‘Akan speaking’ broadcasters must not joke with the News - Veteran broadcaster

Veteran broadcaster, Mike Eghan, has lambasted some Akan-speaking broadcasters for trivialising the news.

According to him, “what I dislike about news in Twi is that, the broadcasters don’t go straight to the point. They skirt around the issue with proverbs and not everyone understands the proverbs.”

He stated that news is a very serious business in radio and television and must not be trivialised in any way.

He further advised news broadcasters to stick to speaking the local parlance, Twi, and refrain from mixing it with the English Language.

He explained that speaking in the local dialect gives opportunity to listeners to learn especially, children at home.

He was sad that some children speak only the English Language even at home with no knowledge of their local dialects.

The former Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and BBC presenter, also emphasised the need for broadcasters to enunciate properly when on air.

“When speaking, the T’s, the S’s and the P’s must come distinctly. Radio is for the ear and you cannot go back and read,” he reiterated.

He explained that broadcasters should be able to modulate their voices and take their time to read to the hearing of the listeners.

Speaking about his experience in broadcast, he revealed that he was the first person to introduce ‘phone – in sessions’ in Ghana.

According to him, he worked at GBC for four years (1961 to 1965) before leaving for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to work for another 4 years.