Broadcast journalist, Bridget Otoo
•Metro TV have offered two statements on the furore surrounding Bridget Otoo’s move
•Bridget Otoo was expected to read the news on August 3 but it turned out to be a no-show
•Speculations are that some elements of government are pushing against her appearance on the station
There seem to be clashing of heads at Metro TV over the recruitment of ace broadcaster Bridget Otoo as the anchor for the station’s main evening news.
Bridget Otoo was billed to make her first appearance as newscaster on the station on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.
But it turned out to be a no-show which resulted in all kinds of allegations and conspiracies being peddled about as people tried to understand why the widely advertised presentation did not come on.
The conclusion that was reached was that Bridget Otoo was blocked due to her critical stance on government and governance issues in the country.
A story of a certain influential man riding on a motorbike minutes to the 7pm news to prevent her from going on air was widely shared on various social media platforms. Whiles at it, the official social media pages of the station published a statement in which it stated that Bridget Otoo’s non-appearance was purely an in-house issue and nothing to do with her activism on social media.
“Our latest addition Bridget Otoo remains a part of the Metro TV family and a happy one as such. Rumours alleging government’s interplay in a supposed dismissal from the august organization are totally false and should not be heeded. Bridget is happy to be here as are we, having her on board and we look forward to reaching higher heights together.”
The station subsequently on Thursday, August 5, 2021 retracted and deleted this statement from its social media pages.
Randy Abbey, the host of the station’s flagship program, Good Morning Ghana on the Thursday edition of his show announced that the statement seen on their social media handles had no approval from management and that disciplinary actions have been instituted against the person behind the post.
“There is very unnecessary controversy out there and it has to do with this issues with respect to Bridget Otoo. I’m not going to deal with issues. What I want to deal with is that a statement was put out on the official handles of Metro TV which said that management of the station has absolved government of any blame or issues of interference with respect to the matter. If you go to the site now, you’d see that the statement is not there. It is not there because it was not authorized by management, board or news edition. Internal disciplinary processes have been ignited to deal with that particular issue,” he said.
Whiles at it Paul Adom-Otchere has managed to rope in his ‘issues’ with Manasseh Azure Awuni into the matter attacking the investigative journalist over a social media post that said some powerful hands were behind the move to prevent Bridget from presenting the news as advertised.
Bridget Otoo has also in a social media post hinted of speaking out on the issue very soon.
