Some people have raised concerns over what they describe as the taking over of the state broadcaster’s role by Woezor TV, a television channel owned by the Deputy Chief of Staff in Charge of Operations at the Office of the President, Stan Xoese Dogbe.
Stan Dogbe has, in a Facebook post, explained that no station house reporting from the presidency, including the state-owned GTV, has been stopped from taking live feed from the Office of the President. If that is the case, I see no problem if Woezor TV, like GTV, TV3 or JoyNews, has access to live feed and decides to stream live instead of making news out of events at the presidency. Here’s the comment I wrote under that post:
“If GTV, JoyNews and others have unfettered access just like Woezor TV, then there’s nothing to worry about. If they choose to record and play national events or events at the presidency, and Woezor decides to stream live, there’s no problem. It would be worrisome if others are denied access to live broadcasts of presidential events and Woezor is given access because of its owner’s influence. From what I know, programming, advertising and other commercial interests would not allow many TV stations to carry events live even if they have access. If Woezor has the space to do that, I see nothing wrong with it. A problem would only arise if access is rigged in favour of Woezor TV.”
In another post on the subject, however, Julius Ofori Boadu PHd drew attention to the president’s social media handles, which also broadcast with Woezor TV’s logo. For me, that’s where we should ask questions.
In the past, I don’t remember the social media handles streaming with TV stations’ logos on the videos. Video’s from the presidency used to have the logo of the Jubilee House on them. I don’t know the policy governing live broadcasts on the official social media pages or YouTube channels of the presidency, but this is what I think should happen.
The Office of the President has a communication bureau with staffers. They should stream their own events and meetings from the presidency. If it is a national event, such as Independence Day or an inauguration, and they don’t have the resources or capacity to undertake the complex production, the presidency’s social media handles should stream from the official live feed for the state function. In this case, the state-owned GTV has been providing those services.
Woezor TV, like any other media house, should be free to stream the occasions live on its station.
We cannot pretend that a TV station with its logo on the president’s official channels doesn’t enjoy undue advantage over the rest. The Office of the President should also not be seen to be endorsing a particular platform and giving it undue advantage over others.
And the Deputy Chief of Staff could put himself in a conflict of interest situation if his private TV station is the one being “advertised” on the president’s social media and YouTube handles. His position means he can influence who provides official live feeds for presidential and national events.
For Stan Dogbe, it is in his interest to avoid such controversies. In Mahama’s first term, some staff of the Information Service Department held a press conference and accused him of taking their job, following the 2016 Independence Day brochure saga. He has a mandate to fulfill and should not allow such controversies to overshadow his role.
Even Stan Dogbe’s “enemies” would confess that he’s one of the most hard working person’s around President Mahama. He should not allow his hard work to be marred by avoidable controversies.
