SECTOR 2 On the whole, it is believed that for the most part, editors of state-owned media houses feel that they can operate fairly independently. 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: 4.3 (2006:3.6; 2008:4.6; 2011:3.7; 2013:4.2) 2.4 Transparency of ownership of media houses in print/broadcasting is guaranteed by law and enforced. “There is no law that keeps you from finding out who owns what, but transparency is the issue. You have to use your own journalistic skills and connections to see how best you can access this information. If you don’t find a way to deal with this, you may find it difficult.” That said, there are no laws that guarantee and or enforce transparency of ownership, nor are there any provisions that enjoin the regulator to publish a log of all media and their owners; whether in print or in broadcasting (wherein the absence of a broadcasting law remains conspicuous). Although newspapers are required to register with the NMC within 4 months of starting publication, they are not required to be registered as companies. As such, information on media ownership cannot always be obtained from the company register. The NMC has no mandate to publish media ownership and has in the past refused to disclose the ownership of a media house for fear of compromising the freedoms of the said media house and its ownership. LI2224, the Content Standards Regulation Law proposed by the NMC and adopted by Parliament in December 2015, contained provisions to regulate broadcast media, including the requirement for operators of public electronic media communication and broadcasting services to obtain authorisation from 30 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017