The Representation of Islam in Ghanaian Newspapers: A Content Analysis of Daily Graphic and Daily Guide

Abstract

This study was done with the purpose of establishing how Islam is portrayed in two Ghanaian newspapers – Daily Graphic and Daily Guide. A quantitative content analysis approach was employed to analyse 172 news stories on Islam published in the two newspapers in 2013, 2014 and the first half of 2015. The study established seven story themes of which religion emerged the highest with 27.3 percent. The theme that recorded the least was violence with 4.1 percent. The study also revealed that the stories on Islam were given a fair level of prominence in newspapers as most of them were enhanced with pictures with some placed on pages such as the front and center spread which are considered prominent. Finally, the results confirmed the hypothesis of the study that the two newspapers were likely to adopt a neutral tone in the coverage of Islam. Out of the 172 stories on Islam that were analysed, 64.5 percent were neutral which contrasts with the extant literature that suggests coverage of Islam is mostly negative. The findings revealed that most of the stories that were coded for as negative in tone were sourced from foreign agencies like BBC and CNN and were mostly terrorist activities. All news items that were written by Ghanaians were mostly positive issues like charity/donations and religious issues like celebration of religious festivals.