Press Coverage of Government in 1998 and 2002 Content Analysis of Selected Ghanaian Newspapers

Abstract

The sturdy examined the coverage of government in 1998 and 2002 by two state-owned and two privately-owned newspapers against the backdrop of frosty relationship that had historically existed between government and particularly the privately-owned media in Ghana. Coverage was defined as number and slant of news stories, editorials and pictorial representation of   government. The findings generally supported literature and   theories which suggest that the state-owned newspapers would normally support the political establishment and that they are always inclined towards “order” and are hardly disruptive of the status quo. It emerged that coverage by the private press was motivated largely by economics and ownership; and they acted differently under different political administrations. The coverage by the privately-owned press gave credence to the fact that the media would normally react to the posturing of the government in power. In fact a more positive coverage was given to the New Patriotic Party government that was perceived to be media-friendly in 2002. The opposite was true of the National Democratic government which was seen to be unfriendly to the media.

Keywords: Opposition, Journalistic, Government, Media