Chapter 4 newsfeed or political programmes ultimately seek to push forward the agenda or interests of the party they support; even to the point of defending or commending their every action or words, even when they are wrong. This, however, does raise doubts regarding the equity and professionalism of the media and its personnel. 'The political stance that some of our colleagues have taken is not even helping. There are people who are openly showing their bias and openly asking questions in a leading manner in certain ways that seek to portray where they stand and that has not helped us.' 44 Commendably however, some media houses are putting measures in place to curb the perpetuation of the'politics of insult' on their platforms. With the electronic media for instance, 'serial callers' or panelists/discussants guilty of abusive speech or defamatory statements during radio or television phone-in programmes or panel discussions are either cautioned, taken off air, or asked to withdraw their statement and apologize. 45 In the print media, published articles that are defamatory or misguided are often retracted or emended in a rejoinder. Interrogating the media's negative contribution in stimulating the 'politics of insult' begs the critical question of whether speech in this fourth estate arena should be regulated as a solution to curbing the problem. In addition, will there be a need for the utterances of people in leadership positions to be regulated? There are, however, more questions than answers. For instance, would putting in place such regulations or prohibitions not contravene the fundamental democratic principle of free speech? 44 Interview with Journalist/ News Editor of a political programme at Kapital Radio, Kumasi, 28 June 2011 45 Personal observation during the field research suggested that some of the radio stations, for example Joy Fm, use a delay system for some of the political discussions they broadcast. 123