|
Ghana The Media
The Ghanaian government owns the only two major daily
newspapers, the Daily Graphi (known as the People's Daily
Graphi under the PNDC) and the Ghanaian Time with 1994
daily circulations of 80,00-100,000 and 60,000-70,000, respectively
(circulation varies according to the availability of newsprint).
The other daily, The Pionee, established in 1930, is an
independent paper with a circulation of about 30,000. There are
also a number of weekly newspapers with substantial circulations,
including the independents, the ChristianMessenge and
the Standar, and the state-owned Sunday irro
and Weekly Spectato, the latter two with 1994 circulations
of 85,000 and about 90,000, respectively. A number of state-owned
and independent periodicals appear in English and in African
languages.
The 1979 constitution, which the PNDC suspended after taking
power, was the first to give special attention to Ghana's mass
media. It prohibited press licensing, outlawed censorship, and
guaranteed freedom of expression and equal access to the stateowned media. The constitution also provided for the establishment
of an independent press commission, the responsibilities of which
included appointing chief executives and boards of directors for
the state-owned media, preserving press freedom, and maintaining
the highest professional standards.
Under the PNDC, self-censorship was the rule in the media. The
government considered it the responsibility of the state-owned
media, if not the media in general, to project a good image of the
government and to defend government programs and policies. To
ensure compliance with this policy, the PNDC hired and dismissed
editorial staff and other media personnel of government-owned
publications. The Ghana Journalists Association, which acted as a
pressure group for the advancement of the professional interests of
journalists, had little real influence. The Newspaper Licensing
Law, reintroduced by the PNDC in 1983, discouraged or inhibited the
establishment and the freedom of private media.
The state-owned media and some of the privately owned local
newspapers attacked Ghanaian journalists who worked or wrote for
the foreign press, accusing them of supporting or collaborating
with organizations opposed to the PNDC. With the suspension of the
1979 constitution, such rights as freedom of the press, freedom of
assembly, and freedom of association were not guaranteed but were
merely granted at the discretion of the PNDC; however, numerous
professional and civic organizations and independent newspapers
that were non-political were allowed to exist and to operate
freely.
The Committee of Experts (Constitution) Law of May 1991, which
established the Committee of Experts to draw up proposals for a
draft constitution, required that the proposals should assure the
freedom and the independence of the media. Accordingly, the 1992
constitution guarantees fundamental human rights and civil
liberties, including the freedom and the independence of the media.
To protect the independence of the media, the National Media
Commission was created in 1993 in accordance with a constitutional
provision. The commission, an independent body, is charged with
ensuring that all types of media, private as well as state-owned,
are free of government control and interference. Under the Fourth
Republic, the press has begun to enjoy a significant degree of
toleration and freedom of expression.
Data as of November 1994
|
