Mass media in Ghana

19th century The media in the Gold Coast first emerged in the 19th century with the publication of The Gold Coast Gazette and Commercial Intelligencer in 1822. The paper had several functions: to provide information for civil servants and European merchants, and to help promote literacy rates and rural development among the local population - while encouraging unity with the Gold Coast government. The opposition Ashanti Pioneer, which had operated since the 1930s, was shut down by Nkrumah after being subject to censorship. After eight months of the AFRC regime, which had promised media reform but in the end did not materialise, power was returned to the democratically elected PNP with Hilla Limann on 24 September 1979. Limann was an advocate of liberal media reform, establishing a 12-member Press Commission on 25 July 1980. Rawlings passed laws that prevented criticism of the government or its policies, dismissed editors critical of him and passed various laws such as the Preventive Custody Law and Newspaper Licensing Law which allowed indefinite detention without trial of journalists, and stifled private media development respectively. A new 15-member National Press Commission (later Ghanaian Media Commission) was created that was independent of government, which would uphold the aforementioned responsibilities. Despite these new reforms, President Rawlings and the NDC government remained critical of the private press, calling it "politically irresponsible" and motivated by profit. Editors from the Free Press and New Statesman had reported being sent death threats from the NDC for criticising the regime. The media, and broadcast media in particular, were vigorous in their coverage of the 2008 Ghanaian presidential election, and the Ghanaian Journalists Association (GJA) praised John Atta Mills on his election, hoping to foster a good media-government relationship. During a 1999 interview, the GJA described how the media has helped promote democracy in the country: Due to the new freedom of media, the video game industry in Ghana is growing. ==Relations with foreign media==

The Ghanaian media holds good relations with foreign media, with many international journalists from Western, African and Asian organisations based in the capital, Accra. Journalists are not hindered during their work, and information is not censored into or out of the country. The main news agency, Ghana News Agency, was set up in 1957 by Nkrumah to provide balanced information on local and international news. Reuters helped provide the agency with guidance and technical assistance until 1961. The agency had subscriptions from over 140 organisations and six news agencies in 2000. ==Challenges to Ghanaian media==

Despite its relative freedom, the media in Ghana does face some challenges. Journalists in Ghana are often poorly paid, under resourced, and often lack training. As a result, journalists in Ghana find themselves susceptible to bribery and self-censorship. The quality of radio and television broadcast media programming is low. With respect to newspapers, the ownership landscape of newspapers is politically polarized with most newspapers supporting either the government or opposition party lines. Only one newspaper, the state-owned Daily Graphic is truly national in distribution. Freedom of the press Although the constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and press, the government sometimes restricts those rights. The police arbitrarily arrest and detain journalists. Some journalists practice self-censorship. The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government respects these prohibitions in practice. In 2002 the government of Ghana censored Internet media coverage of tribal violence in Northern Ghana. ==Newspapers==

Around 135 newspapers are published in Ghana, including 16 independent newspapers and 9 daily newspapers. The contribution of a large number of state and private newspapers create a diverse media environment in Ghana. State papers such as the Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times tend to promote and encourage support for government policies and follow a conservative line, unlike private press which has exposed lavish styles of government officials and mis-management of government affairs. The Ghanaian National Media Commission, an independent commission, was set up to monitor and receive complaints about the media. The commission had received 50 complaints in 2002, and in May 2001, forced the Ghanaian Chronicle to apologise for publishing "false stories" on individuals without substantial evidence. However, similar rulings have been ignored due to a lack of authority. Today News Ghana and Modern Ghana are the most popular Newspapers. ==Television and radio==

, news and information provided by television. Television was introduced to Ghana in 1965 and was under State control. The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation held a monopoly on television broadcasting until 1994, following the 1992 constitution of the new democratically elected government. Part of the 1992 constitution established the National Media Commission which held the responsibility to promote and ensure the independence of the media. Shortly after the 1966 coup of Nkrumah by the National Liberation Council (who held an even tighter State grip on the nation's media), the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation announced a decree to, "broadcast programmes in the field of culture, education, information and entertainment, to reflect national progress and aspirations, and to broadcast in the main Ghanaian languages and in English". Among the stations, there is the state-run Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and five private channels, TV3, Metro TV, Viasat 1, TV Skyy, and TV Africa, with TV3 and Metro TV going on the air in 1997. Foreign stations such as CNN and BBC are freely accessible. FM radio began in 1988, which allowed foreign radio stations into the country, such as Voice of America, Radio France Internationale and BBC broadcasts on 101.3 FM. In 2007, 86 FM and three shortwave stations existed. ==Internet==

The Internet was used by an estimated 4.2 million Ghanaians in 2012, roughly 17% of the population. There was no significant improvement in 2014 as reported by Internet World Statistics there were "5,171,993 Internet users on Dec 31, 2014, 19.6% of the population, per IWS." . As it stands, there are so many possibilities of reaching more people in the Ghanaian Digital News Space. It is unrestricted by the government. ==See also==