SECTOR 1 1.5 Print publications are not required to obtain permission to publish from state authorities. “The law does not require registration [and or] authorisation prior to publishing. But there is a requirement that notification be given within a period after.” In the Ghanaian context, no prior permission is required for print publications to publish. The NMC, which is an independent, constitutional body, requires print publishers to register with it at least four months after their first publication but does not require prior authorisation to publish. Furthermore, when registering their publication, the NMC does not deny a publisher from publishing; registration serves more as notification of publication, rather than as a request for permission to publish. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 5.0 (2006:n/a; 2008:n/a; 2011:5.0; 2013:4.5) 1.6 Confidential sources of information are protected by law and/or the courts. There are no specific legal protections for confidential sources of information. The GJA’s Code of Ethics, however, stipulates that sources should be protected. “It is not a law, but it is persuasive. If you go before a judge, he[or]she will give thought to this.” Case law also supports the protection of confidential sources of information, and a precedent has been set in this regard. “In almost every case involving confidential sources, counsel has pressed for disclosure. There was a case for example that went to Supreme Court, where the outcome was not for disclosure, and this allows for the High Court to rule that confidential sources of information 18 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017