Theresah Ayoade, Chief Executive Officer of Charterhouse Ghana, has made a passionate appeal to journalists to be balanced and circumspect with their reportage rather than always projecting negativity about brands and the creative industry.
Addressing the media at Alisa Hotel, Thursday, Mrs. Ayoade expressed worry over the volumes of negative reports, which according to her, stifle the progress of the industry.
Using the scuffle between Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy at the 2019 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) as a case study, Ayoade whose company is in charge of the scheme, argued that just as the rift was captured in all publications, the positive sides of the event should have been trumpeted.
She said: “Can we go back to doing what we do best which is reporting about the industry and what’s happening in the industry? I think we allowed the negatives to completely overshadow everything that was good about the event last year. It was really bad.
"All the other hardworking artistes who worked so hard all year round and have got their plaques sitting with them at home were never celebrated because of these two artistes. It was very wrong to reduce the event to just these two artistes. If I were a fellow musician, I would be very upset.”
Ayoade, a board member of the VGMAs, further established that the negative reports dim the fortunes of the sector as investors are unmoved to sponsor events. What worsens the situation, according to her, is government’s reluctance to inject money into the industry as such reports create the impression that stakeholders attach no seriousness to the work.
“It’s our industry. Sometimes it gets so frustrating and all you hear is negativity. Say ‘this didn’t work right but this was good’. Mix the positives and the negatives; not just the negatives all the time. Let the positives shine through all the time, please,” she pleaded.
“The thing is that, the industry doesn’t get enough support. We don’t get enough support from corporates; we don’t get support from government. So when we in the industry bash ourselves, then it begins to make us look very unserious.”
Ayoade further disclosed that the Stonebwoy-Shatta Wale clash profoundly cost her company.
“Do you know the number of corporate entities we lost from that event?” she asked. “People we were wooing to come and join Vodafone on the platform we know may not respond to us this year because the industry has disgraced themselves.
“Instead of running around together to protect our industry, we are the same people pulling it down. So I really want to implore you that beyond your reporting, think of our industry. We need you to celebrate our industry, make it attractive to investors and sponsors.
“There is no sponsorship anywhere. Nothing is happening because there is no money and the sponsors are not listening to us. If we continue to project a negative image, it’s just going to get worse for us. Please, let’s balance the reporting.”
The scuffle
While Stonebwoy was up the VGMA stage taking his award, Shatta Wale, his rival on the music scene, was seen approaching the stage with a host of others presumed to be his fans.
Stonebwoy who felt threatened, pulled out a handgun handed him on stage by one of his entourage, a scene that sparked a scuffle between the two artistes and their followers.
The awards event was temporarily halted and the topmost two awards for the event, Most Popular Song of the Year and Artiste of the Year, were deferred due to the melee.
Both Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale were invited by the police for questioning the next day and have since been charged and put before court. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
