"Mischievous, Hollow Journalism Is Hurting Our Industry" - Akofa Edjeani

Veteran actress Akofa Edjeani has called out certain media houses for misrepresenting her words regarding a supposed petition about appointments within the National Film Authority (NFA). Speaking on Penpensiwa, an all-ladies entertainment show hosted by Obomengniibaa Nana Akua, she set the record straight, expressing frustration over how her comments were taken out of context.

According to Edjeani, she was never involved in any petition concerning the NFA and had no intention of writing about it. “I got a call or two when someone asked me about the petition, but I said I wasn’t going to bother writing anything about it because I didn’t think it was necessary,” she stated.

She explained that weeks before the NFA appointments were announced, she had already written to President John Dramani Mahama to inform him that she was not interested in any government position. “I don’t know his mind, and His Excellency has not told me he is giving me any position. I just sent it in case he wanted to give me any position,” she clarified.

However, her words were taken out of context and used in misleading headlines, with media houses such as TV3, Joy FM, and GhanaWeb portraying her in a negative light. “Why would I write to the President and then turn around and say something different?” she questioned. “My words were misconstrued, and the media houses and bloggers took just that part. It was even on TV3 News, and GhanaWeb used it as a headline, making me look like a bad person.”

Edjeani did not hold back in her criticism of these media outlets, calling their reporting unprofessional and harmful to the creative industry. “One, you should have at least called me to confirm. You didn’t call me, yet you took my words out of context. Someone who doesn’t know me will start questioning my character, which is totally untrue. I think it was mischievous, and I think whoever wrote it was hollow,” she stated.

She went on to say that such irresponsible journalism only creates unnecessary hostility in the industry. “This thing they wrote will create hostility, which is not what we are looking for. We are trying to build an industry to be better than it is. So if you keep writing things like this, you are setting us back. I think whoever wrote it is an enemy to the creative industry and, by extension, an enemy to the state.”

Penpensiwa, an all-ladies entertainment show, airs every Saturday from 2PM to 5PM on AsaasePa 107.3.