Otumfuo Provokes Dialogue Over ‘Potential Media Profession H...

Otumfuo Provokes Dialogue Over ‘Potential Media Profession Hijacking by Professional Hustlers’

The Monarch of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has provoked a national discourse about the potential hijacking of the media profession by self-serving individuals. At a dinner organised as part of the 29th Ghana Journalists Association media awards on November 8, 2025, held in Kumasi, the King pricked players in the industry about the gradual takeover by putting forth two questions. “How worried should we be about the potential hijacking of the media profession by professional hustlers and the potential extinction of the professional time? Second, can the media afford to operate without regard to the law of the state?” The Asantehene further threw light on the grave implications of the takeover of the media space by unprofessionals, calling it a “great deal”. His Majesty stated that it is a threat to the stability and cohesion of the state as well as the minds of the younger generation. “Our cherished traditional values have been swept away in a slurry of language unfit for the human mind. Our forefathers knew that just like food shapes the physical man, what we imbibe and communicate defines what shapes our brains. That is why their values placed emphasis on language that is less than wholesome. “Ironically, this has also emerged as the basic truth of the computer world, exemplified in the famous phrase that defines the merit of the computer: ‘Garbage in, Garbage out.’ It means that when you fill the mind with garbage and filth, the brain can also be shaped in garbage, and the output you can produce is nothing but garbage.” His Majesty, therefore, called for a serious dialogue aimed at finding a pathway to the preservation of the honour and sanctity of the profession. “I can think of no assured professional that would wish to be contaminated with such a slurry, so it must be in the interest of each one of us that efforts are made to clear the slurry and allow the profession to retain its honour.” Story by Hajara Fuseini

The Monarch of the Asante Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has provoked a national discourse about the potential hijacking of the media profession by self-serving individuals.

At a dinner organised as part of the 29th Ghana Journalists Association media awards on November 8, 2025, held in Kumasi, the King pricked players in the industry about the gradual takeover by putting forth two questions.

“How worried should we be about the potential hijacking of the media profession by professional hustlers and the potential extinction of the professional time? Second, can the media afford to operate without regard to the law of the state?”

The Asantehene further threw light on the grave implications of the takeover of the media space by unprofessionals, calling it a “great deal”.

His Majesty stated that it is a threat to the stability and cohesion of the state as well as the minds of the younger generation.

“Our cherished traditional values have been swept away in a slurry of language unfit for the human mind. Our forefathers knew that just like food shapes the physical man, what we imbibe and communicate defines what shapes our brains. That is why their values placed emphasis on language that is less than wholesome.

“Ironically, this has also emerged as the basic truth of the computer world, exemplified in the famous phrase that defines the merit of the computer: ‘Garbage in, Garbage out.’ It means that when you fill the mind with garbage and filth, the brain can also be shaped in garbage, and the output you can produce is nothing but garbage.”

His Majesty, therefore, called for a serious dialogue aimed at finding a pathway to the preservation of the honour and sanctity of the profession.

“I can think of no assured professional that would wish to be contaminated with such a slurry, so it must be in the interest of each one of us that efforts are made to clear the slurry and allow the profession to retain its honour.”

Story by Hajara Fuseini