79th Anniversary Of GBC

NEWS COMMENTARY IS ON GBC @ 79, AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Praise may or can indeed be held back legitimately, but it would be
very unkind not to speak a well done to GBC at 79 today. 

The journey had been long and remains tortuous for this public broadcaster to return to the top in the country's electronic media. Extending that ambition to throughout English-speaking West Africa would for now be forlorn if not preposterous though it was so for years from 1935 when GBC was born through independence until recent decades, less than four in terms of precision. 

The problems of GBC are common knowledge and foreclose detailing now. However, once the main pillars appear to have persisted would seem to justify going over for sign-post mentions only. They are seeming enduring unstable and lack of confidence-inspiring leadership, a continuum of appointments defaults, together with the problem of gobbling a semblance of a finite definition because it cannot be otherwise where that fixed identikit would block or impede refinements when required futurely, what this
country's public broadcaster shall be.  

The point is, both emanate from a succinct  national policy backed by law, yet to pass for all these years regrettably. These needless to say, but should, have apparently put strangleholds on what could be done within what ought be done to achieve satisfying public expectations which are developing an ominous sense of give up on GBC. 

It boils down to a simple choice
between whether this country and that is the state wants a public
broadcast institution or not. The answer from successive governments
since that question became eminent early 90s, has always been that the public broadcaster is most relevant and a must in the equation of governance here. 

But squaring the imperativeness with the presence of a public broadcast institution which suffers the lack of sufficient
funding from the public purse and consequently clamped in its own,
GBC's consistent inability to raise  handsome cash, clearly knock out the verbal assurances.

There has been no shortage of DGs and deputies during the past years. The figures show how the GBC's situation is close to desperate. Curiously too the reverse side of the same scenario wonders about a might be linkage between this phenomenon of
instability at the top in BH -painfully might be analogous with
historical South American "Banana Republics" in order to question
personnel for quality as reflected in outputs presently. 

The explanation is that this too has its own long history with its effects and together with the leadership drainage- impacts have obviously limited the hands of administrators and given doubt on at least the moral case for looking the other way, away from staffing and not only just that, but bearing in mind that broadcasting is a different highly
skilled professional entity-all departments. The matter has so far
then left the GBC story quite incoherent today, unless there was time to research the politics without losing patience for the analysis to draw decent conclusions. 

In the interval or assuming there is none, a great change of posture and tone are of urgency in essence for the GBC to prove that the organization is neither seized with innovation paralysis nor could become scared of forward-looking to in-depth
alterations rather than current aesthetic driving around about
esoteric digital migration for instance, without addressing most
importantly, re-branding to assure investors of good returns while simultaneously impress the public to pay up commensurate radio/TV license fees with delight. 

The wanted change cannot arrive overnight and it is for the corporation to convince an understanding but impatient country to support efforts to achieve ultimately a public
broadcaster that is able to reconcile the provisions of public service which is sustained by honest business and brisk professionalism.

GBC