SECTOR 4

One panellist noted: “The greatest threat to press freedom emanates from the
owners. There are situations where they interfere, and change the story to suit
their interests or ideologies.”
Profit motivation is determining the standards of the news and how it is presented,
and this may spur self-censorship practices.

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:

3.3 (2006: 3.7; 2008: 3.5; 2011: 2.9)

4.7 Media professionals have access to training facilities offering formal qualification programmes as well
as opportunities to upgrade skills.
There are a number of training programmes for media professionals; and
journalists have several opportunities to “top up” on their programmes towards
attaining degrees.
Institutions that offer programmes in media include the Ghana Institute of
Journalism, the School of Communication Studies at the University of Ghana,
the African University College of Communication, Jayee University College,
the University of Education Winneba and the University of Cape Coast. These
institutions provide quality training to their students, but while they are available,
they are not necessarily affordable for students who want to pursue studies there.
Furthermore, even though they “churn out enough journalists, because media
owners are in it for profit, they go for secondary school graduates so that they
don’t have to pay much”.
Online training courses/facilities are becoming more available, and are more
affordable for students.
Many professionals trained in journalism do not end up in the newsroom, and
many branch into public relations and other communications professions, as
these are often better paid. Likewise, professionals trained in other areas may end

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AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2013

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