Media Development Fund: NMC’s George Sarpong pushes for media coverage tracking to guide funding decisions

The Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission (NMC), George Sarpong, wants media funding decisions tied to evidence of what newsrooms actually cover.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, he called for reviving a monitoring system to track coverage and guide grants under the Media Development Fund.

“In the past, at the National Media Commission, we developed a measure that we called the CMI (Credibility Measurement Index).”

The system tracked which media organisations covered issues such as children’s welfare, agriculture and health. Sarpong wants to use that evidence to determine which outlets receive support.

His proposal follows President John Mahama’s announcement of GH¢10 million in seed funding for the Media Development Fund. The initiative is intended to support the development of Ghana’s media industry.

For Sarpong, a newsroom’s record should help establish its commitment to the area for which it seeks funding.

He cited maternal health as an example. An outlet seeking support to improve its reporting should have a track record that fund managers can assess. That would help establish whether a grant could strengthen work already underway.

He said accountability must also extend to the organisations receiving the money.

“If we are going to give a grant to any media organisation, that media organisation itself must have systems that support accountability.”

He also called for clear rules on how support is awarded.

“That governance architecture that we create must also in turn develop very transparent mechanisms for grants or awards.”

Sarpong argued that the profession already has qualified and credible people capable of overseeing the fund.

But he cautioned against building a large administrative structure around it.

“We need to decide whether we want to create a bureaucracy around this fund. That won't be my best suggestion.”

Instead, he proposed a small committee accountable to the profession through its stakeholders.

Its members should understand fund management, the media industry and its changing needs. They should also know what support would help improve journalism.

He added that the committee should include people capable of attracting further contributions.

“Plus, people who also have a fundraising capacity to be able to mobilise more funds into the media development fund.”