bet my bottom-dollar that Ghanaian media will provide scant coverage of it.

Yesterday, I sent a message to the CITI97.3FM appreciation group on Facebook, which you can read below:

Hello! Yesterday I tuned in to citi around 13.02GMT to catch up with what I felt I had missed of Kat's brilliantly-presented African music programme, only to hear Farida K read the news, which she did brilliantly.

After that, I heard none other than popular presenter Jessica and Kat comparing notes on who could read the news better!!! On AU day!

I tuned after some ten minutes to Uniiq FM to hear a lengthy discussion/interview of an academic about AU day and what it meant for Africans. Then I tuned to Joy FM's news on the hour. Again, special coverage of AU day.

Surely something is wrong CITI-fm? Why can JOy and Uniiq cover AU day on the hour of their news and CITI not? I know Moro interviewed someone on the special breakfast show for some thirty minutes or so; that was commendable. The rest of the CITI bReakfast show was about SERIAL CALLERS!!! On AU day???? A segment would have been fine!

Two years ago, AU day was celebrated in grand style on CITI fm--from excerpts of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah to analysis of Bob Marley's lyrics.

This is what the UK media calls "dumbing down", in my humble opinion!

CITI fm, wake up!!!

Some hours later, the big boss of the station, Mr.Samuel Attah-Mensah, responded with a simple "thanks". I thought that was good of him; let's hope things can change for next year.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being...An African Union Citizen

It was too contrived to be a coincidence. After I posted an entry requesting why the issue of African Union had not been covered on CITI97.3FM (pls see above) on both Shamima Muslim and Citi Breakfast Show host Sammy Bartel's facebook wall, the following day on the show, I heard Victor Gbeho and Dr.Nii Alabi come on the show to discuss not just Ghanaian politics, but no less than implications of Al-Qaddafi as AU Chair.

There was--unlike former host Bernard Avle--no acknowledgment of my suggestion. I hardly expected it, but it would have been nice anyway!

Still, that was not going to dampen my interest and optimism. Upon learning that the AU is going to transform into an AU Authority, I sent some information round to Facebook friends, which elicited some responses. Curiously, out of the thirty people I sent the information to, only a handful replied. Below are some of the responses:

I honestly believe that once Africa stops looking 4 aid & begins to look and assist its own her in Africa we'll never be blessed. Its a Biblical principle that the founding fathers of the west knew and instilled into their children and children's children generations ago.

Continental unity would transform us into thee Super Power.

It can only work if we make it work. We must instill that feeling of pride that the Americans have about being American about being an African in our offspring. Racism, tribalism and all those other evils are taught I'm yet to meet any1 born with any of those cancers in them. We have work to do, but if we are single minded in achieving this 'dream' the future is brighter that a thousand Suns beaming down on us.

Cool so i can proudly pay i live in the USA now.

This is what I myself wrote:

it is ironic that in the centenary of the birth of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, the dream towards continental govt could become a reality! Breaking news---al Qaddafi of LIbya just became CHAIR of the AU for one year. Certainly a BOON--if ever I saw one--to continental unity!!

All that said, I would not for a second believe that those who failed to comment are any less patriotic than I am.

We can draw any number of conclusions about the non-response, but what I can say is that there is a general lack of interest and apathy in the whole enterprise--which only compounds my unbearable lightness of being an AU citizen...

But let's get positive for a second. Here's the plan for the African Union Authority:

AU Authority would be made operational by July 2009

it will have a vice-president and President

current commissioners of the AU would be transformed into secretaries

new secretaries would have portfolios structured along nine areas of shared competence. These include...

...poverty-reduction; free movement of persons, goods and services; infrastructural development; climate change; epidemics and pandemics; international trade negotiations; peace and security matters; foreign affairs

Right across from where I work is Eastgate hotel; it has an EU; Ghanaian; Nigerian; Canadian flag. There is NO AU flag. It's a good job the AU is changing its flag. Maybe I can lobby for it to be hoisted?;-)Seriously, last time I looked, flags were a symbolic representation of a country's identity. There is no hotel here in Accra I have seen that has ever dared to hoisted an AU or even ECOWAS flag. In my view, it just reinforces the perception that Ghanaians don't care much for representing the AU to the world!

To conclude, we do not live in a perfect world, so we are always going to get the likes of Al-Qaddafi. Whatever you might think about his human rights, he has made immense contributions--albeit not altruistically--to the cause of Pan-African integration.

I believe it sincerely to be a blessing in disguise to have a putative erratic character like him at the helm of the AU in this year, and at this time when we are in the centenary of one of the most visionary Africans that ever lived--Dr.Kwame Nkrumah. A man who also happens to have proclaimed "Africa Must Unite! when he took Ghana, along with Nasser and a posse of visionary leaders instrumental in the establishment of the erstwhile Organisation of African Unity.

Like Sunday World columnist-cum-blogger Kobby Graham wrote:

Say what you will about the man but his visions of a single African military force, a single currency, and a single passport for Africans to move freely around the continent have an appealing whiff of Nkrumah about them that I cannot help but inhale.

In my view, the nay-sayers of AU integration are missing the point! It is not about Al-Qaddafi--it's about fighting for AU integration now!

CITI97.3FM's Shamima Muslim Interviewed by AfricaTalks about "Campaign Trail"

The "Campaign Trail" programme was a political discussion on CITIFM97.3 that run for two hours every weekday some three months before the Ghana 08 elections. It was a not-to-be-missed programme that I believe endeared many listeners to the station; without doubt Ms.Shamima Muslim's interviewing style had a lot to do with it!

Enjoy the interview!

Better still, if you yet have not, why not join the Facebook group for CITI FM?

Midnight Reflections:Pas le cas d'un mauvais qu'art d'heure!

It's some few minutes to 1 o'clock;I am listening to a repeat of CITI Eyewitness news, where footballer Stephen Appiah is promising Ghana will score massively. I guess it is against Lesotho?

I must preface all this to simply add that this new-found freedom of mobile blogging is profoundly exhilirating; it has certainly revolutionised my blogging experience!

So much so that I can safely say here that the space I had originally used for was to say that there is a GBC School that needs to be looked at!

_________________this msg was sent by e.k.bensah - OGO device

These words brought to you by Ogo

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra: The Expensive Game, Where Talk is Cheap

The defeat of the Ghana Black Stars by the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon with a scoreline of 1-0 in their favour has gone to further shatter to smithereens the idea of the "host-and-win" concept. When my Cameroon colleague told me that Cameroon would beat us—and that the home crowd was nothing to write home about, I disbelieved her. Today, I bow my head in shame—not because she was right, but because Ghanaians hyped the success of the Black Stars too much.

I know that at times like this, we all become armchair coaches and pundits—and that's why blogging at this time is as instrumental in airing grievances!!!—and seek to twist and over-exploit the proverbial "hindsight is 20/20" till it's no longer funny.

But Ghanaians are wont to behave this way—and were always going to do some hyping. After all, we saw CAN2008 as the perfect opportunity to market the country—even if Ghana Tourist Board did little to sufficiently market it for us—and the beautiful game, as played by Africans. There were such high hopes—possibly excessive—of the players. Agogo, for starters, is a good player, but in the family's view, in the last game before our resounding trounce yesterday—in which we packed Nigerians home—he maximized an opportunity to best effect. The dribbling was absent—as was the good technical play. His angles could be a bit better—as in yesterday's game, when he headed the ball just slightly over the bar.


The little said of Pele's son brought on when he's not as experienced as the likes of Asamoah-Gyan (reportedly nursing an injury—as was Laryea Kingson) the better. That Ghana's "rock of Gibraltar"—John Mensah—red-carded in the Nigeria-Ghana clash, but cleared of one game into a putative final-that-never-was-for-Ghana was absent did not help the country in any way.


A discussion on CITI97.3FM today was heated—and for the right reasons. The UEFA-licensed coach and award-winning journalist/columnist Nana Ageyman attacked the literacy of our sports journalists that transmogrify, he believed, from "shoe-shine boys" to ones "behind a mike", and how they ask "stupid questions." His attitude, though decried by many, was, in my view, along the lines of what we should be asking ourselves at times like this—how responsible is our media towards tournaments like these, and, yes, how well-trained are they in generating a discerning view of the sports they report on. At what point do they cross from being fans to journalists? These are valid questions that need to be asked.




If there had, perhaps, been a more toned-down expectation of what the senior football team could offer, they would not be as crest-fallen as they, along with the nation, are.

I personally take consolation from the fact that the beautiful-yet-expensive game creates pundits from all of us, but always, we are reminded that talk truly is cheap. If not, the Ivorians would not have conceded a good four goals to title-defenders Egypt. I sent a text message to CITI Morning Breakfast Show host that too bad for Ghana, and let's rally behind the team to make it a "West African affair." I was hoping that the "ECOWAS-man" in me would come out. It wasn't to be--for Cameroon and Egypt in the final makes a nonsense of the ECOWAS nexus I had promulgated last Sunday, when we beat Nigeria, and Cote D'Ivoire qualified over fellow-ECOWAS country Guinea.

Yet again, we are all Africans.

May the best team win—and may that be one closer to West Africa—Cameroon!

As the Week Draws to a Close in Accra…Thoughts on Liberia Dressing; MTN Benin Bites the Dust…by Getting Bitten?

I woke up Monday morning to the news that Liberia was cracking down on “immoral” dressing in the country. None of us could do anything but give a mental thumbs-up to the female president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. For a second, I wished that our President John Agyekum Kufuor was a member of the opposite sex, because she would then pay some greater attention to the increasingly scantily-clad manner in which university girls in particular dress. I’m not of the creed of people who believe that women who dress in such a manner ought to have something bad happen to them, because I think we all have free will and choices, and we should be able to decide to look—and look away.

All that said, I think Liberia has done well, and should be a lesson for a country like Ghana that claims to be the putative, or so-called, gateway to West Africa.

Still in West Africa, I’ve been rolling around myself with glee over what has been transpiring in the ECOWAS country of Benin and MTN. You may recall that a few weeks ago, I reported that I was bored by the Y’ellowness associated MTN, and I am not really that impressed. So it’s great news to see that the Beninois phone regulator—Telecommunications Regulation Authority—is giving MTN a biting hard time.

The crux of the story resides in the fact that when MTN changed its name in Benin, it failed to inform the regulator—or so the regulators claim—and has, consequently led the two entities of MTN and the regulator in a stand-off that has endured since 9 July when the regulators indefinitely switched off MTN in Benin!

This means that as I write, it’s been SIX good weeks since MTN has not been given the nod. Okay, with one exception—it pay a sum of -- what was originally $10million, but has been increased to – a vertiginous $620million! This is in effect 620% increase, and let’s face it: it’s not something that the MTN corporation cannot afford, what with its networks all over the Middle East and much of Africa.



Observers are crying foul, blue murder and all that, because they are saying it’s about the principles inherent in international law, and the breach thereof that is problematic. Beyond that, it’s also about the signal that MTN feels other ECOWAS neighbours might get, though MTN group CEO Phuthuma Nhleko, in an article by ITWEB.CO.ZA maintains (in my view, rather complacently) that it’s not going to happen.

Of course it won’t, especially when MTN ensures it has greased the palms of regulators. I’ve no proof, but speculation has been rife in Ghana—for ages—that this is why National Communications Authority (NCA), despite the fine it imposed on what was then AREEBA last year, never managed to break the defiance of AREEBA in paying the sum!

To top it all off, with the South Africa-based MTN’s network switched off, it’s none other than the (much-maligned) country of an ECOWAS giant Nigeria, and its GLOBACOM that has been granted a ten-year licence to operate in the small ECOWAS country of Benin.

What, for me, is significant about this development is that despite the regionalization of power politics world-wide--as exemplified by multinational-extraordinaire Chevron’s involvement with the West African Gas Pipeline--serious tectonic shifts might just be in the offing in the ECOWAS sub-region as a result of this David-versus-Goliath fight.

The CITI Just Gets Better…
I think CITI 97.3FM has gotten smart by capitalizing on the rather heavy traffic times of 5-7.30pm by introducing a few new programmes on the 7pm slot.



On Mondays, you get a new programme, hosted by veteran Observer columnist Francis Ankrah, which is used for a one-hour interview of statesmen, diplomats, public officials on issues of national development. I had the opportunity of listening to the very first edition some three weeks ago. It was rivetting stuff about the drugs trade. The interviewee was one Gary Nicholls, the Public Relations person at the British High Commission.

On Tuesdays, we get a repeat of a “A Question of Law’, which broadcasts originally on Saturdays for two hours. Thursday, we get a programme called “Sister, Sister: What’s on a Woman’s Mind”, which is a rather thought-provoking one-hour discussion programme seeking to dish out, re-heat and revisit age-old discussions of relationships, and the central role that women play in them.

So, latest news in town is that The Black Starlets beat Brazil 1-0! Despite a good SIX minutes added on as extra time by the Polish referee, the youthful Ghanaian team got one over them, possibly signaling a comeback after many years in the wilderness of bad football…

Have a good weekend!

EXCLUSIVE!-->Interview with the Host of the BBC-Award-Winning Citi FM Breakfast Show

Bernard Avle(left) He cuts a contemplative and tall figure. Be-spectacled with some degree of seriousness etched on his face, you could be forgiven for thinking that the dynamic Bernard Avle, host of the CITI Breakfast Show is only recently a busy man. But he's not. He's been busy ever since he became the host of the young and private Accra-based radio station in late 2004.

Recently from Nairobi, Kenya, where he accompanied the station's managing-director Samuel Attah-Mensah to receive an award for the "Best Interactive TalkShow of the Year", I took the opportunity to ask him over to my workplace, whilst he was in the East Legon neighborhood for another interactive Friday show.

I ended up agreeing on a time to set up an "online" interview with him. These are the results.

---

Congratulations on your station winning the first-ever BBC Radio Award for "Best Interactive Show in Africa". How does it feel?

Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be on Global Voices Online. It does feel good to have been acknowledged by the BBC as having the Talk/Interactive Show of the year

Tell me about the BBC Radio Awards

The Africa Radio Awards were instituted by the BBC to celebrate excellence in African Radio, according to the organisers, Radio is a powerful medium for reaching Africans with over 700 million listeners across the continent.
The awards were held in two phases-the 1st being the regional finals for East, South & West Africa. There were 7 categories in all; Radio Station of the Year, New Radio Station of the Year, News Journalist of the Year, Sports Journalist of the Year, Local On-Air campaign of the year, Talk/Interactive Show of the year and Young Journalist of the year.Citi FM got into the finals after being selected as regional winners in the categories of New Radio Station of the Year, and Talk/Interactive show of the year.

Tell me about the entry you sent

For the category which my program won, we were expected to send excerpts of our program totalling not more than 30 minutes, to the BBC. As you would know, my program airs 3& 1/2 hours every weekday, thus it was quite a challenge putting the best of my work into 30 minutes.I sent a mix of programs, including the outdoor broadcasts we held at Gbawe and Oblogo, as well as the heated social discussions we held on "Sex for Jobs"; “Irresponsible Fatherhood”, and “Condoms for Students”. I also sent in excerpts of the program I did on the Legacy of Dr Kwame Nkrumah , on the 97th Anniversary of his birth, plus a few others.

What do you think was the defining element for BBC's choice of CITI?

To answer that i'll just paste verbatim, what the judges said about my entry."Interactive/ Talk Show of the Year: The Citi Breakfast Show hosted by Bernard Avle, Citi FM, Ghana

This show successfully mixes studio guests, outside broadcasts, phone-ins and text messages to ensure it is tapping into the stories the local community want to hear. Bernard Avle has a questioning, out-going personality which gets to the heart of issues in a fun and informative way. He often takes his listeners' complaints direct to those responsible and nothing is taboo with everything from free condoms and sexual harassment to Kwame Nkrumah's legacy coming under scrutiny.


I've heard you on radio many times. You sound rather combative in your interviewing techniques. Or so your critiques say. What's with that style?

Combative might be a strong word, assertive is probably more accurate. I ask simple questions when I have to elicit information for listeners, but I sometime ask pointed questions in a bid to clarify a point or even play the devil’s advocate when necessary to ensure that all sides of an issue are articulated.

Ghanaians appear to be turned off by aggressive and combative interviewing, whilst at the same time being very vocal about criticizing their policy-makers. In your view, why is there such a disparity?

Ghanaians value respect for authority but also appreciate probing questions from an assertive interviewer who does so in a courteous way. A few listeners complain sometimes about my style, but generally, there is no disparity there; one does not have to be rudely aggressive or "combative"- a word I still disagree with - to be robust and thorough in an interview. The essential point is to ask well-grounded, relevant questions.

Interactivity is fine; topics are another. The CITI Breakfast Show has covered international topics, such as Zimbabwe, but doesn't cover that many ECOWAS or other-Africa related issues. Is this because there is no appetite for this? If not, why not?

The BBC was pleased by the broad mix of subjects discussed on the Citi Breakfast Show. Although our audience is of an international nature, pre-eminence is sometimes given to local issues because local listeners predominate.I do not agree that we do not cover Ecowas issues. My show did a live outdoor broadcast from the Budumburam camp of Liberian Refugees, during their 2005 elections. We also did many shows on the Nigerian elections. Anyhow, as we grow our audiences we would definitely put in more hours for the sub-region.

As Ghana becomes the hub, or gateway, for West Africa, what challenges do you foresee will emerge for broadcast journalists?

If your question is in reference to the Ghanaian Journalist, I think the challenge of objectivity will always be there. Ghanaian journalists will need to move away from what has become partisan and parochial agenda setting to objective coverage of the country, to give the international community a more accurate picture of the situation in Ghana.

What do you think is the future for radio broadcasting in Ghana?

Huge potential, Radio is the most powerful means of reaching both urban and rural Ghanaians. Over 70% of All Ghanaian own a radio set* as compared with less than 50% for TV. The Ghanaian is hungry for information and presently radio provides that in good, credible measure, largely because people see radio as the first port of call to channel grievances.

In the West, citizen journalism and blogging is big vis-à-vis the media, with many debates raging on the threat-- or lack thereof-of how Media is changing the face of journalism. Last August, the BBC reported that 61% of Nigerians had accessed the BBC website via their mobile phones ( **). Where do you see Ghanaian journalists going with New Media?

Its obviously a big opportunity which I do not think Ghanaian electronic media owners have fully opened up to. It has more to do with where media owners want to invest in. Having said that, the Ghanaian journalist has a big opportunity to take advantage of these technologies to learn from across the globe.

* Ghana Statistical Service; Pattern & Trends in Poverty(Ghana Living Standards Survey v;2007)

Coming in June to this Blog: The Westernisation of Accra

To conceive of any kind of Westernisation of Accra is initially problematic, because it pre-supposes any Westernisation is negative.

That said, I find it difficult to avoid it, for the print and electronic media, along with my personal experiences can only confirm a perception that the westernisation is here in Accra--in grand style--and is here to stay.

Last Thursday's opening of the South African retail giant, GAME in my view has gone to cement any perception that the Westernisation--as exemplified by the individualise and consumer culture--is well and truly here.

Over the next few weeks, I shall be looking at the definition of westernisation in Ghana; including how technology; banking; life-style; and our values are changing--or not--as a result of this putative, or so-called, westernisation that I claim to see in my three years of being back home in what Bernard Avle of CITI-FM , receiving an award for the station (adjudged the best interactive show in Africa), in Kenya over the weekend for the BBC Radio Awards, called "the best country in the world"--Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana.

This is What Young Ghanaian Journalists Should Aspire to!

With less than a week before the Jubilee celebrations, the country is undergoing reflection—whether serious or not is a very moot point!—on the state of a number of things. The state of Ghanaian media is no exception. Now, let’s be – yet again – clear: I am no journalist; a few courses here and there have helped me appreciate the practice, but I don’t have a journalism degree to my name. What I do have are a few journalist friends/acquaintqnces who remind me that the proactiveness of the young journalists in this country is a great deal better than one would have expected.

Let’s take the case of the Stanbic Bank/ADB issue. The Sunday after I wrote that article, I contacted a journalist from the Business and Financial Times. I gave him what he has considered a "scoop" on the ADB/Stanbic story, which I am quite chuffed about. More importantly, though, was his tenacity, his questioning, his seeking of clarifications for the story, which turned out to be a front-page story like this:



This, within two days!!

I was more than impressed. As I was equally impressed to have heard that Bernard Avle, broadcast Journalist-cum-Economist of the private radio station, CITI FM 97.3, had had his show win the award for "NEW RADIO STATION of the year" and "TALK/INTERACTIVE SHOW of the year", for no less than BBC's Africa Radio Awards for West Africa!

I have spoken and interacted with Avle a number of times, and can say that he thoroughly deserves it! Full of humility on the evening of the win, in his response to the flagship CITI Eyewitness News, he praised the producers (Soloman Alhaji—sp?), among others of the show, and the number of unsung heroes who make the show possible. He told me he did a google search of his name—only to find his name featured in a number of entries yours truly had made about him!;-) It is good to know that it is something he appreciated.

Whatever the case may be, my view is that this is how the budding journalists in the country should be behaving...fifty years on!