SECTOR 1

“You can go to court and have the information released, but there is nothing that
promotes this.” In addition, for journalists that are forced to take this route, their
investigations are exposed.
Beyond being able to access information, “record keeping is really bad. Sometimes
people are willing to give you the information, but they themselves can’t access
it.”
There are also different levels of accessibility for the media, depending on
what the information is being used for. For public relations pieces, accessing
information is easier because the organisation will be presented in a more positive
light. However, accessibility is more difficult when doing investigative pieces that
may compromise the affected organisation or individual.
“As a general rule, ministers and government officials are accessible, and in
a typical day’s broadcast, one can get two or three ministers to speak on an
issue. The real difficulty is in accessing higher levels of information that promote
transparency; such as in matters about procurement, or big money issues.”
“Have we ever seen anyone being promoted for giving too much information?
Certainly not.”

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:

20

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017

2.8 (2006:1.2; 2008:1.4; 2011:2.4;
2013:2.3)

Select target paragraph3