It is often not common to find Ghanaians agreeing on one thing. It used to be the Black Stars who brought a mutual feeling of happiness, pride and contentment to Ghanaians. However, since 2014 and the regrettable scenes the mention of Brazil brings, football has failed to educe that sense of mutual joy and satisfaction.
It is not actually a good place to be as a country where we have become cynical and suspicious of ourselves and almost everything, chiefly because of political partisanship.
People are now party people first before Ghanaians. The questions these days are; will our party benefit? or is he a member of our party? And not, will Ghana benefit? Or is he a Ghanaian or is it in the interest of Ghana?
This situation has led to what we see around these days; a lot of square pegs in round holes. Because it is party first, Ghana can wait. Many people are carrying titles and awards they do not deserve.
Just so I do not digress, the outpouring of goodwill on social media, in small discussions groups, among media industry watchers and the general public in respect of Bernard Avle winning the GJA Journalist of the Year award at this weekend’s award ceremony, taught me five lessons.
- Ghanaians like quality. The events of the last weekend have shown that Ghanaians know and appreciate good things. This is contrary to the popular opinion that Ghanaians do not really care about quality and so will take anything thrown at them. As someone who has known and worked with Bernard quite closely, his quality is not even a discussion. His passion and mindset about Ghana are his propellers. His fidelity to the public interest and the quest to make a difference fuel him. He has a deep appreciation of issues and tackles matters in a highbrow fashion. Just when I was wondering where the GJA has been year-after-year, the Association this time did what’s right in almost everybody’s estimation.
I am not a fan of awards and the flamboyance that accompanies them, especially as I am aware of how some of the awardees are picked and negotiations that often go on behind the scenes (not reference to GJA) to satisfy certain interests. But when the award goes to the deserving person, one is content. I have watched many award ceremonies where the public felt so cheated and insulted, however, Bernard Avle’s appears to be an exception. No follower of current affairs radio in Ghana today will not have heard and had admiration for this young man.
Even the fiercest critics of standards in journalism will tell you Bernard offers them hope and is of a different breed.
If regulators, professional associations, civil society groups, religious bodies and other institutions recognize and reward hardwork, dedication and quality, our country will be much better. If politicians will in the pursuit of the State agenda recognize and only appoint people with quality and commitment to the national cause, we would have made bigger strides.
If the populace in their election of political office holders will make all other considerations secondary to quality and dedication, we would have made bigger progress. If in undertaking procurements, we refuse to be influenced by who will give us the biggest kick-back, and award the contract to the most competent to deliver our objectives, then, we would have been ready to walk the talk about seeing Ghana develop.
Ghanaians like quality, so when you give them something of value, they appreciate it. The contentment following Bernard’s award gives credence to this. The President of the Republic’s tweet in response to the award that Bernard “thoroughly well-deserved” it, captures the moment. Let us begin to raise the bar especially when it comes to doing things where the public has interest.
- GJA’s praise following award. The award has restored some credibility to the Ghana Journalists’ Association which in recent times was in the news for not so good reasons. The Association was accused of not seeking the interest of its members when some journalists faced-off with the police recently. They have also been chided for not pushing for better conditions of service for their members (though the GJA is not a labour union). We have also heard allegations that names of awardees were changed at last minutes or so. All these whether true or not, played a role in shaping public opinion about the Association.
Bernard’s recognition, has been seen by many as long overdue and the GJA seeing the right person for the award now only tells the public the Association could also get it right. Though it does not fully purge the Association of all the deleterious perceptions, it has made people want to cut them some slack. It restores a certain smidgeon of confidence and offers the GJA a fresh start in the minds of many because, after all, they can get something right. Never has a GJA ultimate award in recent times had this overwhelming endorsement!
- Preparation. Bernard does not do anything without preparation. He is not a quick fix guy. He thoroughly prepares for everything he does. He prepares for his interviews. He respects his listeners to know they do not deserve anything less than the best. He will not do a namby-pamby job. He plans, researches and deeply thinks through every interview. That is why I worry for guests who appear on his programs with the ‘business as usual’ mentality.
Before most of his interviews, he would speak to various relevant industry people, to have a better understanding of the subject matter. He would have read about best practices elsewhere and then sit to think about how to address the questions to elicit the answers the public wants from his guests. This is why after his interviews as a listener, you almost always have no further questions. Whether the issues raised are satisfactorily answered by guests, is another matter.
Bernard Avle caught here preparing for an interview with Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta
Many of our youth lack thoroughness. Many do not have depth and rigour. But to succeed, we must prepare for it. It is not enough to have dreams and wishes. The time for preparation is important. It is not the most exciting thing to do, but it is vital for excellence. Preparation is hard work and hard work pays.
- Consistency. Bernard has been at one job for a long time. He is entering his 18th year in the industry after starting as a teenage undergraduate volunteer presenter at Radio Univers at the Universityof Ghana. He knows how not to be stale. If there is anything most people have observed about him on radio, it is his consistency in demanding answers from people who manage our purse and those entrusted with power.
His consistency together with the concomitant excellence reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s 1000-hour rule, which in summary states that a person develops expertise in an area when he spends about 1000 hours consistently on a task. Consistency breeds excellence.
His independent-mindedness on issues and non-alignment to certain interests have earned him respect and endeared him to many. When he takes on a cause, he deals with it till he gets a result. The galamsey fight, abandoned projects campaign and now the bad roads crusade are a few of his pet projects. Because he has conviction on the issues he picks, the campaigns often get contagious. Officialdom then has to respond! This is how the government responded to the illegal mining menace. This is how government had to work to open the University of Ghana Medical Centre! This is how radio or journalism must be. The fourth estate of the realm must have meaning. Consistency gets results!
- Respect and professionalism. No matter how tough the questions he puts to you are, you will leave the interview admiring his respect for you as a guest. You will also respect him for his professionalism and sacred commitment to his audience. The way he manages to shoot tough questions and keep his guests on their toes and yet treats them with utmost respect is so admirable. The point is, you don’t have to be rude to be seen as hard, or a good journalist.
As we celebrate with Bernard Avle for winning the Journalist of the Year award, we must not forget the one who took the risk to put a young national service person on prime time morning radio. He is Samuel Atta Mensah, an avatar of radio programming. His understanding of radio or media is unparalleled. And his never-seen-before eye for young talents deserves notice.
When we do the right things, the country will be happy! Thank you GJA for giving Ghanaians something to be proud of!
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Author: @SelormAdonoo
