A report on the state of the media in Ghana has stated that National Communications Authority (NCA) has a laissez-faire attitude to questioning transparency in media ownership.
The report released by the Communications Department of the University of Ghana and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) revealed that the political faces behind broadcast media ownership mean that partisan actors and governments can control public discourse.
“In Ghana, media pluralism has not necessarily served the public interest, due mainly to the concentration of media in a few hands. Media ownership is shrouded in opacity. There is a growing tendency towards media empire-building.”
“The current regime for broadcast regulation allows considerable power and influence to those whose conduct the media are supposed to check,” the report said.
The study also identified that “the Ghanaian media industry is too heavily plagued by saturation, the cost of doing business in Ghana, shrinking advertising budgets [including capital fight onto social media platforms], and the COVID-19 pandemic’s aftereffects are affecting the viability of the media.”
“The data shows that as in many other African countries, COVID-19 had a devastating impact on the Ghanaian media, causing loss of revenue and job cuts at a time when media were already under stress from disruptions in the information ecosystem caused by the internet, social media and big tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter.
“Technological advancements…have also put major financial strains on media companies because they must retool and modernise their operations to remain competitive.”
Some key findings in the report
FINANCIAL VIABILITY OF MEDIA
■ Generally, many media organisations in Ghana are not profitable; they only break even
■ The financial viability of many media organisations in Ghana is threatened.
■ Media in Ghana are creatively exploring new business models to stay alive; including digitization, conglomeration, events marketing, and crowdfunding.
■ Digital technologies are fast-changing media financing models in Ghana.
■ Digital media are now a major source of income in Ghanaian media.
■ One of the biggest threats to the financial health of the media is industry saturation.
WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE GHANAIAN MEDIA
■ Recruitment into the Ghanaian media is generally untransparent.
■ Many people working in the media do not have contracts.
■ There are no established structures for promotion in most media organisations; promotion is largely based on ‘whom you know’ and owners’/managers’ whims.
■ Salaries in the media are woefully low. Some employees work long months without pay.
■ Most media employees have no healthcare support
■ Most media organisations do not provide counselling support for employees who experience trauma in the line of work.
MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND REGULATION
■ In Ghana, media pluralism has not necessarily served the public interest, due mainly to the concentration of media in a few hands.
■ Media ownership is shrouded in opacity.
■ There is a growing tendency towards media empire-building.
■ Political faces behind broadcast media ownership mean that partisan actors and governments can control public discourse.
■ The NCA has a laissez-faire attitude to questions about transparency in media ownership.
■ The current regime for broadcast regulation allows considerable power and influence to those whose conduct the media are supposed to check.
SAFETY OF JOURNALISTS
■ There is a growing sense of insecurity among journalists in Ghana
■ Violations of journalists’ safety are quite common in Ghana.
■ Male journalists are more at risk of attacks than females.
■ Investigative journalists are the most at risk of attacks
■ State actors, including political appointees and police are the worst perpetrators of attacks on
journalists.
■ Journalists feel that law enforcement agencies and the judiciary do little to protect their safety.
