By Napoleon Ato Kittoe.
Established under an act by the British colonial government in 1935, the Gold Coast first operated a Broadcasting outlet called radio ZOY. This was the code name of a relay station the BBC operated. It was in the time of Governor General Sir Arnold Weinholt Hodson. It later became the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation after Dr Kwame Nkrumah changed the name Gold Coast to Ghana, upon political independence in 1957.
It would be the first media outlet in Ghana to hit the centennial. It is the Primus inter Pares on its landscape within the nation state. First as the colonial government’s mouthpiece, and continued to play similar role in the newly independent state. A rallying point for divergent opinions towards a single national purpose in totalitarian regimes in the immediate post colonial era. The other phase of the organization being a reflection of what the law seeks to achieve or it is required of it under constitutional rule. Having chart waters before others joined in, GBC had monopoly over audiovisual reference material. The corporation remains a vital turf for historical surveyors despite the fire that swept through its audiovisual library in 1989. Till this day, no other compares with this niche which is even solidified or enhanced by provision of tuition and practical training for up and coming professionals.
Back in 1965, Dr Kwame Nkrumah inaugurated the television division for black and white screens. Both radio and television became main components of GBC’s electronic outlets for information dissemination.
Juggled up together, all of its manifestations along the line had become its nature, the cardinal ones being outlet for education, information and entertainment. In the 21st century, it is gatecrashed by what is now known as the new media which are major features of the communication revolution taking place around the globe.
The official website of GBC is gbcghanaonline and it is gathering momentum on almost all the social Media handles.
The liberal society which has given vent to numerous other performers on same stage, whittled away monopoly in favour of pluralistic competition. This has been the journey path of GBC. It now finds itself in new environment dominated by private sector players and the competition with the state broadcaster for the market share has not been keener. GBC’s domain is
Public Service Broadcasting where it is encumbered by the law and gemane responsibilities to society.
In 1996, the Supreme Court settled a key debate in Ghana when its ruling committed the state broadcaster to the equal opportunities doctrine in broadcasting. Thus, the corporation is obliged to be fair and grant equal publicity to all political parties in Ghana. It expanded with time to meet ever increasing expectations occasioned by growth in human population. As a result, the station now operates seven television channels and thirty three radio frequencies which broadcast in twenty five languages.
GBC is bound by the terms of its establishment.
As public service broadcaster minded by national values and international standards, GBC
Is a bit conservative in its approach but not restrained from generating creative content. The mandate of GBC requires that it provides services for all segments of the multicultural society, with the cardinal roles being timely information, education and entertainment. It quickly set up the GTV Learning channel to broadcast to school pupils and students forced to stay home as the academic calendar was suspended at onset of the novel Coronavirus pandemic from March 2020. New cards on the table are the plans to establish radio stations in the six newly created regions in Ghana.
GBC faces the trickiest of opportunity costs when the it cedes pure business to provide free service. These cannot be undertaken without manpower and logistics and here GBC doffs hats for the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, JICA, via which state of the art equipment were donated to bring some of the Corporation’s studios alive. GBC is faced with operational challenges, bottomline is funding. Semantics directed at the strong headwinds may be different, yet the thrusts are same if the issues are aggregated.
How to get around nagging issues such as payment of long service award to staff, servicing judgement debts and redeeming huge electricity bills, throws up the multi million dollar question. With payment of TV Licences hitting the snag due to a misunderstanding of GBC’s distinct role and public responsibility towards the corporation, the Director General of GBC suggests what he considers to be the best formula for turning things around. GBC says it would continue to champion national ideals. It would do what is right for the Ghanaian people, the corporation affirms.
GBC says it has the knowhow. It needs adequate funding to be able to fulfill its mandate and obligations to the letter. Fallout from electricity disconnections by the electricity company, is the exclusion of affected communities from national information mainstream, the void often filled by foreign media outlets whose services might readily be available. This is exactly the case, not when local private stations are not bound by law or may be reluctant to invest in parts of the country which could prove unprofitable.
When GBC is gone, the fall back for indigenes living in the margins of the country are foreign media, social media and few traditional media outlets. In the near information black out, foreign indoctrination takes over under some of the most accidental of circumstances. A huge gamble with identities of some citizens. Where would their sense of belongingness or loyalty be, should they be swallowed by acculturation to one side. Six newly created regions also deserve the presence of GBC. The Finance division makes a positive forecast on fortunes of GBC, should the corporation be left off the hook, regarding the financial albatross around its neck.
One of the channels run by GBC, the GTV sportsplus has galloped away from the rest of the field yet its ability to sustain the tempo, depends on money. Despite the paddle of the canoe in uncertainties and sometimes turbulence, many including the President of the Republic recognise the invaluable services of GBC, and the Head of State seized historic moments as the first indoor celebration of the Muslim Ramadan in Ghana in the wake of the pandemic and workers day on Mayday to underscore the role of public service broadcasting in national life. Main revenue streams of GBC are government subventions and internally generated funds, IGF. Whilst still performing to the best of its ability, the corporation doesn’t take its eye off the uncanny sixth sense factor, that is to say, let all Ghanaians take an interest in Ghana Broadcasting Corporation because it belongs to them, let all hands be on deck so the corporation wriggles out of teething challenges. There are no shortage of ideas to confront issues at stake. That quest would be adjudged to have attained success if radio and television programming improves, the staff are happier and the corporation is alive to corporate social responsibilities. Funding and good content are mutually reinforcing, they are not mutually exclusive.
