Host of Good Evening Ghana, Paul Adom-Otchere, has described the widely held expectation that journalists must remain strictly neutral as misguided, and a “scam.”
He made the remarks on The Upside Down Show on Channel One TV on Sunday, May 17, 2026, arguing that journalists, by the nature of their profession, are deeply involved in political discourse and are therefore likely to develop views on the issues and personalities they report on.
According to him, journalists often gain deeper insight into national affairs and political actors due to their constant engagement with politicians and public institutions.
“Why should journalists be neutral? A journalist is like anyone else, and a journalist is covering the story every day. It is more likely that he will take sides because he’s engaging with politicians. He sees this politician is good, this politician is bad. He can tell more than the general public. So why mustn’t he take sides?” he said.
He maintained that the expectation of strict neutrality in journalism is unrealistic.
“That situation is a scam, actually,” he added.
Adom-Otchere also drew on Ghana’s independence struggle to support his argument, saying partisan journalism played a key role in the country’s liberation from colonial rule.
He referenced nationalist figures such as J. B. Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah, noting that both used newspapers as platforms to advance the independence cause.
“If the editor of the Statesman, J.B. Danquah, and the editor of the Evening News, Kwame Nkrumah, were neutral, we would never have gotten independence,” he stated.
He explained that both figures deliberately used journalism to challenge colonial rule and mobilise public support for self-governance.
