The Editor-In-Chief of online news portal, Whatsup News, David Tamakloe, says the quality of news published and broadcasted by the mainstream media has contributed to “what we call the siege now.”
According to him, the claim that proliferation of the media has caused a drop in the quality of news produced is not entirely true. “I see it differently. From when we had a few newspapers to a handful of radio stations, it was difficult to get news but the quality was there. But I think the quality of news put in by the mainstream media contributes to what we call the siege now.”
He noted that the new media has also made it difficult to differentiate between jokes and news, “I think the quality of news now is what is putting journalism under siege and not surveillance.”
However, the journalist argues some new media news portals are doing better than the mainstream media.
“The reader now knows what news is and audit the news. They can tell the principles of journalism and want to read what they believe and tick all the boxes, and I think that’s making the difference now,” he told Samuel Eshun on a Special Discussion to celebrate World Press Freedom Day dubbed, “Is Journalism Under Surveillance?” on e.tv Ghana
Reiterating the fact that the mainstream media is under siege, David Tamakloe pointed out that they (mainstream media) is now uninterested in discussing issues of public interest. “A lot of people produce content addressing issues of public interest and this can be seen predominantly with the new media. So if the mainstream media is not discussing such issues, it may be under siege and that’s coming from the new media. If the questions are asked by the new media then we will go there.”
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