Jacob Nyarko

The roots of broadcasting in Ghana – particularly radio – are traced to its former colonial power under Sir Arnold Hodson who was British governor of the Gold Coast in 1935. The short-term objective was to enable the crown to communicate with its subjects in the colonies and to spread propaganda.

But, over time, radio served a wider and more significant role. By the 1940s it had earned the accolade of being regarded as ‘theatre of the mind’ because of the music, drama and news broadcasts it offered.

The transition to a post-colonial environment wasn’t easy. Like print, the new government inherited the assets of the colonial media, as well as its liabilities, which included control mechanisms to constrain their operations.

As a country that has had more military than civilian administrations, the major challenge to the growth of radio in Ghana has been political.

For a start, radio is the quickest medium through which ‘coup-makers’ can announce that they have seized power, and successive administrations have monopolised the airwaves. Even after the 1992 Constitution enforced privatisation of the airwaves, the ruling Peoples National Defence Council couldn’t give up control. The shutting of Radio Eye in Accra circa 1994 was a case in point.

Also read: Ghana Has a Serious Political Vigilante Problem. Here’s Why

More recently, some radio stations were shut down because their licenses had expired under new rules introduced in 2017 . This triggered an angry response as some people believed the shut-downs were political. Most of the affected stations were affiliated to the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress.

The growth of the sector has also been hampered by poor infrastructure. For instance, frequent power outages, called dumso in the Akan parlance, have threatened operations. A lack of money has also led to some engaging the services of laymen as journalists, which has led to many radio stations becoming increasingly unprofessional.

Despite these challenges, there has been a steady rise in radio production in Ghana over the past 20 years. It is the most consumed medium in the country, with a penetration rate of about 90%. According to the National Communications Authority, in 2018 Ghana had: 31 public radio stations; five foreign radio stations; 71 community radio stations; 22 campus radio stations, and 358 commercial radio stations.

This illustrates the growing democratisation of Ghana’s airwaves, where private radio has outstripped state-owned radio. With the ongoing transformation from analogue to digital terrestrial transmission, radio in Ghana is expected to become even more vibrant.

Reach and impact

Radio continues to have an immense impact on Ghanaian society.

Firstly, its reach has improved the dissemination of information on matters of national interest, especially in an emergency. Radio has been used to deliver messages to the public in mass registration campaigns and health education around HIV, Ebola, polio, malaria and, most recently, coronavirus.

Secondly, radio has boosted the private sector. Three-quarters of radio stations in Ghana are commercial operations.

Thirdly, radio production has offered employment opportunities. And stations pay taxes.

Fourthly, radio has enhanced pluralism through the use of a multiplicity of languages. These include Ga, Hausa, Twi, Dagbani, Nzema and Fanti. Radio stations also facilitate diverse viewpoints being made, and, unlike other media – such as print and television – is able both rural and urban listeners are reached.

All these factors make it an important medium in the political terrain.

Integrated approach

The relevance of radio in Ghana cannot be underestimated amid the advent of social media. A 2018 report by Afrobarometer showed that 56% of those interviewed in the survey listened to radio, 42% watched television, 13% had access to the internet and 15% to social media.

This pattern of consumption calls for the need for integrated strategies. Almost all radio stations own websites and have links to social media platforms enabling them to stream live online. This has ensured a two-way discourse through phone-ins and online postings.

With this convergence, the question of which medium is used to source news hinges on affordability for the consumer. With a smartphone and bundled data, users can also access social media.

But there are dangers. Social media is besieged with the fake news epidemic which defeats the purpose of professional journalism.

Writing on fake news, Ghanaian blogger and social media entrepreneur Ameyaw Debrah notes :

Fake news is very much a problem in Ghana. The challenge is that I don’t want it to get to a point where people no longer believe what they’re reading or seeing online. People are already tending to describe news in the digital space as fake, and are reluctant to engage with it.

In comparison, radio is deemed more credible due to its meticulous gatekeeping procedures coupled with the ease of identifying the source of a story – both the station and the reporter.

In addition, both public and private radio have provided the information needs of people, especially during elections. In particular, private radio has been an alternate voice and contributed immensely to the vibrancy of Ghana’s airwaves.

But it’s not all plain sailing. According to Mamolise Martha Falatsa , a Public Relations Officer of the Department of Teaching Service in Lesotho, a major drawback is that

most radio stations, both government and privately owned, are controlled by politicians who use them as mouthpieces for advancing their political agendas.

Another concern is that the syndication of content tends to defeat the concept of community radio because material from mainly major cities is imposed on smaller communities.

Nevertheless, radio has overall served Ghana well.

Jacob Nyarko, Lecturer of Communication Studies, University of Cape Coast

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Between 1957 – the year Ghana won independence from British – and 1992 the country had three civilian heads of state interspersed with several military rulers. But that year it finally embraced democratic rule and adopted a constitution.

One of the areas of protection the new constitution offered was the independence of the media and of expression. But are these enforced? And has the media felt their positive impact?

In my PhD thesis published four years ago, I explored whether Ghana’s constitution had lived up to the promise set out in Chapter 12, Articles 162 and 163 in relation to media freedom. I concluded that though the Ghanaian constitution had made some positive impacts, there were still some shortfalls. These included the media’s lack of a right to information.

I also observed that archaic laws still existed in the statute books and that the courts were imposing huge court fines which were crippling media outlets.

Two years ago, I published a study that showed that the constitution had indeed marked a turning point for media liberalisation. It led to increased private ownership participation and broke the “culture of silence” around particular subjects.

The issue of media freedom, and the ability of journalists to be able to do their jobs without fear, has been in the headlines again recently following the arrest of two journalists by members of the national security forces. Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and Emmanuel Britwum, who work for ModernGhana, were accused of hacking competitor emails as well as writing articles deemed offensive to the minister of national security.

Kwaku Addi, the Publisher of private newspaper, Today Ghana News recently expressed concern about recent attacks – including this one – on the media. He listed the fact that journalists had been assaulted, kidnapped, beaten and lynched. He also mentioned the fact that many media houses had been closed down. He wrote:

135 critical media houses have been closed down, including Radio Gold and Radio XZY, two journalists killed (Ahmed Suale and a lady in Ahafo Region), one investigative journalist (Manasseh Azzure Awuni) has been forced into exile, and one reporter in Upper West region (Emmanuel Adati) is in hiding to save his life.

These trends show that the 1992 constitution had good intentions. Yet the state continues to capitalise on what it calls the “national interest” and “national security” to justify taking steps that amount to suppression of the media.

The constitution

Prior to the passing of the 1992 constitution, none of the country’s laws guaranteed media freedom in such extensive terms. This freedom covers all Ghanaian and gives the legal basis to challenge efforts to curtail media freedom. The constitution also led to dramatic changes in the landscape.

Prior to its passing, Ghana media had been dominated by well-established state-owned media houses. The constitution enabled growth in the private media sector as the newspaper licensing law was repealed, opening up the newspaper space. Private radio stations and television stations also sprung up. This in turn opened the door to much more critical coverage and debates.

Also read: Journalism and the Media’s Crisis of Credibility in an Age of Strident Nationalism

The private media sector gradually began to make its presence felt.

Local radio stations and newspapers with national coverage rapidly sprang up and were accessible to almost every district of Ghana. This meant that front-page news exposing corruption in Ghana became common. And journalists began to ensure that the public was fed information about government, businesses and other state interests in a way that opened these sectors to scrutiny.

The phasing out of government monopolies ushered in a new era of free expression. Ghana’s informal environment began to expand due to press liberalisation in ways that previously were unimaginable.

These developments confirm the assertion that a symbiotic relationship between media freedom and democratisation does exist.

But the paradox of the country’s constitution is that Ghana continues to have laws that can be used to curtain media freedom. One example was the Criminal Libel Law which remained in place for nine years before its abrogation after fierce protests.

A another example is that it took until this year for the country to pass a right to information law . This will only come into effect in 2020.

This goes to show that media freedom was granted with unwilling undertones.

Other archaic laws remain on the statute books. These include the Official Secrets Acts, Emergency Powers Acts 472 and the Criminal Code 1960. These laws allow the judiciary and other state agencies – like the police – to hinder a true expression of press freedom.

Another thorny and unresolved issue is the role of National Media Commission. One of its functions is to promote and ensure the freedom and independence of the media. Even though it’s existed since 1993, it has been incapacitated by a weak enforcement framework.

This leaves open the question of who fights for the fourth estate in Ghana.

Jacob Nyarko, Lecturer of Communication Studies, University of Cape Coast

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Author: Jacob Nyarko

Ghana’s Constitution Is Meant to Protect the Media, But Does It?