Newspaper Coverage of the 2010 District Assembly Election in Ghana: A Content Analysis of Daily Graphic and Daily Guide

Abstract

This study content analysed the January to December 2010 newspapers of the Daily Graphic and the Daily Guide to investigate the coverage of District Assembly elections in Ghana. The objectives for the investigation were to examine the dominant frames used in reporting issues on District Assembly elections, the format used in the coverage, the prominence accorded to District Assembly elections and the frequency of the stories in the various editions. The framing and agenda setting theories supported the study. The findings of the study revealed that the newspapers had not given much attention to issues on the District Assembly elections. Out of the newspapers’ coverage for the entire year, the study obtained 73 stories on the District Assembly elections. Of the 73 stories, 59 representing 80.80 percent of the derived stories were found in the Daily Graphic while 14 stories representing 19.2 percent were found in the Daily Guide. Stories of the District Assembly elections as reported by the newspapers were done using six identifiable frames; education, awareness creation, events and legal frames. The most dominant frame was events with 49.30% and the least being the legal frames with 9.60% of coverage. Both newspapers predominantly framed stories on District Assembly elections as events and hence devoid of in-depth analysis of the issue. This finding implies the predominant use of the straight news story format in covering District Assembly elections as compared to features and editorials. Findings also revealed that stories on District Assembly elections were not given prominence as over 95 percent of the stories sampled were found in pages other than the front page, centre spread or back page. The study concluded that attention was generally not accorded the District Assembly elections by the newspapers as 73 stories were accorded the elections out of the 634 editions of both newspapers for the entire 2010. The study recommends that journalists pay particular attention to the reporting of District Assembly elections given its importance to the democratic and governance structure of the country. In this regard, attention and research should be accorded the issue in order to provide a detailed analysis of the topic in view. This when done will not only educate the public but project the District Assembly elections as an important exercise thereby positively affecting public participation.

Description

Thesis (MPhil.)

Keywords

Newspaper, Election, District Assembly, Ghana

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