SECTOR 4 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: 1.9 (2006: n/a; 2008: n/a; 2011: 2.2) 4.4 Journalists and other media practitioners are organised in trade unions and/or professional associations, which effectively represent their interests. The GJA is in the process of unionising, and “has appointed a labour consultant to champion the cause of unionisation”. A resolution has been passed, and the initial groundwork has been done to this effect. There are professional media associations such as the GJA, Women in Broadcasting (WIB) and others, “but whether they effectively represent the interests of their members is another issue”. The Public Service Workers Union represents the interests of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the Daily Graphic, and other unions such as the Media and Printing Industry Workers Union (MEDIANET) also exist. These unions are “vibrant in ensuring certain labour standards”, but many journalists outside these unions are left out. The GJA is drawing lessons from these and other unions to gain best practices. Ghanaian editors do not have a union, but they do have an Editors Forum. To date, there have not been any complaints from media owners regarding the membership of their staff to the GJA or the proposed union. In any case, “the right to belong to an association or union is a constitutional right, and it would be against the Labour Act to prevent them from doing so. There is no evidence of media houses keeping employees from joining.” In fact, it is said that at Multimedia, as soon as a journalist is employed, he or she is encouraged to register with the GJA. As a union, GJA will aim to “champion the cause of empowering its members, and getting others on board to form one strong body, legally empowered, to collectively bargain for members.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2013 59