SECTOR 2 2.12 Government does not use its power over the placement of advertisements as a means to interfere with editorial content. There is no set government policy on advertising, but “our country is such that the government of the day will deny advertising to those critical of it.” “If you are seen to be against the government of the day, there are subtle ways to even prevent advertising.” In the past, certain government officials have questioned as to why the government advertises in media that are critical of the establishment, with one panellist stating that “they ask questions like ‘do you know that you are empowering our enemies by giving them adverts?’” As an example of the government’s tendency to support those who report favourably on them, panellists cited Oman FM, a radio station aligned to the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Before the 2016 election which brought the NPP to power, “you would hardly hear government ads”. Munty FM and Gold FM, on the other hand, which were aligned to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which was formerly in power, were seen to receive much government advertising expenditure because of their support for the former leading party. It remains to be seen how government advertising expenditure will shift under the new dispensation. “Some media houses are well resourced. But when you see changes in government, you also see changes in the resourcing of media houses.” Media houses that are seen to be more balanced in their coverage appear to receive government advertising, even if they carry programming that is now favourable of government. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017 41