AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2011 Summary Ghana, the first African country to gain independence from its colonial masters in 1957, is often seen as a model for political and economic reform in Africa. Current President John Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress was elected in December 2008, winning by a very narrow margin over the candidate of the then governing New Patriotic Party. The change of government was peaceful – another sign of the maturing of democracy in Ghana after a series of coups and authoritarian rule in the later part of the 20th century. The “days of the culture of silence” which had prevailed in the country of 24 million people up until 2001 are over. Public discussions and debates are very robust, although the traditionally “authoritarian upbringing” of most people often makes it difficult or even impossible to speak out to, let alone against elders. Freedom of expression is also still inhibited by economic considerations which weigh quite heavily in a country where many young people are unemployed and looking for favours from political elites. With media pluralism and a diverse media landscape there are now more platforms for citizens and journalists to express themselves. Radio is the medium of choice for most Ghanaians, reaching more than 90 per cent of the country. The stateowned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) runs two national radio stations as well as one station in each of the nine regions. They compete for listeners with more than 200 non-state radio stations, around 180 of them commercial and 20 community-owned. In addition to one television channel run by GBC there are ten commercial TV stations. Most commercial media are mere business-driven enterprises with the main objective to make money by advertisers delivering large audiences to advertisers. This has resulted in a trend towards sensationalism. There is also quite a range of print media on the market, but at a cost of half the daily wage of formal workers per copy they are practically unaffordable for ordinary people. The state-owned media, among them the GBC and two major dailies, are “insulated” from government control via the National Media Commission (NMC) established by the 1992 Constitution. The NMC is made up of ten representatives from civil society organisations and five members nominated by parliament and the president respectively. The commission’s main task is to appoint the boards of state-owned media. The appointments are made on the basis of nominations solicited from organisations represented on the NMC. Because the scope of groups involved in the process is limited, there are doubts, especially in regard to AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2011 5