"The continual threats against the lives of journalists have been blamed for Ghana’s decline in the World Press Freedom Index ranking for the past two years. Even though much of the evidence for this has primarily been anecdotal, various efforts have been undertaken to compile reports of abuses th ... rough media monitoring projects to give a realistic picture of the status of safety of journalists in Ghana. While these have proven to be critical reference points, they fall short of giving a comprehensive picture of the scope and depth of issues relating to safety of journalists. This study used a survey and key informant interviews to elicit the views and refections of key stakeholders on the matter. Among other fndings, it was established that police, political fanatics, politicians, security operatives, government offcials, and other journalists were among the top perpetrators of safety violations against journalists. Verbal abuse was predominant among violations suffered. Males tend to suffer physical abuse more than females while females, on the other hand, are subjected to more online trolling. Many of the respondents were dissatisfed with the posture of law enforcement agencies and the Ghana Journalists Association concerning journalists’ safety. The study also found that safety provisions by media organisations (e.g., counselling support, legal aid, medical support) need to be improved. The study recommends, among others, that the state must ensure the safety and protection of journalists and that media organisations must make proactive investments to secure the safety of their employees." (Abstract) more

"This article explores the reception practices of multi-lingual audiences in Ghana, focusing on their views on the different norms and approaches of local language and English language radio newscasts. Using data from a convenience sample of 1000 radio listeners in five Ghanaian cosmopolitan cities ... the study finds that audiences prefer more performative modes of news delivery on their local language stations. It was also evident that radio audiences are discerning and make distinctions between what is acceptable on local language versus English language radio. These results call for a reconsideration of western-influenced standards of news delivery and the development of professional standards more accommodating of the inflections of culture." (Abstract) more