the government in power, created by the one-party rule and military regime that dominated Ghana. The country needs a well-conceptualised broadcasting law that protects a three-tier broadcasting system, promoting public, commercial and community media. The current Broadcasting Bill drafted in 2003 is obsolete and out-dated. As the continent moves towards digital broadcasting, Ghana has advanced considerably in this area; although it missed the June 2015 digital migration deadline stipulated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The deadline is now September 2017. Currently, the government is working to create awareness on the digital switchover and has offered free digital decoders to selected members of the public. The geographic extent of the television (TV) signal in Ghana is 59.39 percent coverage of the land area and 79 percent of the population. The digital rollout has future plans to extend the coverage area and to close the gaps in the existing analogue system. On the whole, Ghana’s media environment is open, free and vibrant. However, the sector faces challenges. One major issue is in the area of ethics and professionalism. The heightened level of unethical and irresponsible journalism is a cause for concern and the public is increasingly questioning the credibility of newspapers, magazines, and broadcast news. The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Code of Ethics has been often ignored. Three basic journalistic principles seem to be compromised: Objectivity, cross-checking of facts and the separation of comments from fact. There is also a fair amount of corruption in the media. For example, the practice of ‘solidarity’ (soli), a synonym for ‘brown envelope’ in Ghanaian vernacular, seems to be becoming an accepted practice, to the extent that some journalists believe taking soli is their right. The other challenge pertains to journalist’s reluctance to organise themselves in effective associations. This is quite evident in the fact that the country does not have a national journalist union, and only has the GJA. Women media practitioners have also failed to organise themselves in an association, and thus there are very few gender and media activities in the country. Many newsrooms have no sexual harassment policies or policies that work to promote women to editorial and management levels. This lack of a national union for journalists has also meant that low salaries and poor working conditions for journalists cannot be resisted collectively. Since the last African Media Barometer (AMB) discussion in 2013, very little has improved; this could be one possible reason for lower scores. Going forward, media freedom activists and journalists in Ghana need to harness opportunities that often come when a new political administration comes into power. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who was elected into power in December 2016, has vowed “not to let Ghanaians down,” and promised to put Ghana,” back on the path of progress and prosperity”. The push for enabling media legislation that will give meaning to media freedom provided in the constitution needs to be intensified. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017 9