EXPLORATION AROUND CONVO ON MEDIA COVERAGE, ITS LIMITS AND THE LAW

 CASE STUDY: SEX FOR GRADES- BBC DOCUMENTARY

‘Sex for grades’ has become a threatening phenomenon in Africa’s higher education. Much as many efforts are made to curb or control this issue, contradicting evidences exist on the willingness of female students to report this act to university authorities. A survey pointed out that [ 75.65%] students have a solid say to report lecturers who make advances of sex for grades in universities while the remaining will not or are undecided. For students that would report, they cited reasons including, these acts are against their human rights, it is not right, ethical abuse of authority. At the other end, there were reasons that include, not knowing who to report to, fear of victimization, they will ignore the lecturer and lack of solid evidences.

Academic institutions in West Africa have increasingly been facing allegations of sexual harassment by lecturers on students. This type of abuse is said to be endemic, but it’s almost never proven due to the laws of the states that demands solid evidences in cases like this to avoid the infringement of individual’s rights and freedoms.

Recently, the British Broadcasting Corporation Africa Eye, an investigative society after gathering numerous of testimonies concerning lecturers making advances for sex in barter of good grades to students in universities sent undercover journalists posing as students inside two famous universities on the African Continent, the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana. In the film, female reporters were sexually harassed, propositioned and put under pressure by senior lecturers at the universities who finds themselves interested sexually in students.

Headline reporter, Kiki Mordi, who happens to know how upset these acts by lecturers can be due to her experience back in university, reveals what happens behind closed doors at some of the region’s most prestigious universities when students tries to seek academic help from their program lecturers at the university. She, Kiki Mordi happens to be an inner victim who suffered sexual harassment by lecturers when she was in school, the acts caused her to drop out of the university and put his ambition of being a medical doctor in toil. The BBC Africa Eye on a yearlong investigation, released on Monday a documentary titled 'SEX FOR GRADES’ carrying out information about lecturers who make advances for sex in return of grades for students and explored the harassment at the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana.

The 53.51 minutes film showed senior lecturers propositioning undercover journalists who posed as students of the institution. The video featured three learned academic lecturers, Dr. Boniface Igbeneghu of the University of Lagos, Professor Ransford Gyampo and Dr. Paul Kwame Butakor, both of the University of Ghana. The documentary highlighted a well-known phenomenon that some academics use their position to force students into having sexual relationships with their lecturers. The BBC report carried details from current and former students of these universities, some with their identities hidden, making allegations against university staff.

Though the documentary seems welcoming to all individuals, the corporation had some lapses in the case of this particular documentary titled ‘SEX FOR GRADES’. Massive voices are cropping up to speak against the approach the BBC used in getting solid evidence against this act as to documentary. In Ghana particularly, lecturers, professors, and other individuals have reasons for the critiques being thrown at the BBC in the sense that;

The media approach of the Corporation in getting the solid evidence in this particular documentary seems not in line with the Ghanaian constitution limiting the freedom of against the free enjoyment of the fundamental human rights and freedom of a Ghanaian individual according to Article 165 of Chapter 12 in the 1992 Constitution which states;

‘’ For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of this Chapter shall not be taken to limit the enjoyment of any of the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed under Chapter 5 of this Constitution’’

The scanty link between the title and the content it carries. The title of the documentary ‘SEX FOR GRADES’ seems to have a weak link with the content it carries, watching the film clearly, the content and the title don’t sync as they should according to the Corporation. Titling a documentary that way seems to have question marks attached to the documentary and its content. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana states that, in as much as the freedom of media has been guaranteed to publish any information to the public or audience [Article 162, Chapter 12], it goes on and limit the freedom guaranteed to the media against enjoyment of any of the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed to the Ghanaian citizen under the Chapter 5 of the constitution [Article 165, Chapter 12].

Article 165 of Chapter 12 of the Constitution, it states that ‘’ For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of this Chapter shall not be taken to limit the enjoyment of any of the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed under Chapter 5 of this Constitution’’.

Article 18 of Chapter 5 in the constitution outlines that the Ghanaian individual has the right to his/her privacy in his home, property, and others. The media doesn’t have the freedom to intrude into people’s private lives and communications.

Bringing it into the context of the BBC Africa Eye documentary titled ‘SEX FOR GRADES’, the methodology used by the BBC in producing the documentary was problematic. In the sense that, the Corporation’s investigation intruded into the private life of these university lecturers.

Exploring more about the unconventional work done by the BBC, the media, and journalistic work in Ghana, the Ghana Journalists Association serving as a regulated body of the industry has its own codes of ethics that media personnel dare not act in contrary to what it states to enhance professionalism in the industry. In accordance with the codes of ethics of the GJA, emphasizes and elaborates on the media’s inability or unguaranteed right for journalists and media as a whole not to invade into individual’s private life and human dignity.

Article 5;

1. ‘Journalists should respect the right of the individual, the privacy and human dignity’.

2. ‘Enquiries and intrusions into a person’s private life can only be justified when done in public.

But the BBC aired expose to fishing out lecturers making advances for sex in exchange for good grades doesn’t adhere to the methodology stated in both the 1992 constitution and the code of ethics of the GJA hence the investigative approach employed by the Corporation infringes on the rights of these university lecturers.

In this BBC documentary, the lecturers featured in this film were expressing the inner feelings they have for the posed student.

In the case of Professor Gyampo, he tried to tell her mentee he wanted to marry her after school and made it also clear to the reporter that it is his duty to let the lady know what’s inside him. And went on to let her know that he wasn’t pressuring her for acceptance when the lady seemed puzzled.

That is the life of the Professor, he has the right, and it is his private life and communication with the posed student so it is not the right approach of the media in getting these lecturers to book.

In conclusion, the whole expose aired by the BBC was due to the widespread of the ‘SEX FOR GRADES’ act in the universities but the media approach employed by the BBC in the investigation is calling for questions to be answered by the Corporation.