A1Radioonline has pulled down a story that suggested that some infrared thermometers donated by the Member of Parliament for Talensi, Benson Tongo Baba were fake.
The said story was published on May 8, 2020 under the caption; NDC MP DONATES ‘FAKE’ INFRARED THERMOMETERS TO HEALTH CENTERS.
Subsequently, a reaction by the MP, Mr BT Baba was also published on May 8, 2020 under the caption, I HAVE NOT PROCURED AND DISTRIBUTED ‘FAKE’ THERMOMETERS – TALENSI MP.
The background to the story is that, the Parliamentary Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Thomas Duanab Wuni visited some health centers in the Talensi District where some health workers were reported to have complained to him that some of the infrared thermometers the MP donated were faulty and so, did not give accurate temperature readings.
In the spirit of professionalism, producers of NEWS LINK, A1 Radio’s major news bulletin on Thursday May 7, 2020, made efforts to engage the MP to respond to the claim by his political opponent. Unfortunately, the producers could not raise the MP on the bulletin but went ahead and interviewed the NPP Parliamentary candidate, Thomas Duanab Wuni on the same news bulletin. That interview was subsequently published on A1Radioonline.
On Friday May 8, 2020, Mr TB Baba was interviewed on A1 Radio’s Reporters’ Visit and his denial of procuring and distributing ‘fake’ thermometers was also published on A1Radioonline.
In all these instances, neither A1 Radio nor any member of the news/production team had any intention to hurt the reputation of the MP or discredit his efforts in procuring and distributing the thermometers to support the fight against Covid-19.
In spite of giving the PM an equal airtime on Reporters’ Visit, things have turned out to suggest that our publication was malicious and aimed at discrediting the gesture of the legislator.
Having received concerns of the MP in a live radio interview on Reporters’ Visit on Friday May 8, 2020, Management of A1 Radio has, pulled down the two stories in question. Again, the company has also rendered unqualified apology to the MP, Mr BT Baba and his National Democratic Congress as well as any other group, individuals or institutions the publications might have affected.
Source:A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Ghana
