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: 2.3 (2006: 4.7; 2008: 4.0; 2011: 3.5) 4.5 Journalists and media houses have integrity and are not corrupt. There is a high level of corruption in Ghana’s media. Journalists overtly “ask for something” from news sources; and news sources often concede, feeling that they have no choice if they want their news published. Some media houses have strict policies against journalists soliciting funds in this way. Multimedia, for example, has “told the whole world that their journalists should not be given any money, because they receive a travel allowance. If they take money, they are sacked”. The Dispatch has a similar policy. The corruption present in the media is not only the fault of the media, but also of the givers of these bribes or “soli” payments. A few panellists felt that these incentives cannot be seen as bribes. “We are faced with the reality of many journalists who are not paid at all, and media houses that can’t afford to pay travel allowances. If an event organiser, out of his/her generosity provides an amount, one can’t turn it down.” However, the taking of such payment questions the integrity of the story, and of the journalist him/herself. One panellist differed though, saying “GHC 40 or 50 (about USD18 or USD 22.50) is not going to sway a journalist of integrity to tell a story differently”. Most panellists agreed however, that it should be the employer, and not the news source, who pays the journalist. “If a story is newsworthy, they shouldn’t have to pay. Stories will not fly if they are not newsworthy,” noted a panellist, adding that stories that are paid for bring down the standard of the media, because “the story is published because it is paid for, and not because it is newsworthy”. 60 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2013