SECTOR 1 1.10 Civil society in general and media lobby groups actively advance the cause of media freedom. Most of the country’s active civil society organisations and media lobby groups are part of the Right to Information (RTI) Coalition, the members of which include the NMC, various religious organisations, non-governmental organisations, the Ghana Bar Association, and journalists. Civil society and media lobby groups that advocate for media freedoms include the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), and the Trade Unions Congress (TUC). The GJA and the MFWA are the most active of the media lobby groups. There are also a few human rights groups that gravitate towards media causes, “but there are only a handful of those that really champion media rights”. Examples of issues that have mobilised civil society and lobby groups include the Right to Information (RTI) initiative, which has been a matter of concern since 2001, and prompted a symposium on this issue; and the Criminal Libel issue, which generated broad discussion. “Every once in a while when a journalist gets into trouble, there is a groundswell of support for the journalist and the media house involved, especially where a clear case of abuse is involved.” An example of this was during the 2012 elections, when a media house was “boycotted by government” because of its angle of coverage. “People came together to say that government can’t keep that media house out because public information is being disseminated. The Media Foundation and various media personalities placed government under such pressure, that within a fortnight government came to the table and called a ‘ceasefire’.” Media and civil society support of the NMC has been minimal; and the poor attendance by journalists and other media stakeholders at the NMC anniversary celebration was noted as being particularly disappointing. 24 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2013