By Nana Ama Gyapong
Sir Sam Jonah, the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, an Equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa, has stated that the media space is now a dangerous place due to the accessible way of getting information as compared to the past when there were only a few accredited Media Houses that had access to exclusive content.
He made this assertion on GTV’s BBUM show.
The media is the Fourth Estate, or fourth power in the country, both in explicit capacity of advocacy and implicit ability to frame political issues. Hence, only the truth must be reported without fear or intimidation.
According to Sir Sam Jonah, “the media space has now become toxic now because reporters can say and write all sort of things about people to tarnish their image, level of accountability is not there, reputations can be destroyed with a drop of a hand due to the alternative access to media.”
He added, “these have come with challenges because they come uncontrolled or unregulated but it is an evolution, we will get to a stage where people will start imposing discipline on themselves without anyone stopping them and they will come to appreciate that there’s more to be constructive than to be destructive.”
Sir Sam Jonah has always believed that every working space should not have a communication gap because whenever there is, people fill it with trash, hence he channeled his thoughts to the media space to minimize the culture of silence on Journalists.
