Editor of the Daily Post newspaper, Mike Dokosi, is accusing Accra-based commercial radio station, Joy FM, of being a mouthpiece of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
His claim is premised on the fact that the station bent the rules of the house by allowing Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, Executive Director of Danquah Institute to waltz back into their studios without rendering an apology to the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Omane Boamah, after describing him as �stupid�.
Saturday, September 24th edition of Joy FM�s news analysis programme, Newsfile, turned dramatic when the Executive Director of Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko lost his cool referring to a co-panelist�s remarks as smacking of �stupidity�. The civil discussion on the celebration of the country's Founder�s Day led to the shocking outburst after Dr Omane Boamah described Dr. J.B. Danquah, a founding father of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a �CIA agent�.
As per the rules of the programme, anyone who makes such comments would have to apologise or walk off the programme, Gabby decided not to apologise and chose to walk out of the studio. He later returned to apologise to listeners and viewers instead of the Deputy Minister.
Speaking to the issue in an interview with Alhassan Suhuyini on Radio Gold, the Daily Post newspaper Editor accused Joy FM of being anti-NDC, stressing that the rules should have been followed to the letter.
�Joy FM is playing PR (Public Relations) for the NPP� If they were true to their words they would not have allowed Gabby back on set... They simply are doing PR for the NPP�they also put a story on their website against the NDC when complaints started coming they took the story off and have decided not to put Daily Post stories on their website�They later said Gabby apologized to Omane Boamah and that is not true he apologized to the viewers and listeners but not Omane Boamah�� Dokosi asserted.
But in a sharp rebuttal, host of Newsfile on JoyFM, Samson Ladi Ayenini dismissed the assertion that Multimedia and for that matter Joy FM favours the NPP, adding that the station always try to be objective as possible in all their analysis of issues.
Recounting what transpired on set on Saturday and the role he played in the matter, Samson Ayenini said: �I felt that it was incumbent on my part as the host to insist that there was a need for an apology not only to the listeners but to Dr. Omane Boamah. Even if the rules were not there, personally, I would have insisted...for an apology. So I don�t really get the point here.�
�If you have the opportunity to listen to the tape you will realize that I came back to the issue when Gabby returned�Gabby went into a discussion with the production team and said he was willing to apologise and so he was brought back on set. But he does not do it the manner we understood; extending apology to Dr. Omane Boamah... You cannot keep the programme stalling�.so for fairness sake I felt that it was okay for him to be maintained on the show. I think it is not good and it is not a fair comment for him (Dokosi) to say that we have an agenda with the NPP and that management has taken a decision that we are against the government. That cannot happen and it will not happen,� the host of Newsfile said.
Source: Rebecca Quaye/Peacefmonline.com
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