It was Joseph Pulitzer, a respected newspaper publisher who said: “The media is simply the cheapest mercenary to hire by a competitor who cannot compete on product, a disgruntled former partner seeking leverage in a negotiation, or a political actor settling scores. “
Pulitzer’s famous quote is exactly what is playing out on the issue of Adamus and its respected founder Angela List.
For some time now , Adamus Resources Ltd , which employs more than 1,000 Ghanaians, has come under a media siege akin to what has become the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris in 2015.
Faceless persons have invariably hidden behind the media to run not only scurrilous but also trivial and unfounded stories on the internationally reputed company and its CEO without recourse to the ethics of the profession.
For the years that these rented press have been on rampage against Adamus, they have not been able to prove with concrete evidence or point to any palpable wrong doing by the Company and the CEO , except for relying on rumors and voodoo allegations.
Indeed, lawyers for Adamus and the CEO have always maintained forcefully that “publications against the company are misleading, reckless, and plainly calculated to inflict reputational damage on our Clients through distortion”.
The NMC Precedent
It is important to put on record that unsubstantiated publications by the media landed some practitioners in trouble as the National Media Commission ruled in Adamus’s favor.
The NMC in its ruling directed ModernGhana.com and Class FM to retract and apologize to Adamus and Angela List after establishing the fact that they breached fundamental journalistic standards in their misleading publications.
Today, a media house, the New Republic which the company has sued in court for GH10 million damages, following coordinated , unsubstantiated publications in the past against the company and its CEO, carried yet another misleading story with the banner headline: “ The Galamsey Quuen of Nzema…How Angela List Used State Power to Seize Australian Mine and Turn it Into Galamsey Empire. Such publication is clearly contemptuous, given the fact that the case is in court.
It is however , worth placing on record that these slanderous publications follow the same pattern of the previous ones which lacked basic evidence , and are being re-hashed today to appease their pay masters.
What is dangerous is that when media stops reporting on a company and starts campaigning against it, it is no longer practicing journalism. It is waging a war — and the first casualty is media ethics itself.
In an era of clicks, sponsored content, and corporate rivalries, the deliberate weaponization of media platforms to damage a Ghanaian- owned business has become the order of the day. This is not constructive criticism. This is not investigative reporting. Rather, this is intentional manipulation of public perception through distortion, omission, and amplification. And it violates every core principle responsible media stand for.
The frivolous galamsey accusations against Adamus and its CEO began way back. They became intense in May 2026 , in spite of a press release by the Company which reiterated that “ Adamus has ample evidence of its efforts to combat illegal mining , “ and that “as the mining lease holder, we have no reason to engage in illegal mining , and will never condone that.” Yet , these same rented press have made it an agenda to vilify the company and the CEO.
The question well- meaning Ghanaians are asking is : What has become of the Lands Minister Armah Buah’s Committee set up to relook into the galamsey allegations leading to the revocation of Adamus mining leases on two concessions?
The Committee had two weeks within which to submit its report but it took the Committee two months to do so . Even after the report was submitted about 3 weeks ago, the Minister has failed to publish the findings, thus reinforcing the impression that Adamus and its CEO are squeaky clean of all the allegations.
Now, let it be known by the rented press that , for a young and enterprising woman, Angela List, who has seen these deliberate media attacks on her person and her company in the past, these recent publications are just a deja-vu for her . She remains unperturbed , focused and committed to responsible mining whist sustaining job security for her myriad of employees.
All the shamelessly unprofessional journalists and media outlets who are weaponizing their platforms against Adamus and Angela List must know that such acts are blatant attacks on media ethics and violate the very principles of media existence.
The Writer, Michael Petit Mawugbe (Efo Mawugbe) is a Social Justice Practitioner, Media Consultant, Editor of senaradioonline.com and Exposé Newspaper and President of OPAG.
