Representation of Rural Communities In Television News Broadcasts, A Content Analysis Of Ghana Television (GTV) Evening News Bulletin In 2004.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to research into how rural communities in Ghana are covered and represented by a Public broadcasting television station, Ghana Television (GTV). The study also sought to establish whether there exist a fair balance between the volume of news coverage given to elitist/urban news as opposed to news of, and about, rural communities in the year 2004. The researcher mainly used content analysis as the method of data collection and systematic random sampling was the sampling technique used. A total of 101 tapes, comprising 1353 news items constituted the total sample size for the study. The study showed that generally, GTV's evening news was biased towards urban or elitist based news as against news from rural areas. The study also revealed that the electioneering campaign of 2004 had an impact on the rate and level of coverage of rural news. Indeed, coverage of rural areas greatly increased in November 2004, which was the run - up to the December 2004 elections. On the other hand, coverage of rural areas declined to an all time low in late December 2004 and January 2005; this was the period after the general elections. After the election, the attention of the news shifted to urban Ghana, mainly Accra where all the concentration was about who has won or lost the election. The research brought into focus the fact that news stories, even though they may originate from rural areas are seldom about rural people. In other words, the newsmakers in such news items were often officialdom, political figures and elites in general. The study also found that very little prominence was given to news items from rural areas. Indeed, for the period reviewed, only one news item from a rural area made it to the headlines of the news. The study found out that news of and about rural communities, its people and livelihoods were not considered headline making news. In cases where this type of news was given any prominence at all, it only served to reinforce stereotypes of rural people being poor, dependent and suffering.

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News Bulletin, Television News Broadcast, Ghana Television

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