The Ghana Journalists Association has described the Judicial Service’s directive to media firms to pull down stories that scandalize the judiciary  as an “unwarranted” assault on the media.

The rebuttal from the GJA was issued after the Judiciary averred that some of the publications in the media are “a series of incendiary, hateful and offensive statements, and speeches. . .against the Justices” presiding over the election 2020.

Roland Affail Monney, the GJA President, at a press conference on Monday, indicated that “If not reversed immediately, the ill-advised, ill-crafted and ill-issued, ill-served and ill-consumed statement by the Judiciary can provoke a tsunamic backlash, lower the dignity of the court in the eyes of freedom lovers and critical citizens, pollute the media environment, undermine our impressive media ranking globally and dim the beacon of our democracy”.

“Unsurprisingly, our telephones have been flooded with calls, both local and international, from journalists, media watch organizations, defenders of press freedom and free expression, seeking to know what exactly was happening since that contentious statement by the Judicial Service was issued.

“It is universally acknowledged that media right is not absolute , but qualified. And legal experts teach us that such qualification must chime with the dictates of the law, due process , and must be exercised in such ways as to achieve legitimate aims and objectives,” he further stressed.

The President added: “The GJA will like to remind its members that far from acting on the basis of any threat or intimidation to ‘immediately pull down’ from their platforms as requested, the media should rather act in the spirit of the GJA Code of Ethics that says ‘A journalist corrects inaccuracies and mistakes at the earliest opportunity and offers a chance for a rejoinder and/or an apology as appropriate’.”