Ghanaian Media And Its Role On Sports Development

Kabral Blay-Amihere,
Chairman of the National Media Commission of Ghana

Just like the roles played by various governments to the development of sports in the country, the media can never be left be let out. Both private and public media have contributed immensely towards this area. Sports in the Ghana, especially football, would not have reached this far if we were to have a dormant media in the country. Thus, they need to be commended.

The role of the media on sports is very critical to every country that is seriously about developing sports. The media play such roles by sensitising government, corporate institutions and individuals on the core values  and objectives on sports and the immense importance the nation stands to gain if greater emphasis is placed on developing sports.

The media have again played such roles by educating the listening public on many issues concerning sports in the country. Without them, there will be many events we would not have come to know. Through the media, the audience gets to be abreast with the latest information on sports and many areas on all aspects of human endeavours.

Some Newspapers in Ghana

In the area of football in the country, majority of the media send their sports correspondents to report on the Ghana premier league. Not only in domestic football they are active in, but some of them travel with either the national teams or clubs whenever they engage in continental or inter-continental matches.

However, it seems like the same trend of attention paid to football by administrators is also trending by the Ghanaian media. The media is always seen hyping football matches whiles less attention is given to other sporting disciplines. Even though some media houses also travel outside the country to report when for instance, a Ghanaian boxer engages in a match, majority of them like watching it on television and report to listeners. Such a practice is not helpful to developing Ghana sports as they complain their outfits are financially handicapped to cover the so called lesser known sports.

One area the media must take note of is the fear and panic they put across prior to the start of important football matches. Whiles the players are clam and concentrating on the match ahead, some soccer analysts put unnecessary panic comments which has the potentials of changing the motives of the players. Even though some of such comments may be good, as many “star” players of the opposing team are exposed, the manner they do it is absolutely needless.

The agenda setting of the media must be well structured in drafting media contents for the audience. For instance, some media soccer analysts needlessly criticize coaches for naming certain players and question why some players were not named in the squad. The media can perform such role by criticizing constructively as such a line of criticism will enable the coach to know some of his short falls.

 

A section of GH Media Practitioners

The media must also do away with sensationalism and passion in the discharge of their duties. It is unprofessional for a football commentator to sound disappointed or wail on air if his team is defeated. This profession communicates to diverse groups of audience and it is appropriate to behave professionally on air.

For the development of Ghana sports to a height we will be proud of, it does not lie in the hands of the government or corporate organizations alone. The media also have critical roles to play in realizing the “sports dream” comes to fruition. Even though they are doing well, but their effort need to spread across board which will also benefits many of other sporting events being engaged in the country.