REPORT ON AFRP "RADIO BROADCASTING IN THE

UNCLAS ACCRA 000637

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO SCUL OIIP OEXC PGOV GH
SUBJECT: REPORT ON AFRP "RADIO BROADCASTING IN THE
U.S."



1. Summary. Two Ghanaian radio broadcasters were
among the participants in an AFRP on "Radio
Broadcasting in the U.S." from January 31-February
18, 2005. Both had rave reviews for the program and
said the experience broadened everyone's
perspective. One of the journalists was particularly
impressed by a visit to the Navajo nation but
surprised by the poverty in such a rich country as
the United States. End Summary.


2. Ransford Anertey Abbey, Director of Operations
for Choice FM, said he learned more about other
African countries from listening to his colleagues
in the AFRP, such as in the case of Sudan. The
Sudanese representative complained that journalists
in the Christian south of the country are
discriminated against and some are unable to
practice their profession because the Muslim-led
government in the north demands that all journalists
are fluent in Arabic as well as English.


3. In Washington, D.C., the group attended a
briefing at the State Department, visited Voice of
America and talked to some of the African
broadcasters there, and met with representatives of
federal government and non-governmental
organizations.





Mr. Abbey said the Washington part of the trip was
especially useful because it gave the group an
overview of how U.S. federal, state and local laws
are drafted and implemented.


4. He said he was surprised by his visit to the
Navajo nation, a territory ruled by tribal laws and
where the houses had no doors, no electricity and no
running water, characteristics that reminded him
very much of a typical African village. He said he
never expected to find such poverty in the United
States. Unlike Africa, however, he said that once he
entered the mud building housing the Navajo ruling
council, he said he was stunned to see everyone was
working on a laptop computer. He made friends with
the President of the Navajo Nation, who told him he
might visit Ghana in the near future.


5. Mr. Abbey was the only journalist in the group
to be interviewed by NPR's "All Things Considered,"
which was initially scheduled to be a seven-minute
interview on press freedom, but which turned into a
40-minute discussion of various topics. In the
interview, Mr. Abbey said he supports the idea of
public radio in Ghana because people need to be well-
informed but that in remote areas of the country
residents have no choice but to listen to state-run
radio. He praised public radio for being
independent and responsible to its listeners, and
not to a station owner or government entity. He
said the Minnesota public radio staff later told him
they plan to use his clips in their fund-raising
campaigns.


6. He would like to see the IVLP program extended to
six weeks but added that even in the three-week
program there were some appointments that could have
been eliminated. He said one tour instead of
several visits to NPR stations would have been
enough. He also criticized several professors in
Miami for not being very knowledgeable about Africa,
and said the discussion with them could have been
dropped.






7. The other Ghanaian participating in the AFRP was
Seidu Ibrahim Bomanjo, a Producer for Upper East
Radio for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation in Wa.
This was Mr. Bomanjo's first time in the United
States, and he said he was overwhelmed by the level
of development in the country. He was also
surprised by the public's participation in community
radio, that he witnessed during the visit to the NPR
affiliate in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He also
mentioned how astounded he was by the sophisticated
technology being used by U.S. journalists and
broadcasting outlets.

YATES