University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF TOURISM: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE DAILY GRAPHIC AND THE MIRROR. BY EZINU ADOGLA-BESSA THIS LONG ESSAY IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FUFULMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MA IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES DEGREE. OCTOBER 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION Except for the references and quotations which have been duly acknowledged, I declare that this dissertation is entirely my own original research, and that it has never been submitted in whole or in part for another degree elsewhere. DR. G.E. SIKANKU EZINU ADOGLA-BESSA (Supervisor) (Student) ……………………….. …………………….. October, 2015 October, 2015 I University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to investigate how the Daily Graphic, Ghana’s most credible and widely circulated paper and the Mirror, Ghana’s number one weekend paper covered tourism in 2013 and 2014. Framing and agenda-setting theories were used to underpin the study. The composite week method was used to draw a sample of 104 out of a universe of 628 editions of the Daily Graphic for content analysis while all 104 editions of the Mirror were content analysed. Straight news stories, features, editorials and letters to the editor were analysed to determine the extent of coverage and how those covered were represented. The findings revealed that the two newspapers did not give enough coverage to tourism. There were a total of 184 (1.08%) tourism stories covered out of 17020 stories in the editions sampled. The Mirror however covered more tourism issues than the Daily Graphic. The Mirror recorded 131(2.16%) tourism stories while the Daily Graphic recorded 53(0.48%) tourism stories. Also, the Daily Graphic gave more prominence (24.4%) to tourism stories than the Mirror (0.00%). The study revealed that the frequently used frames in the study included; cultural heritage, nature tourism, economic benefits, tourism development environmental management and international tourism. Keywords: Newspapers, Coverage, Tourism II University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I thank you Almighty God for the successful completion of this study. A special thank you to my supervisor Dr. G.E. Sikanku for his extraordinary support. I am also grateful to Dr. Gilbert Tietaah. His contributions were of immense help. I have my family to thank for their support and encouragement. My Mum, Dad, Sister and Derick Romeo Adogla. Finally I want to thank Reginald Atta-Kesson, Benson Osei-Tutu and Akua Adoasi Otu for the various ways in which they supported me. III University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION To, Cyril Nii Okaija Okyne IV University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION....................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION......................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 1.0 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Media and tourism ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Economic contributions of tourism .................................................................................. 3 1.3 Forms of tourism experiences .......................................................................................... 5 1.4 Tourism development in Ghana ....................................................................................... 7 1.5 Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 10 1.6 Why the Daily Graphic and the Mirror ......................................................................... 12 1.6.1 The Daily Graphic ............................................................................................................... 12 1.6.2 The Mirror ........................................................................................................................... 12 1.7 Research objectives ........................................................................................................ 13 1.8 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 13 1.9 Significance of study ...................................................................................................... 14 1.10 Organisation of study ................................................................................................... 14 1.11 Definition of terms ....................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 16 2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................... 16 2.1.1 Framing ................................................................................................................................ 16 2.1.2 Agenda Setting ..................................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Related studies on media coverage of tourism ............................................................... 20 2.3 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 23 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 24 3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Content analysis ............................................................................................................. 24 V University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.2 Universe and sampling size ............................................................................................ 25 3.2.1 Sampling .............................................................................................................................. 26 3.3 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 26 3.4 Coding ............................................................................................................................ 27 3.5 Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 30 3.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 30 CHAPTER FOUR: STUDY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................ 31 4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 31 4.1 How much coverage was tourism given by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror?........... 31 4.2 What level of prominence was given to tourism publications? ..................................... 34 4.2.1 Placement ............................................................................................................................. 34 4.2.2 Size of story ......................................................................................................................... 35 4.2.3 Photograph ........................................................................................................................... 37 4.2.4 Coverage of tourism by story type ....................................................................................... 38 4.3 What is the nature of tourism reports? ........................................................................... 39 4.4 Sources cited .................................................................................................................. 40 4.5 Summary of results......................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 50 5.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 50 5.1 Limitations of the study.................................................................................................. 52 5.2 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 52 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 54 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 61 APPENDIX I ........................................................................................................................ 61 APPENDIX II ...................................................................................................................... 62 APPENDIX III ..................................................................................................................... 65 APPENDIX IV ..................................................................................................................... 66 VI University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page 4.1 Coverage of tourism and non-tourism stories by newspapers individually…….……32 4.2 Placement of story in both newspapers………………………………………….…...34 4.3 Placement of story by newspapers individually………………………………….…..35 4.4 Space covered by story in both newspapers……………………………………….…36 4.5 Size of story by newspapers individually………………………………………….....36 4.6 Cumulative coverage of tourism by story type………………………………………38 4.7 Type of story by newspapers individually…………………………………………...39 4.8 Nature of tourism narratives in both newspapers…………………………………….40 4.9 Source of story by each newspaper……………..…………………………………....41 VII University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title Page 4.1 Total coverage of tourism in both newspapers. ................................................................. 32 4.2 Coverage of tourism by newspapers individually ………………………….……………33 4.3 Percentage of tourism stories accompanied by photographs. ............................................ 38 VIII University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Background Paimre and Harro-Loit (2011) assert that events, the significance of people and facts in society become evident through media coverage. One of the ways people come to know about the world and beyond is through the media (Akin, 2005). The media is one of the major avenues through which people depend on for social, political and economic news. This implies that even though the media does not necessarily instruct people on what to think of, they set the agenda for what society thinks about regarding the events and issues that are discussed and these discussions serve as indicators for decision making. In effect, the media influence how the world is perceived because the media constantly provides images and information about places (Couldry and McCarthy 2004; Moores 2005). The media has a great transformational power especially when it comes to people’s image as well as their usage of space (Couldry and McCarthy, 2004; Jansson and Falkheimer 2006). The development of the media industry has made available multiple sources of media including newspapers, television, radio, books, internet and magazines (Urry, 1990). However few of these sources possess newspapers’ advantage of accessibility, affordability and currency (Hill- James, 2006). Much of the information we have on issues relating to society is made possible through newspapers and the ways in which newspapers choose to cover social issues can have important consequences, influencing how individuals in society perceive those issues and their response to them (Dugle, 2013). 1.1 Media and tourism Tourism has become a major industry as it makes significant contributions to many economies. It is therefore an important part of national development. The media is significant to 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh development tourism as it presents information about tourism through, newspapers, magazines, films, house journals, photographs, displays and exhibits, booklets and brochures (Santos, 2006). The newspapers have in more recent times started to publish tourism related information significantly (Parashar and Indolia, 2013). This stresses the relationship between the media and tourism reports. Godahewa (2011) holds the view that, the stronger the destination positioning and brand recall, the greater the chance of attracting these new tourists. Having decided on the destination, tourists may then seek specialist assistance to decide on the accommodation, travel arrangements, tour guide support etc. (Urry, 1990). Branding and positioning the destination is therefore a very important aspect for emerging tourism markets. According to United Nations World Tourism Organisation, media reporting is significant to tourism because the vast majority of travel decisions are made by people who have never seen the destination first hand for themselves (UNWTO 2007). Tourists usually decide on the destination first based on what they have heard or seen from the media. Campbell (2005) affirms that tourist actions are known to be influenced by media providing people with fragments, narratives and representations of potential tourist spaces. No matter how attractive a tourist destination is, many people are unlikely to go there if they do not know about it (Okon, 2013). Media reports therefore provide tourists and potential tourists an image of the kinds of tourism experiences to expect at various destinations. It is worth noting that, tourist services are relatively expensive and are acquired less frequently than other goods and services as they are not basic needs but fulfill the desire to enrich one’s knowledge and experience and to be esteemed (Ravar 2011). Communication and promotion is therefore vital in the development of the industry. A good destination exposure is able to provide the customer with a tangible image of the intangible services he or she is about to experience Godahewa (2011). The media become important in giving exposure to tourism 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh products as it has the characteristics needed in presenting the tourism experiences and services a destination offers in a more efficient and cost effective medium. While media can contribute positively to the development of the tourism industry, there have been occasions where media publicity has adversely affected tourism in several destinations. This is to say that, media, when mishandled, can have negative effects on tourism. It is a well- known fact that “ tourists are scared away from destinations caught in round-the-clock disaster coverage, causing communities dependent on tourism to lose their source of livelihood” (UNWTO 2007). A number of events which have affected the tourism industry due to over- exaggeration by the media include the Ebola epidemic that hit the West African region recently. The unfortunate fatalities and the media coverage of the event was a setback to the region’s tourism industry. (www.tourism-review.com). Media reports have also shown that, tourism events such as the Tour de Afrique, a 4-month cycling expedition received low number of tourists as compared to previous years due to the reports on the Ebola epidemic that hit the region (www.tourism-review.com). This shows how media reportage affects tourist numbers. 1.2 Economic contributions of tourism Tourism has become a major industry as it makes significant contributions to many economies. Indeed, tourist movements have spread geographically to reach practically all countries of the globe. This industry has become for many countries an important economic sector in terms of income generation, foreign exchange earnings and employment creation making it a powerful vehicle for economic growth. The UNWTO has laid down the following objectives for tourism (1) Poverty Alleviation (2) Environmental Regeneration (3) Job Orientation (4) Advancement of women and other disadvantage groups (5) Preservation of monument and heritage sites (Parashar and Indolia, 2013). Any country with a well-managed tourism industry can realize 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh these objectives because during the construction phase of tourism accommodation and services, jobs are created and infrastructure is developed among others. If the country is adequately developed, the investment can generate demand for transport, telecommunications and financial services. Tourism also presents to countries a win-win investment opportunity as every country presents a unique experience. The tourism industry challenges the economic law of comparative advantage because every country presents a unique experience. Honey and Gilpin (2009) observe that, “tourism enables communities that are poor in material wealth but rich in history and cultural heritage to leverage their unique assets for economic development” (p.2). By extension, through the consumption of local products, tourism can act as a catalyst for development of small business in related production and services sectors. Tourism has a catalytic effect on the growth of small businesses that provide the needed goods and services for tourists and the industry as a whole. In 2014, Travel and Tourism alone supported 277 million jobs worldwide. World Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth increased from 2.3percent in 2013 to 2.4percent in 2014. The direct GDP contribution of Travel and Tourism grew also by 3.5percent, up from 3.4percent in 2013. Hence, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates tourism GDP growth of 4.6 - 5.6percent for Sub Saharan between 2015 and 2025 (WTTC, 2015). The WTTC also estimates that 3.8 million jobs could be created by the tourism industry in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) by 2021 if the industry is given the needed attention. In addition, the council states that, SSA has great potential to expand products that are more recently in greater demand, such as nature/adventure tourism, cultural heritage tourism, and travel for wellness, health and retirement purposes. Ghana has benefitted immensely from tourism. The total contribution of the sector to Ghana’s GDP in 2013 was GHC 6.2 million which was 7.2 percent of total GDP. The sector also 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh supported 311,000 jobs which was 2.3percent of total employment in the country in 2013. Hence it important for the socioeconomic development of the nation (WTTC, 2014). 1.3 Forms of tourism experiences Mathieson and Wall (1982) have defined tourism as the temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in those destinations, and the facilities created to cater to their needs. Asiedu (1997) also defines tourism as the movement of people from their permanent places of residence to a temporary stay in another location primarily for pleasure, leisure, recreation and business. Urry (2002) has also defined tourism as a pleasurable experience that involves gazing on different scenes whether they are landscapes, cities or people. According to the UNWTO also, tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes not related to exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited (UNWTO, 2011). Tourism thus involves the movement of people from their usual places of residence to another location to engage in activities not available at their usual location. Tourism products can include tangible and/or intangible elements (Carvalho and Costa, 2011). A tourism destination can be identified with services such as hotels, restaurants, nature sites etc. Tourism is however not limited to the production of goods or services. Sociological and cultural features of the local population and tourists’ behaviour can influence tourism experiences as well. Weiermair (2006), cited in Carvalho and Costa (2011), therefore described a tourism product as an experience. 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh There are many forms of tourism experiences available at various destination. Some destinations may offer more than one of these forms of tourism. The following are some forms of tourism experiences available at various destinations around the world:  Pleasure tourism involves travel to improve the physical and spiritual well-being of an individual. This may take the form of a Spa experience at a destination. Business tourism comprises traveling in relation to business. Most business tourism destinations feature conference centres that cater to the needs of business tourists.  Nature-based tourism includes all forms of tourism where relatively undisturbed natural environments form the primary attraction or setting (Buckley 2009). It can include consumptive and adventurous as well as non-consumptive contemplative activities, which in turn can include ecotourism (Buckley, 2009; Weaver, 2008).  Cultural tourism usually involves travel to experience the essence of assorted cultures, such as cultural festivals. Cultural tourism encompasses the visiting of historic and heritage sites as well. The main motivation behind this is to obtain knowledge about a destination. Arts, music, traditions and history are the main components of culture in a destination.  Recreation tourism features rejuvenation and revitalization. It involves the activity of traveling for pleasure, to see sights. Cruising while vacationing or simply relaxing on a beach constitute this form of tourism. These activities are sometimes classified under nature tourism.  Sports tourism involves either taking active part in or just watch sports events. The Olympic Games and the World cup for instance and world championships attract visitors from around the world. Hall (1992), cited in Hinch and Higham (2001) defines sports tourism as Travel for non-commercial reasons to participate or observe sporting activities away from the home range. 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Health/Medical tourism was defined by the International Union of Tourist Organizations (IUTO), the forerunner to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), as ‘the provision of health facilities utilizing the natural resources of the country, in particular mineral water and climate’ (IUTO 1973: 7, cited in Hall, 2013).  Adventure tourism is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel with perceived (and possibly actual) risk, and potentially requiring specialized skills and physical exertion. The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) defines adventure tourism as a trip that includes at least two of the following three elements: physical activity, natural environment, and cultural immersion (ATDI, 2010).  Ecotourism attracts nature loving tourists who love to go green destinations to enjoy the view of parks and gardens. Ecotourism is tourism and recreation that is both nature- based and sustainable. It minimises negative impacts upon the natural and socio- cultural environment (UNWTO, 2002). 1.4 Tourism development in Ghana Governments all around Africa are showing increasing interest in tourism as a source of growth and diversification and Ghana is no exception. The tourism sector is one of the sectors among other sectors of Ghana’s economy that has emerged and contributed immensely to growth. The tourism industry has had sustainable development over the years (Dokernoo, 2013). According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), tourism is the fastest growing sector of the Ghanaian economy with growth rate of about 17percent. Indeed, tourism has received considerable attention in the economic development strategy of Ghana. The Government of Ghana has at different points in history designated committees to 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh aid in making suggestions and preparing development plans to improve the industry. Ghana’s tourism resources were evaluated for the first time in 1970. A study by a committee called the Obuam Committee in collaboration with stakeholders including the government, the Ghana Tourism Authority and other organizations, analyzed the industry with the purpose of identifying potential and introducing a development plan for tourism. The committee’s recommendations led to the incorporation of tourism into the National Medium Term Development Plan, 1972-1976. In 1973, a Danish Consultancy firm, Hoff and Overgaad through a Danish government partnership prepared another report. Out of this report, a 15 year tourism plan was to be implemented over the period of 1975 to 1990. The plan evaluated Ghana's tourism assets and facilities, the industry's manpower needs and the country's physical, cultural and historical tourism resources. This plan recommended, among other things, the concentration of the initial tourism development efforts along the coast because the coastal region was better equipped with infrastructure than the rest of the country (Hoff and Overgaad Planning Consultants, 1974). Regrettably, the political and economic instability that occurred during this period curtailed any attempts to implement this plan. There were also a number of domestic projects driven at assessing the industry. In April 1991 for example, the National Tourism Task Force was created with the aim to review all the measures implemented under the government tourism policies over the years. The Task Force was to prepare a tourism plan that would serve to guide the development of the industry. This three year development plan which was to start from 1993 to 1995 recommended actions in the areas such as Tourism Policy and Administration, Product and Manpower development, Tourism financing and Tourism related Environmental issues. 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To further demonstrate the government's commitment to the development of tourism, the industry was placed under a full ministerial portfolio, that is, the Ministry of Tourism in 1992 (Asiedu, 1997). The ministry has had many name changes since its creation in the attempt to expand its functions. In 2003, the name was changed from the Ministry of Tourism to the Ministry of Tourism and the Modernisation of the Capital City, due to the expansion of the ministry’s portfolio to include the development of Accra into a modern international capital city. The ministry had another name change to the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations. In 2009, the ministry had its name reverted back to the Ministry of Tourism. In 2013, the name of the Ministry of Tourism was replaced when a new ministry was established through Executive Instrument (E. I., 2013). The ministry became known as The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts (Reed, 2015). Under the Ministry of Tourism, a 15 year tourism development plan was prepared for the tourism industry. The plan, which covered the period from of 1996 to 2010, was prepared with assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Tourism Organisation (WTO). Indeed, the plan was successful as the Government saw the need to develop another 15 year development plan covering 2013 to 2027. This was informed by the successes achieved, the challenges that continued to impact negatively on the sector, as well as competition from other sectors and countries. This plan was prepared to assess how tourism could contribute to the national and local economic development and enhance its role as a leading sector for employment creation, revenue generation, environmental conservation, national cohesion and overall economic growth (National Tourism Development Plan, 2013). The 2013 National Tourism Development Plan spells out the tourism resources available in Ghana, organizing them into four sectors, namely: 1) natural attractions; 2) historical heritage; 3) cultural heritage; and 4) other types of attractions. Natural attractions according to the plan 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh include national parks, resource reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and Ramsar sites. In addition to these designated natural areas there are good beaches, rivers, waterfalls and general scenic beauty. The historic and archaeological sites in Ghana, including the forts and castles along the southern coast, traditional buildings, mosques, churches and major shrines are also attractions. The other attractions include museums, cultural centres, churches and mosques, theatres and libraries, sports and recreation, gold and diamond mines, as well as special facilities such as the Akosombo dam, which has a visitor centre (National Tourism Development Plan, 2013). Based on all the efforts that have been made to develop the tourism industry and the successes these plans have achieved so far, there is the general consensus that Ghana has the potential to develop a viable tourism industry if the sector is well planned (Guba, 2009). It is therefore very vital that governments and tourism development bodies work very closely with the media and promote tourism in a manner that benefits all parties. 1.5 Problem Statement The media is fundamental to the development of modern day tourism (UNWTO, 2012). Tourists usually decide on a destination first based on what they have heard or seen from the media (Godahewa, 2011). Local news media have a potentially influential role to play in putting across domestic tourism issues. According to article 6–6 of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, the press and other media, including modern means of electronic communication . . . should provide accurate and reliable information of tourism services (UNWTO, 2002). Also awareness raising and image building needs well-organised and coordinated promotion involving editorial coverage in appropriate media (National Tourism Development Plan, 2013). Godahewa (2011) opines that, development of tourism is not limited to increasing the number of hotels, restaurants, and other such facilities, rather it has far more to do with creating the 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh culture of tourism and refining the way it is perceived by the people. He further asserts that, the media, especially the local media, play an important role in this regard by working closely with governments and the tourism promotional institutes in promoting and developing the tourism industry. The media supports in the growth, development and promotion of tourism by creating better awareness and understanding to cater for the needs and requirements of both domestic and international tourist. Media coverage can potentially influence tourism numbers. Low press coverage can impact a country’s tourism prospects as coverage of tourism issues by the media provides audiences with knowledge about the tourism industry and the tourism experiences available and possibly whip up interest of audiences to engage in tourism activities. Many attempts have been made by the Ghana government to make tourism a popular activity in the country by creating awareness through the media. In 2013, the Africa Domestic Tourism Development Agency (ADTDA) in collaboration with the Ghana Domestic Tourism Company Limited organized the Africa Domestic Tourism Investment Forum in Ghana on 18th and 19th of September aimed at fostering the promotion and development of tourism. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and creative Arts in April 2014 also launched an initiative dubbed “Explore Ghana” to encourage tourism patronage among Ghanaians by creating awareness through the media on the various tourism experiences available in the country. The Graphic communications group Limited (GCGL) and the Ghana Broadcast Corporation (GBC) partnered this initiative. This study therefore sought to ascertain the extent to which the Daily Graphic and the Mirror cover tourism in the country, the nature of tourism coverage and the prominence given to tourism in these newspapers. 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.6 Why the Daily Graphic and the Mirror 1.6.1 The Daily Graphic The newspaper market in Ghana is led by the Daily Graphic which claims 70 percent of the market share (Daily Graphic annual report, 2012). It is the most widely circulated newspaper in Ghana (Gadzekpo, 2010). The Daily Graphic appears on the newsstands six times a week from Monday to Saturday. Its content includes current affairs, politics, economic issues and foreign news (Nunoo, 2013). The Daily Graphic which is published by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) was established in 1950 by the Daily Mirror Group in the United Kingdom. The Government of Ghana acquired the company by an Act of Parliament in 1962 from its private owners, the Daily Mirror. In 1971, the company became a statutory corporation through a legislative instrument which was the Graphic Corporation Instrument, 1971, LI 709. The company, therefore, became known as Graphic Corporation. In 1999, it took advantage of the Statutory Corporations (Conversion to Companies) Act, 1993, 461, and converted into a public limited liability company under the provisions of the companies’ code, 1963 Act 179 to become Graphic Communications Group Limited (Daily Graphic Annual Report, 2012). The Daily Graphic was chosen to help examine the nature of the articles published on tourism by a non-leisure and tourism oriented newspaper as has been established by its content. 1.6.2 The Mirror Also published by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), the Mirror is the most popular and biggest selling weekend newspaper in Ghana. In 2014, the paper was adjudged the best Tourism Oriented Media for the print media for 2014 at the 10th National Tourism Awards in Accra organized by the Ghana Tourism Authority (Daily Graphic, 2014). The paper covers a variety of issues including recreation, education, developmental, environmental and social matters. Again in 2014, the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Arts and 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Culture collaborated with Graphic Communications Group (GCGL) which is the parent company of the Mirror to promote the “Explore Ghana” initiative. The initiative was aimed at awareness creation on tourism through the media as well as to promote tourism in the country. The Mirror was therefore a credible source for analysing tourism content. These two papers are commonly used for academic research on the media in Ghana. They have been used to ascertain media coverage if various issues in Ghana (Nunoo, 2013; Amponsah, 2012; Dugle, 2013). The period 2013 and 2014 was chosen because it was a reflection of the current state of media reports on tourism in Ghana. 1.7 Research objectives The broad objective of this study was to find out the nature and attention, if any, was given to tourism in 2013 and 2014. The specific objectives were: 1. To find out the level of prominence the Daily Graphic and the Mirror gave tourism. 2. To ascertain how the Daily Graphic and the Mirror framed tourism. 1.8 Research Questions The following research questions were designed to guide the study: 1. How much coverage did the Daily Graphic and the Mirror give tourism between 2013 and 2014? 2. What were the dominant frames used in tourism reports by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror? 3. What level of prominence did the Daily Graphic and the Mirror give to tourism? 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.9 Significance of study Studies have been conducted on media and tourism (Crouch, Jackson, and Thompson, 2005; Jensen and Waade, 2009; Mercille, 2005).The purposes of these studies however did not include the examination of the media to ascertain if adequate attention is being given to tourism. This study provided information on media coverage of tourism in the Ghanaian context. This study was useful for two reasons. First, by examining media coverage of tourism in a country like Ghana which is striving to develop its tourism industry, this study identified how much coverage tourism was given and the nature of the coverage in relation to the forms of tourism experiences available. Secondly, this study has added to the literature on media and tourism reporting in Ghana where the subject is presently relatively understudied. 1.10 Organisation of study To capture the representation of tourism in the newspapers, the study is divided into four chapters. The first chapter serves as an introduction that provides a background, problem statement, research objectives, significance of the study and definition of terms used. In the second chapter, the study discusses the framing and the agenda setting theory and how these media effect theories are used in tourism studies. The study further reviews literature related to the topic. The third chapter discusses methodological strategies to be employed while the fourth and final chapters centre on data analysis, discusses findings and makes relevant recommendations for future studies. 1.11 Definition of terms Coverage: This refers to stories in the Daily Graphic and the Mirror. Newspapers give coverage to an issue when they publish that issue. 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Extent of coverage: The proportion of news that was dedicated to tourism stories. Prominence: This refers to how tourism stories were placed, the amount of space allocated to the story as well as pictures accompanying the stories. Nature/kind of Coverage: This refers to with the type of coverage the Daily Graphic and the Mirror gave to tourism issues. It was concerned with the subject matter of the stories. 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter reviews literature related to the current study. Two major sub-sections are contained in this chapter: (a) theoretical frameworks underpinning this study and (b) relevant and related literature review connected to the topic being studied. The sections on framing and agenda setting will examine the two phenomena as theories of media research and how they help us understand media coverage. The second section on related literature will review studies on media coverage of tourism issues and the role of the media in the tourism industry. Together the chapter provides a theoretical and scholarly framework to guide the study. 2.1 Theoretical framework This section attempts to discuss briefly what framing and agenda setting are, an overview of their basic aspects and the ways in which these theories can be applied to tourism studies. 2.1.1 Framing Framing is a theoretical tradition within mass communication studies that is concerned with how media cover various issues, what they emphasize and omit and what kind of language they use (Chyi and McCombs, 2004; Duncan, 2007; Dimitrova and Connelly-Ahern, 2007). The framing theory is based on the assumption that, how an issue is characterized in news reports can have an influence on how it is understood by audiences (Scheufele and Tewksbury, 2007). Chong and Druckman (2007) opine that, an issue can be viewed from various perspectives and can have various considerations. Many scholars have utilized media framing to understand how the print media presents information. In examining media coverage of issues and events, media scholars adopt framing as a major theoretical approach (Dimitrova and Stromback, 2005; Kim, 2006; Sikanku and 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Amoakohene, 2014). The framing theory is a key component in the study of selection and interpretation of news mainly because, as established by (Bullock, 2001), framing affects how a story is told and in turn influences public perception. This study which is focused on examining media coverage of tourism in Ghana therefore employed framing as one of its theoretical frameworks. Several scholars have offered different definitions and explanations to help us understand the concept of framing (Goffman, 1974; Entman, 1993; Gamson & Modigliani, 1987; Tankard, Hendrickson, Silberman, Bliss & Ghanem, 1991, Stanley and Dennis 2003). Goffman was one of the earliest scholars to concentrate on framing as a form of communication and defined “framing” as a “schemata of interpretation” that enables individuals to “locate, perceive, identify and label” occurrences or life experiences (Goffman, 1974, p.45). Here, frames are schemata that organize information and provide structures for interpretation, and are used to make sense of the world and to influence people. By promoting particular frames, for example in tourism narratives, destinations can be presented in a way to attract tourists. Entman (1993, p.52) in his definition of framing stated that “to frame a communicating text or message is to promote certain facets of a perceived reality and make them more salient in such a way that endorses a specific problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or a treatment recommendation”. This definition of framing dwells on the selection and salience of a news piece and not only what news piece there is but also what there is to be left out or treated as not as important. Similarly, Stanley and Dennis 2003, (cited in Okaka, 2007) explain framing as a process of selective control over media content or public communication. Thus framing defines how media content is put together to allow only the content that reflect the interpretations the media desire to be put into the public domain at the expense of others. 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Tankard, Hendrickson, Silberman, Bliss, and Ghanem (1991) have described a media frame as ‘‘the central organizing idea for news content that supplies a context and suggests what the issue is through the use of selection, emphasis, exclusion, and elaboration’’ (p.3). This definition associates frames with a framework upon which words are arranged; frames provide these words structure and meaning. Entman, 1991; Pan and Kosicki, 1993 have identified the commonly used framing method as repeating (frequency) and highlighting (duration) certain keywords, concepts, symbols and images. When a person’s exposure to an issue, a place, cultural traditions or traits, etc. is limited, the frames presented to them in the media become the main reference for creating the individual frames. Entman (1993) identified four functions of frames in media: to define problems, diagnose causes, make moral judgments, and suggest remedies. Within the context of tourism research, framing analysis allows the identification of the angles journalists capture in the reporting of tourism which in turn reveals the organising principles that determine which information to be exclude or included in a variety of tourism narratives (Reese et al., 2001). Santos (2002) argues that frame analysis can therefore help “determine the images and themes frequently presented about tourist destinations” (p.50). A tourist destination may become known through the framing process that the media go through in presenting the destination to audiences (Sapkota, 2013). A tourist can only decide to visit a destination until he or she knows and remains updated about the tourist destination. Applying the framing theory in this study can therefore help to establish the repetitive themes used in tourism stories that appear the Daily Graphic and the Mirror. 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.1.2 Agenda Setting Another prominent area of media research is agenda setting, which involves the transmission of object salience (McCombs et al., 1997). McCombs and Shaw (1972) are the scholars often credited with the first systematic study of agenda setting theory. The agenda setting theory is based on the precondition that people’s choice of daily information for discussion is dependent on what the media wants them to talk about. Agenda setting was an early theory given by Lippmann and later improved by McCombs and Shaw. The agenda setting theory states that the news media have a large influence on audiences because they have the power to set agendas for the discussion of salient issues by the public by determining what stories are considered newsworthy, how much prominence and space they are allocated and how frequently issues are covered. Coupling this theory with that of framing, researchers have been able to study the influence of mass media in the formation of public opinion. Research in agenda setting examines the degree to which the media transfer the salience of an item to audiences. Cohen (1973, p.13), was the first to state the agenda setting hypothesis: the press “may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about”. The media may not necessarily tell audiences what to think, they however tell audiences what to think about. While agenda setting refers to what issues are being deliberated in the public domain, framing refers to how issues are deliberated and what kind of interpretations are used by the media (Schultz et al., 2012). Previous studies have confirmed the strong agenda setting effects of print media. By covering an issue, the print media increases the relative importance of that issue, and by covering some issues and not others, the media influences what issues people think about. Moshrefzadeh et al 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (2013) state that, the news media acts as a channel for information between policy makers and the general public, and provide cues about what issues should be on the forefront of people’s concerns. They further point out that print media, as a major information source, particularly in relation to local issues can shape public attitudes. Hence, local news media have a potentially influential role to play in reporting tourism, making it the forefront of people’s concerns. According to (McCombs et al., 1997), issues prominent to the media picture become prominent to the audience picture. Thus, through repetition and consistency of coverage, the media influences what audiences think about. As a result, information becomes more accessible and influences judgments or decisions (Bakir, 2006; Nisbet and Huge, 2006; Matthes, 2007). Rather than how the information about an issue is presented, it is the fact that the issue has received a certain amount of processing and attention that carries the effect (Scheufele and Tewksbury, 2007). The agenda setting theory is therefore relevant to this study because the media’s decision to highlight tourism and consistently report tourism issues is expected to draw the attention of potential tourists to the forms of tourism attractions available and promote the destinations in which these attractions are found. By incorporating media framing with agenda setting, Entman believes that readers can better comprehend how and why framing occurs in the media. “Agenda setting serves as the first function of framing as it defines the problems worthy of government attention.” (Entman, 1993.p.165). This study applied media analysis to tourism in the Ghanaian the context. 2.2 Related studies on media coverage of tourism Relatively little research has been undertaken on the media and the coverage it gives to issues from the perspective of tourism in Ghana. An extensive search on media coverage of tourism 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh yielded very few results. This suggests that the communication field has not given much attention to the issue of tourism. Studies have however been conducted in other countries. Okon (2013) conducted a study to ascertain how tourism in West Africa is promoted in Nigerian newspapers. A content analysis of three purposively sampled newspapers in Nigeria was done. Analysis was done by looking at how the Nigerian press, through content, promote heritage (tourist) sites in West Africa by favourably projecting them and making them a destination of choice. Findings revealed that the inability of the newspapers to constructively package tourist sites in West Africa is among the reasons why the sub-region is still not where it should be in the tourism industry. The population for the study was 543 issues of The Guardian, The Nation and The Punch for the six months study period. In terms of sample size, 36 issues of the newspapers were sampled and studied using a composite method. Coding of content into categories was made along the line of straight news, feature, editorial and advertorial. The study revealed that the coverage given to tourism in West Africa by the newspapers studied was not extensive. Cumulatively, the newspapers studied devoted 7percent of their straight news space to straight news reporting while no space was devoted to editorials on the subject matter. For features, approximately 13percent was devoted to the subject matter while for advertorial 7percent of the advertorial space was devoted to the subject matter. In general, the subject matter, tourism in West Africa, did not enjoy a fair coverage, both in terms of editorial and advertorial space by the newspapers studied (Okon, 2013). Santos (2004) conducted a study to find out how Portugal was represented in American travel articles. The framing theory was adopted for the study. The purpose of the study was to identify the frames used in the narratives about tourism in Portugal in travel sections of selected American newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today). All feature articles published in each of the newspapers between 1996 and 2002 were 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh identified. Feature articles were selected due to their reporting style which offer greater detail, thus making them more appropriate for the study of the tourism writers’ approach to the significance of certain themes. Furthermore, they are considered more suitable in revealing the modes of sociocultural representation since they concentrate on a particular destination. The seven-year time frame was selected to examine the representation of Portugal as a destination, as well as trace any eventual changes in the newspapers’ general focus. Articles in which the words “Portugal” or “Portuguese” appeared in relationship to the words “tourism,” “travel,” “leisure,” “discovery,” “journey,” or “vacation” were identified. The study identified some general narrative characteristics, as well representations of Portugal and the Portuguese. Two types of frames were generally used in these tourism narratives about Portugal. These were the traditional and contemporary frames Santos (2004). The traditional frame was drawn from the following themes: culture, history, adventure and exploration. The contemporary frames used included themes such as urbanization, socio-cultural development, and promotion of leisure experiences. The preservation of culture and the promotion of Portugal as an urban town was also a frequent occurrence in these narratives. Pan, Tsai & Lee (2011) analysed two New Zealand tourism television commercials, launched separately in 1999 and 2007. The aim of their study was to assess the destination image as framed through tourism television commercials. The study combined video content analysis procedure and a film analysis methodology. It was realised that established themes such as “nature” and “adventure” remained salient in the new television commercials. The way of life of the local people was also emphasized in the new commercials. The old television commercials however focused on “culture, history and art”. Tourists who were not the focus in the old television commercials were the main focus in the new television commercials. However, local people’s way of life, customs and even characteristics become more obvious and salient in the new television commercials. 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.3 Summary This chapter examined how the media construct reality through framing. It also examines how the media draws audiences’ focus to what think about through agenda setting. Framing can be used to enhance an individual’s understanding of an issue as well as serve as a learning process in which people acquire information or new knowledge on issues. New attitudes or opinions towards issues are formed as a result of framing effects. Agenda setting on the other hand involves the transmission of object salience by making them more prominent. Issues prominent to the media picture become prominent to the audience picture (McCombs et al., 1997). Since people choose tourists destinations based on what is reported by the media (Godahewa, 2011), the media is very instrumental in tourism development as it helps to bring to the attention of audiences to tourism. Issues such as destinations, costs, and transport facilities among others are made known to potential tourists through the media (Fodness & Murray, 1997, cited in Hall, 2003). Finally, the chapter reviewed related studies on the topic. 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This section discusses the methods employed in executing the study. The study adopted the quantitative content analysis method in examining how tourism is represented in the Daily Graphic and the Mirror newspapers. The papers were selected for the study based on their nationwide reach and readership. The Daily Graphic being a daily and the Mirror a weekend paper helped ascertain whether the daily newspaper covers tourism news differently from the weekend newspaper. The study focused on publications in the years 2013 and 2014. 3.1 Content analysis Content analysis is a common method employed for media analyses and has been previously employed in tourism research (Ruhanen, McLennan, & Moyle, 2011; McLennan, Becken & Moyle 2014). Content analysis is a method of analyzing messages of certain communicators (Severin with Tankard, 1988). By extension content analysis methodology enables an objective, systematic and quantitative description of media content (Babbie, 1986; Neuendorf, 2002). Wimmer and Dominick (2011) assert that, content analysis may be used for five purposes, namely, describing communication content, comparing media content to the real world, assessing the image of particular groups in society, testing hypotheses of message characteristics and establishing a starting point for studying media effects. Content analysis is essential to finding patterns, based on which scholars and researchers can methodically evaluate news media and its use of framing. In turn, this allows for the comparison of possible agenda setting in news. According to Hesse-Biber & Leavy (2011, cited in Ogundol, 2013), 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh content analysis is appropriate for the study of topical issues, comparison of media coverage of similar events, and representations of historical or current events by the media. This method was deemed appropriate for this study because of its reliability in analyzing relevant media content as well as giving accurate and dependable results. The function of this quantitative study was to identify and count the occurrence of certain characteristics and salient features of texts. A quantitative content analysis was employed in this study. Results were presented using basic descriptive statistics such as frequency tables, charts and graphs for comparative purposes. Doing content analysis involves having to construct a coding frame. A coding sheet was therefore developed for the study. This is a set of themes into which material can be allocated. The choice of themes were dependent upon the questions that the study sought to answer. The construction of the coding frame was done by using a logical and consistent sample of the data (about 10 percent). It was ensured that coding frame was reliable in the sense that, if two people were to analyse the same material with the same aims, the same results would be uncovered. 3.2 Universe and sampling size The universe of this study included all editions of the 2013 and 2014 Mirror and Daily Graphic newspapers. The Daily Graphic appears six times in a week, from Monday to Saturday while the Mirror newspaper appears once a week. There were therefore six hundred and twenty-eight (628) editions of the Daily Graphic and one hundred and four (104) editions of the Mirror for the period under study. 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.2.1 Sampling According to Wimmer and Dominick (2003), a sample is a subset of a population that is representative of the entire population. Wimmer and Dominick also state that it is necessary to sample because it will not be prudent to study an entire population because measurement of large number can often affect measurement quality. Sampling for the Daily Graphic was done using the composite week sampling method. A random sample of one Monday was drawn from all possible Mondays in a month, one Tuesday also drawn from all possible Tuesdays in a month. This was done until all the days in the week had been included. This ensured a representation of all the days in the week since news content changes depending on the day of the week. All editions of the Mirror were however used since it only appears once a week. The sampling technique produced one hundred and forty four (144) editions of the Daily Graphic newspaper and one hundred and four (104) editions of the Mirror newspaper. The study analysed two hundred and forty eight (248) newspapers in all. The number of articles analysed amounted to 17020. 3.3 Data Collection Sampled editions were collected at the library of the Department of Communication studies, University of Ghana. Data was collected with a self-designed coding sheet. The unit of analysis was the stories or articles on tourism that appeared in the newspapers. The stories qualified for analysis if at least one-third of the piece discussed tourism. The newspaper content categories that were considered for analysis included straight news stories, features (including columns), opinions, editorials and letters to the editor. 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.4 Coding The newspaper publications relating to tourism were initially coded into key issues, which were then coded into key themes (Maddison & Watts, 2011), in order to identify issue framing. Following Newman (2012), open and axial coding was used to draw out key themes from the data. First, an examination of the newspapers content was done to identify emergent themes. Second, descriptions based on terminology used were assigned to each article. Third, descriptions that contain similar messages were combined and labeled and the frames were developed out of those themes. It was realized that themes such as “culture” (traditional heritage, historical background) and “nature” were consistent with previous tourism frames (Santos, 2004; Pan, Tsai & Lee, 2011). Variables on the coding sheet included newspaper, date of publication, total number of stories, total number of tourism stories, type of story, space covered by story, source of story and photographs. A coding sheet was developed based on definitions outlined below: 1. Prominence  Here issue placement was accessed. Placement here refers to the page on which the news article is found.  The space covered by the story was also taken into consideration. It was measured by determining whether the story covered two pages, one page, three-quarter page, half page, quarter page or less than quarter page.  Photographs that come with stories were coded for as well. 2. Framing In presenting tourism to its audiences, news stories can be framed to highlight certain aspects of a destination. The dominant frames that have been found in most studies that 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh have been undertaken to determine how tourism stories are presented to audiences are the cultural and nature frames. In addition to these established frames from literature, other frames (recreation, tourism and environment, economic benefits, tourism development, and international tourism) which emerged from initial examination of part of the data as well as extracted from literature were also be coded for in this study. The dominant frames were described as follows.  Cultural heritage narratives: The cultural heritage frames constitute narratives which refer to tradition, art and culture, heritage and history of a destination.  Nature-based tourism: This frame refer to articles that highlight themes such as discovery, adventure or exploration as well as wildlife.  Recreation-centered frame: This frame includes themes that focused on relaxation on a beach and boat ride experiences.  Economic-benefits frame: This frame includes narratives that centred on the foreign exchange earnings tourism can accrue as well as the employment opportunities the industry presents.  Environmental management frame: This includes narratives that stress the link between tourism and the environment and the importance of a clean environment to a sustainable tourism industry.  Tourism growth and development frame: This frame captures themes consisting of the provision and development of infrastructure for the tourism industry.  International tourism frame: This frame considers narratives that featured international destinations. 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Other: Narratives that do not specifically speak to any of the frames above and were be placed in this category. Themes such as event tourism, rural tourism and industrial tourism were placed in this category. 3. Sources: This refers to an individual, a group or an organisation that is quoted/paraphrased in a story as the original provider of the information serving as the basis of the story. This is for the purposes of determining the sources used by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror in their coverage of tourism issues. The data was collected under the following sources: Expert: any person with the requisite knowledge in tourism e.g. Scholars from the tourism field, tourism industry players. Journalists: This includes journalists and media houses. Official sources: Such as ministers of state, DCEs, MPs, ambassadors and all representatives of government. Travel writers: These include writers who share stories and observations about the destinations thy have explored. Advocacy groups: These include NGOs and any other organised group that concerns itself with the tourism industry. Other: This includes sources which are not mentioned in the categories above such as chiefs and opinion leaders. 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4. Story Type This was examined in terms of Straight News items, Features (Including columns), Editorials, Letters to the editor, opinions and ‘’Other’’. 3.5 Analysis Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. This made it possible to quantitatively analyse the coded content in terms of patterns and relationship. The analysis was presented using frequency distribution tables and pie charts, informed by the research questions of the study. Statistical analyses were made in percentage terms and frequency counts with respect to the tables and charts. Findings were discussed in line with the scholarly works and theories within which the study was situated. 3.6 Summary This chapter has presented the methodology used for the study. It has outlined the specific methods and techniques used to collect the data and explained the reasons for those choices. The chapter has also specified all variables to be measured during the data collection process as well as the processes used in analysing data. 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR STUDY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.0 Introduction This chapter presents the findings and discussions of the study. The chapter presentation is guided by the objectives and research questions set out for the study. The chapter is presented under the following sections; the total number of tourism stories reported by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror, the prominence (space and photographs) given to tourism and the nature of tourism stories. 4.1 How much coverage was tourism given by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror? There were a total of 17020 stories in the 248 editions sampled for both the Daily Graphic and the Mirror. The Daily Graphic recorded 10960 stories from the 144 editions sampled while the Mirror recorded 6060 stories from the 104 editions sampled. The Daily Graphic recorded 53 (0.48%) tourism stories out 10960 stories while the Mirror recorded 131 (2.16%) tourism stories out of 6060 stories. Cumulatively, there were a total of 184 tourism stories recorded in the newspapers representing 1.08% of all stories published within the study period. 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 4.1 Total coverage of tourism in both newspapers. 1.08% 98.92% Tourism stories Non tourism stories Figure 4.1 above shows that tourism coverage by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror was not as extensive as other stories such as politics. Tourism reports covered just a little over one percent of total coverage in the two newspapers. Table 4.1 Coverage of tourism and non-tourism stories by newspapers individually NEWSPAPER Total number of Total number of non- Total tourism stories tourism stories Daily Graphic 53 0.48% 10907 99.52% 10960 100% Mirror 131 2.16% 5929 97.83% 6060 100% Total 184 1.08% 16839 98.93% 17020 100% Table 4.1 indicates that, out of 17020 stories published by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror in the study period, 16839 representing 98.93percent were on non-tourism issues and 184 representing 1.08percent were tourism related. Of the 184 tourism related publications in both 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh papers, 53 representing 28.80percent of tourism stories were published by the Daily Graphic and 131 representing 71.20percent were published by the Mirror. This is illustrated in figure 4.2 below. Figure 4.2 Coverage of tourism by newspapers individually 28.80% 71.20% Daily Graphic Mirror From figure 4.2 above, it can be seen that, out of the 184 stories recorded, the Mirror recorded more than the Daily Graphic did. This could be attributed to the orientation of the Mirror newspaper as weekend/leisure newspaper. The Mirror also has a column dedicated to tourism stories in addition to other tourism stories published on other pages. This could also be due to the fact the partnership the Graphic Communications Group had with the Ministry of Tourism in 2013 to create tourism awareness using the Mirror as the dedicated medium ( Daily Graphic, 2014). 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2 What level of prominence was given to tourism publications? 4.2.1 Placement One indicator used to determine the prominence given to a story is the page on which the story is published. The front page is generally considered as more prominent, followed by the back page and then the centre page. Stories which are therefore placed on any of these pages are considered as prominently placed. Table 4.2 Placement of story in both newspapers PAGE OF STORY Frequency Percent Front Page 4 2.2% Back Page 1 0.5% Centre Spread 9 4.9% Other 170 92.4% Total 184 100% Table 4.2 above shows that, out of the 184 tourism stories published by the two newspapers studied, 170 stories representing 92.4percent of the tourism related stories were found on pages other than the front, back and centre pages. The front page recorded 4 tourism related stories representing 2.2percent. The back page recorded 1 story representing 0.5percent while the centre spread recorded 9 stories representing 4.9percent of tourism related stories under the study period. Cumulatively, 14 stories representing 7.6percent of the tourism stories were prominently placed. It is clear that generally tourism stories were not prominently placed. 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.3 Placement of story by newspapers individually PAGE OF STORY FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE Daily Graphic Mirror Daily Graphic Mirror Front Page 4 0 6.70% 0.00% Back Page 1 0 1.70% 0.00% Centre page 6 0 11.32% 0.00% Other 42 131 79.724% 100.00% Total 53 131 100.00% 100.00% From the table 4.3, none of the stories published in the Mirror was found on the front, back or centre pages. This means that the Mirror in terms of placement did not give prominence to the tourism stories published within the study period. The Daily Graphic out of 53 tourism stories covered, placed 4 stories representing 7.7percent on the front page, 1 story representing 1.7percent on the back page and 6 stories representing 11.32percent in the centre spread. In sum, the Daily Graphic’s prominence rate (20.75percent) was higher than that of the Mirror (Zero percent). The Daily Graphic’s higher prominence rate could be attributed to the fact that the paper cited more official sources. Official sources tend to get more attention than other sources and are therefore prominently placed. 4.2.2 Size of story The size of a story is measured in terms of the amount of space it covers in the newspaper. This could also give an indication of how important that story is and hence determines its level of prominence. Prominent stories are given more space than non-prominent stories. 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.4 Space covered by story in both newspapers SIZE OF STORY Frequency Percentage 2 pages 13 7.06% 1 page 31 16.84% ¾ page 12 6.52% ½ page 97 52.72% ¼ page 22 11.96% Less than ¼ page 9 4.89% Total 184 100% From table 4.4 above, 97 stories representing 52.72percent of the 184 stories covered ½ of the newspaper page. This was followed by one page with 31 stories representing 16.84percent. Next were stories occupying ¼ page which were 22 representing 11.96percent. The number of stories that occupied two pages were 13, this represents 7.06percent of the total number stories coded for. Stories occupying ¾ page were 12 representing 6.52percent whiles stories occupying less than ¼ page were 9 which represents 4.89percent. It can therefore be concluded most of the stories in both newspapers occupied ½ page and therefore were quite prominent. Table 4.5 Size of story by newspapers individually SIZE OF STORY Frequency Percentage Daily Graphic Mirror Daily Graphic Mirror 2pages 2 11 3.77% 8.40% 1 page 18 13 33.97% 9.92% ¾ page 5 7 9.43% 5.34% ½ page 19 78 35.85% 59.54% ¼ page 6 16 11.32% 12.21% Less than ¼ page 3 6 5.66% 4.58% Total 53 131 100% 100% 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh From table 4.5 above, only 2 stories representing 3.77percent occupied two pages of the Daily Graphic while 11 stories representing 8.40percent occupied the two pages in the Mirror. Stories that occupied one page in the Daily Graphic were 18 representing 33.97percent whiles 13 stories representing 9.92percent occupied one page in the Mirror. Out of 53 stories, the Daily Graphic had 5 stories on ¾ page representing 9.43percent. The Mirror on the other hand had 7 stories out of 131 stories on ¾ page representing 5.39percent. Also, stories found on ½ page of the Daily Graphic were 19 representing 35.85percent while the Mirror had 78 stories on ½ page representing 59.54percent. The number of stories covering ¼ page in the Daily Graphic was 6, representing 11.32percent as against 16 stories in the Mirror representing 12.21percent. This means that, overall, the Mirror in terms of space gave more prominence to the tourism stories published within the study period. 4.2.3 Photograph There were a total of 8559 photographs that accompanied a total of the 17020 stories recorded in both newspapers. This means that for every two stories, there was one photograph attached. Of the 184 tourism stories coded for, there were 144 photographs recorded. This means that there was an average of one photograph per story. This is illustrated in figure 4.3 below. 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 4.3 Percentage of tourism stories accompanied by photographs. 21.20% 78.80% Yes No It is safe to conclude that the newspapers analysed enhanced the prominence of the stories by accompanying them with photographs. 4.2.4 Coverage of tourism by story type Newspapers stories are published under four broad categories namely; straight news stories, feature articles, opinion pieces, editorials and letters to the editor. The results of the study show that 64.7percent of tourism stories published in the newspapers analysed were feature stories. There were hardly any letters to the editor and editorials. This is shown in table 4.6 below. Table 4.6 Cumulative coverage of tourism by story type TYPE OF STORY Frequency Percentage Straight News 54 29.3% Feature 119 64.7% Editorial 1 0.5% Letters to the Editor 1 0.5% Opinion 7 3.8% Other 2 1.1% Total 184 100% 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh When analysed individually however, the Daily Graphic had more stories in the straight news category while the Mirror had more stories in the feature category. Also, the Daily Graphic had more opinions stories than the Mirror. The Daily Graphic failed to record any editorial stories while the Mirror recorded one. This is shown in the table 4.7 below. Table 4.7 Type of story by newspapers individually TYPE OF STORY Frequency Percentage Daily Graphic Mirror Daily Mirror Graphic Straight News 35 19 58.3% 15.3% Feature 10 109 18.87% 83.21% Editorial 0 1 0% 0.8% Letters to the Editor 1 0 1.7% 0% Opinion 6 1 10.0% 0.8% Other 1 1 1.7% 0.8% Total 53 131 100% 100% 4.3 What is the nature of tourism reports? Tourism narratives are replete with various themes from which frames can be derived from for analysis. These frames help to appreciate the multifaceted and unique nature of tourism experiences. During the open coding process a variety of themes were discovered. Various frames were then derived from these themes through axial coding. 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.8 Nature of tourism narratives in both newspapers FRAMES Frequency Percentage Cultural Heritage Narratives 50 27.2% Nature-based tourism 33 17.9% Recreation centered 7 3.8% Economic benefits 14 7.65% Environmental management 8 4.35% Tourism growth and development 8 4.3% International tourism 18 9.8% Other 46 25% Total 184 100% Table 4.8 presents the common frames that were found in the tourism stories published in the Daily Graphic and the Mirror. The table reveals that, the most common frame was cultural heritage which appeared 50 times representing 27.2percent of the 184 tourism stories recorded. Nature-based tourism was the second most common frame which appeared 33 times representing 17.9percent of the tourism stories in the two newspapers. The least common frame was Recreation which appeared 7 times representing 3.8percent of the frames coded for. 4.4 Sources cited The data above revealed that journalists were the most frequently cited sources in the Daily Graphic followed by official sources. The Mirror on the other hand cited more travel writers than any other source. The second most frequently cited sources in the Mirror were journalists. Advocacy groups were the least mentioned sources in both newspapers. 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.9 Source of story by each newspaper SOURCE OF Frequency Percentage STORY Daily Graphic Mirror Daily Graphic Mirror Expert 5 10 9.43% 7.63% Journalist 30 23 56.60% 17.55% Official sources 8 6 15.09% 4.5% Advocacy groups 2 0 3.77% 0.0% Travel writers 3 84 5.66% 64.12% Other 5 8 9.43% 6.10% Total 53 131 100.0% 100.0% 4.5 Summary of results The results will be summarized in light of the three research questions set out to guide the study. Research question 1: How much coverage do the Daily Graphic and the Mirror give tourism? It has been established by this study that, there were a total of 184 tourism stories recorded in both newspapers representing 1.08percent of the 17020 stories published within the study period. It can be concluded from these numbers that there was limited coverage of tourism by the two newspapers. Comparatively however, the Mirror gave more coverage than the Daily Graphic. The data revealed that, the Mirror published tourism stories in most of the editions sampled. Of the 184 tourism stories recorded in both newspapers, the Mirror recorded 131 tourism stories making it the paper that gave more coverage to tourism during the period under study. This may be partly due to the paper’s collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism in 2014 to promote tourism in the country. The finding is consistent with the study by Okon (2013) which sought to find out how well Nigerian newspapers through content, projected the tourism 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh potentials of West Africa. The findings of the study revealed that the subject matter did not receive adequate coverage in the three newspapers (The Guardian, The Nation and The Punch) analysed under the study period. The media interprets issues, giving them more or less significance through the amount or type of coverage provided. The less coverage an issue is given, the less importance audiences attach to the issue. The amount of media coverage of an issue may however not reflect its actual importance in real terms. The tourism sector can indeed enjoy a boost in terms of increased awareness of tourism among citizens which translates into increased patronage and increase in earnings in the tourism sector through newspaper coverage. Research Question 2: What are the dominant frames used in reports by the Daily Graphic and the Mirror? The study analysed the common themes in the tourism narratives published in the newspapers. This was done to ascertain how tourism was represented in these two newspapers. It was discovered that, the themes that run through the stories were centered on festivals, history and art which constituted the cultural heritage frame. Other themes that were prominent involved ecotourism, adventure and wildlife which constituted the nature frame. Other frames that were generated from the data were: recreation tourism, economic benefits of tourism, environmental management, tourism growth and development and international tourism. Cultural heritage frame This frame highlighted the preservation and promotion of cultural and arts tourism in Ghana. The frame also emphasised the preservation of the, traditions and history of destinations featured in the stories. The Mirror recorded more frames on cultural heritage than the Daily 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Graphic. Most of the stories in the Mirror stressed on historical and cultural heritage tourism preservation and promotion. One of the editions of the Mirror captured a headline that read “the Mirror launches national tourism week; to make citizens know country’s history”. This article, for instance, promoted tourism by making audiences aware of the heritage sites in the country as some of them were mentioned in the article. A portion of the article read: “Areas marked for the celebration which is scheduled from December 8-13, 2014 include the Black Star Square, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial park, and some typical African markets in Accra…” This emphasises the cultural heritage related sites available and draws the attention of readers to these sites. This finding is consistent with Santos (2004) who studied how Portugal was framed in the news. The study found two types of frames generally used in these tourism narratives on Portugal. These were the traditional and contemporary frames. The traditional frame was drawn from themes, including culture, history, adventure and exploration while the contemporary frames were drawn from themes such as urbanization, socio-cultural development, and promotion of leisure experiences. The preservation of culture and the promotion of Portugal as an urban town was also a frequent occurrence in the tourism narratives analysed. Nature frame The key issues that made up this frame included tourism experiences in destinations that offer adventure, ecotourism as well as wildlife experiences. In Ghana, paragliding and rock climbing were the most frequently featured as adventure tourism activities. The individual experiences recounted on nature tourism encouraged the patronage of these experiences, while at the same time appealed to authorities to develop the infrastructure leading 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to and at these destinations and also market them well enough to attract both domestic and international tourists. The Mole national park and the Dodowa forest were cited as wildlife destinations that had not seen much support from government in terms of maintenance and improvement of infrastructure to appeal to tourists. Stories that sought to promote nature tourism recounted experiences at destinations visited. A story on Shai Hills which was captioned “Not shy of Shai Hills” gave audiences a feel of what to expect when they visit the place. The story captured phrases like “…it is the biggest wildlife experience one could have without moving too far from Accra (the capital city).” “It is an adventure, a rather safe one.” This story captures adventure tourism in a way that draws the attention of readers to the destination. This finding resonates with the study conducted by Pan, Tsai & Lee (2011) who sought to assess the destination image as framed through tourism television commercials. The study revealed was that established themes such as “nature” and “adventure” remained salient in the new television commercials. Recreation frame This frame was drawn from themes that included parks and gardens as well as spa destinations. The tourism stories on recreation promoted the creation of parks for relaxation especially of children in order to inculcate the habit of domestic tourism in them at an early age. While the Daily Graphic’s tourism stories were largely on efforts being put in place by tourism authorities to develop recreation tourism in the country, the Mirror’s stories were from the perspective of individual experiences with recreation tourism in the country and enjoining people partake in such experiences as it helps to relax and relieve stress. The stories, through the words used, transported readers to see, touch, feel, smell and hear the texture of the places that were featured in the newspapers. These kinds of stories tend to inspire others to embark 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh on the journeys they have read about, serving as an important promotional tool that sets the agenda of the tourist experience. Tourism growth and development frame The tourism stories that constituted this frame featured comments by domestic tourists, chiefs and community members who stressed the lack of effective planning and policies needed to provide a strategic framework for the development of the tourism industry. The stories entailed grievances about the lack of adequate support by the public sector, concerns over the slow pace of development that has been taking place in the tourism industry in Ghana, and dissatisfaction with the infrastructure at and leading to the various destinations among others. The lack of maintenance in relation to tourism facilities was also a key concern in these tourism related stories. One of the stories also compared Nzulezu which is a tourist site in Ghana to Ganvie, a tourist site in Benin. The two destinations that have similar characteristics, that is, they are both villages on water. The narrative pointed out the vast development in infrastructure leading to and at Ganvie which was contrary to the situation in Nzulezu where the road leading to the destination was deplorable. The writer stated that “the trip to Nzulezu is an adventure on its own”. This stems from the many risks one encounters on the journey to the said destination. Contrary to the tourism narratives by individuals and community members which mostly mentioned the lack of effective steps by government and stakeholders to develop the industry, there were news stories on tourism that informed readers on efforts made by authorities such as the Ghana Tourism Authority to standardize the industry as part of efforts to develop the industry. One such headline read "Tourism Authority closes down hospitality facilities” and “Ghana Tourism Authority sanctions Dynasty restaurant.” These story featured efforts by 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh tourism authorities towards the development of the industry by routinely checking and standardizing practices among tourism operators. Economic benefit frame The major themes that made up this frame encompassed stories on the foreign exchange earnings that could be raked from the tourism industry and the income generation opportunities available to citizens especially in the destinations where tourist attractions were located. The main sources in these stories were official sources such as the minister for tourism and experts such as professors from educational institutions. “According to the Minister of tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, in 2012, Ghana recorded 993600 foreign tourists, with a corresponding value of US$1.704 billion. Also, the tourism sector had created about 359000 job opportunities and estimated that by 2027, Ghana would be receiving 4.3million tourists, with the value of US$8.3 Billion.” This is an example of the common themes that dominated this frame. Environment management frame The themes in this frame covered insanitary conditions of the beaches in Ghana as compared to destinations such as Miami which has very beautiful, clean and serene beaches. Stories pointed out the link between tourism and the environment and also pointed out the need for important policies to be formulated and actions implemented to ensure that the environment is protected and that tourism contributed to sustainable development. One of the stories that formed a part of this frame was titled “A letter to Bojo Beach and a cue for the Tourism Ministry.” The story recounted the insanitary conditions at one of the top resorts in Ghana, Bojo Beach and asked the management of the resort to manage the situation appropriately. The story also drew the attention of the Tourism Ministry to take measures to ensure the facility 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and other facilities adhered to the strict environmental conditions set out by tourism authorities in order to attract tourists. International tourism The tourism stories that made up the frames featured countries other countries such as Germany, China, Korea and South Africa. The most frequently mentioned form of tourism associated with these countries was cultural tourism. The cultural tourism experiences mentioned included, cuisine and traditional festivals. Other frames that emerged from the international tourism stories but did not emerge from the tourism stories on Ghana included sports tourism, religious tourism, film tourism and business destination tourism. It was noted that, the stories on the international destinations were full of commendations on the structured nature of the tourism industry in terms of infrastructure. Tourist numbers in those countries were also high because people take pleasure in tourism activities. This is contrast with the tourism stories on the Ghanaian tourism industry. Other The stories that made up the “other” category did not fall under the established frames used in categorizing tourism stories. Event tourism, which featured the viewing of the eclipse, casino tourism, rural tourism, which featured the palm kennel, leather and shea butter industry all located in rural communities the northern region of Ghana made up this frame. Rural tourism encompasses a wide range of activities that offers the opportunity for visitors to directly experience the lifestyle and livelihood of a place. These forms of tourism experiences did not also fall within the established frames used in categorizing tourism stories. 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Research question 3: What level of prominence do the Daily Graphic and the Mirror give to tourism? The placement, space covered, type of story and the photographs that accompany the story are the elements that determine the prominence of a story. Noteworthy is the fact that newspaper reportage uses placement to accord salience to any subject matter Okon (2013). In line with the agenda-setting theory, prominence of stories were measured using the following categories: story placement, space covered by story, type of story and picture accompaniment. Newspapers tell readers what is most important and meaningful through their placement of stories. In this regard, media houses place the stories they deem most important on the front, back or centre pages. While the placement of a story in a newspaper is important, the placement on a page is also important (Okon, 2013). Also stories that are deemed important are placed towards the left of the page as most people read from left to right. The study found out that only 23% of the stories were found on the front, back and centre pages while 76% represented the stories that were found on the other pages. It is however interesting to note that a few of the stories that were neither found in the front, back and centre pages were placed to the left of the page. It can therefore be concluded that a lot more needs to be done in terms of the placement of tourism stories to make them appear more salient to readers. The finding corroborates the work of Okon (2013) who found in his study of selected Nigerian newspapers that tourism stories were not prominently placed to draw readers’ attention easily. He inferred therefore that the newspapers did not accord salience to tourism. The use of photographs also points out the importance a news editor attaches to a story. Brooks, Kennedy, Moen and Ranly (2011) suggest that readers of texts are often attracted to a story by the photographs that accompany it. Furthermore they posit that photographs serve as the medium through which the drama associated with the story is communicated to the audience. This study found out that more that 50 percent of the tourism stories were accompanied by 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh photographs. It can be established therefore that the Daily Graphic and the Mirror attempted to attract readers to tourism stories. With respect of the type of story, most of the tourism stories were in the category of features. Unlike news articles, features are stories that are well researched. Feature stories therefore have depth and diversity. The straight news approach of reporting does not provide opportunity for issues to be explored beyond the basics of what was said, where and when. It can therefore be concluded that, the tourism stories were well researched and therefore have depth and diversity. Furthermore, they are considered more suitable in revealing the modes of sociocultural representation since they concentrate on a particular destination. In the case of story space, most of the tourism stories in both newspapers occupied ½ page. Tourism stories in the Mirror were on average much more prominent than those in the Daily Graphic. In contrast to the study by Okon (2013), this study found out that there were deliberate attempts by the tourism stories and narratives to build appeal with the view of encouraging a boost in the industry. The agenda setting theory states that the news media have a large influence on audiences. It has been established in mass media research that the media has the power to set agendas for the discussion of salient issues by the public by determining what stories are considered newsworthy, how much prominence and space they are allocated as well as how frequently they are covered. 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION 5.0 Introduction It has been established that the tourism sector presents numerous development opportunities to countries (UNWTO, 2012; ATDI, 2010). The sector’s contribution to Ghana’s GDP is immense (97.2%). The sector also supports jobs, employing over 2% of the country’s workforce. Hence tourism is important for the socioeconomic development of the nation (WTTC, 2014). It has also been noted that the media is a power tool that can make or break the tourism industry and therefore its involvement in the tourism industry is essential. This study set out to ascertain how much coverage the Daily Graphic and the Mirror newspapers gave tourism, the level of prominence the stories were accorded and the nature of the stories published in 2013 and 2014. This was achieved by doing a content analysis of the two newspapers. The total number of tourism stories covered by the two papers were compared to the total number of issues published within the study period. This helped to determine the extent to which tourism was covered by both newspapers. The study found out that the coverage given to tourism within the period under study was minimal. This is seen in the infrequent appearance of tourism issues. Between the two newspapers however, the Mirror gave more coverage to tourism than the Daily Graphic. Prominence given to tourism was defined by placement of stories, space covered by story, type of story and whether or not the story was accompanied by a photograph. The study revealed that the Daily Graphic gave more prominence to tourism stories than the Mirror in terms of 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh story placement. The Daily Graphic recorded more front page and centre spread stories than the Mirror which recorded no stories on these pages. In terms of photographs also, the Daily Graphic gave more prominence to tourism issues published as the number of photographs accompanying stories were more than that of the Mirror. In terms of space covered however, the Mirror gave more prominence to tourism as the stories published covered more space. With reference to the framing of tourism reports, this study concerned itself with the dominant frames in the tourism stories with reference to the different forms of tourism experiences available. The dominant frames that were derived from this study were: cultural heritage, nature, recreation, environmental management, tourism growth and development, economic benefits and international tourism. The study also found out that, as destinations were being promoted, problems were identified and attempts were also made to offer solutions. Tourists who had visited destinations and have had a feel of the tourism experiences offered solutions the most. The study revealed that the most common frame used in the representation of tourism in Ghana was cultural heritage. The fact that cultural frames featured prominently indicates that cultural dynamics are valuable in tourism representations. This is in line with other studies that also came out with similar findings on the representation of tourism (Santos, 2004; Pan, Tsai & Lee, 2011). The fact that cultural issues receive high coverage means that Ghana must focus on cultural elements in projecting the country. Cultural heritage enables cultural identities to be created and promoted. Stakeholders in the tourism industry can use culture as a way to attract and promote tourism beyond its geographical boundaries. This will preserve and maintain the cultural heritage to make it attractive to visitors. The study also revealed that most of the tourism stories published were feature stories. The fact that the story most of the articles on tourism were feature stories means that tourism issues 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh received in-depth reportage. Features are stories that are well researched and involve personal perspective, personal observation and experiences. Feature stories therefore have depth and diversity and are considered more suitable in revealing the modes of sociocultural representation since they concentrate on a particular destination. Existing research on representation of tourism have addressed western countries (Santos, 2004; Pan, Tsai & Lee, 2011; Iwashita, 2006). This study contributes to representations of tourism in lesser researched countries such as Ghana. Thus this research is important because, representation helps to uncover the tourism features of various countries and newspapers contribute to such representations. It is hoped that this study will expand our knowledge about tourism representation in Ghanaian newspapers. 5.1 Limitations of the study Due to time constraints, the study was limited to content analysis only. It would have been interesting to know if these tourism stories in newspapers have any influences on people’s perception of destination and on their choices in relation to their tourism activities. Further studies could find out people’s perception about how the media represents Ghana’s tourism destinations. In addition, the sample could be expanded to include other media. 5.2 Recommendations The findings of the study suggest a number of recommendations. Since newspapers contribute to our understanding of the world, they contribute to the construction of social reality as far as tourism is concerned. Ghanaian newspapers should therefore proactively focus on tourism and its associated issues of great concern in the country. Consequently, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ghana Tourism Authority, civil society organisations who have an interest in tourism 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh should ensure that the media does not only cover tourism activities but give it more prominence as well. There should be an increased effort by Ghanaian newspapers to deploy content in the light of framing and salience to uphold and encourage domestic tourism amongst Ghanaians. This can be done by positioning places and events within the country as destinations of choice through editorials and features. These efforts will serve as a source of tourism knowledge and inspire audiences to patronize tourism experiences they have read about especially in features. Also, the Daily Graphic and the Mirror should be encouraged to use its editorial columns as platforms to constructively engage in advocacy geared towards offering solutions on how the government and stakeholders can reposition and grow the tourism industry in Ghana. In addition, tourism authorities and stakeholders should proactively package and market the industry through public information and promotional campaigns through the newspapers. This will increase tourist visits and act as a catalyst for the development of infrastructure to accommodate increasing tourist numbers. 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Economic Impact of travel and tourism 2015 Annual update (world economic impact report). http://www.wttc.org//media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/economic %20impact%202015%20summary_web.pdf 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDICES APPENDIX I CODE SHEET A. Newspaper 1. Daily Graphic 2. Mirror B. Date of publication………….. C. Page of story 1. Front page 2. Back page 3.Centre spread 4.Editorial page 5.Other D. Space covered by story (column centimeter)………………. E. Source of story 1. Expert 2. Journalists 3. Official sources 4. Advocacy groups 5. Travel writer 6. Other F. Type of story 1. Straight news 2. Feature 3. Editorial 4. Letters to the editor 5.Opinions 6. Other G. Frames 1. Cultural heritage narratives 2. Nature-based tourism 3. Recreation centered 4. Economic benefits 5. Environmental management 6. Tourism growth and development 7. International tourism 8. Other H. Photograph 1. Yes 2. No I. Total number of photographs in edition………………. J. Total number of stories in edition……………………… K. Total number of stories coded for……………… 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX II CODING GUIDE SHEET All tourism stories that appear in the newspaper should be coded by entering the appropriate figure unto the space provided on the coding sheet. For example for category F (Type of story), enter 1 for straight news item, 2 for feature articles, 3 for editorial 4 letters to the editor 5 for opinions and 6 for other as indicated. To qualify as substantive, at least one-third of the piece has to discuss tourism issues, to ensure that is not simply a passing comment or reference. A code sheet should be completed for each story that is coded. For example if there are two stories in an edition, code each story on a separate coding sheet. A. Newspaper: Indicate 1 for the Daily Graphic and 2 for the Mirror. B. Date of Publication: Write out the date of each publication (in digits) in the space provided, starting with the day first and the year. (For example: 01/01/13 for the 1st January, 2013 edition) C. Page of story 1. Front page 2. Back page 3. Centre spread 4. Editorial Page: The page on which the editorials of the newspapers appear. 5. Other page: Any other page that is not stated above. D. Space occupied by story: Measure in centimeters the length and breadth of the story. Multiply the two figures obtained and enter the result in the space provided. E. Sources 1. Expert: any person with the requisite knowledge in tourism e.g. Scholars from the tourism field, tourism industry players. 2. Journalists: This includes journalists and media houses. 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3. Official sources: Such as ministers of state, DCEs, MPs, ambassadors and all representatives of government. 4. Advocacy groups: These include NGOs and any other organised group that concerns itself with the tourism industry. 5. Travel writers: These include writers who share stories and observations about the destinations they have explored. 6. Other: Other sources which are not mentioned in the categories above such as chiefs and opinion leaders. F. Type of story 1. Straight news 2. Feature (including column) 3. Editorial 4. Opinion 5. Letters to the editor 6. Other G. Frames 1. Cultural heritage narratives: This includes tourism narratives on tradition, history, ancestry and festivals. 2. Nature based tourism: This includes articles on ecotourism, wildlife and adventure tourism. 3. Recreation centered: This includes articles that focus on tourism based on relaxation such as enjoying the scenery at the beach and boat rides. 4. Economic benefits: This includes articles that state the foreign exchange earnings and the employment opportunities that tourism offers to a country. 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5. Environmental management: This includes narratives that stress the link between tourism and the environment and the importance of a clean environment to a sustainable tourism industry. 6. Tourism growth and development: This includes addresses issues such as the development and maintenance of tourism facilities and infrastructure leading to tourist destinations. 7. International tourism: This category features narratives about tourism destinations outside Ghana. 8. Other: This category caters for narratives that speak on tourism forms that do not fall under any of the categories above and were not frequently mentioned. H. Photograph: 1. Yes 2. No I. Total number of photographs in edition: This excludes photos that come along with advertisements/classifieds, announcements and any such items. J. Total number of stories in edition: All advertisements/classified, announcements are excluded. K. Total number of tourism stories coded for: Indicate the number of tourism stories that were coded in an edition. 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX III NEWSPAPER EDITIONS ANALYSED Edition dates analysed Daily Graphic 2013 Month Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday January 27 1 16 24 11 26 February 25 12 20 28 8 2 March 18 26 20 28 1 9 April 8 30 10 18 5 27 May 20 7 22 16 17 11 June 17 18 5 13 21 15 July 8 30 10 18 26 27 August 26 6 14 15 2 31 September 30 17 25 13 6 21 October 7 22 16 10 18 26 November 18 11 27 7 1 21 December 9 3 18 5 13 2 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX IV NEWSPAPER EDITIONS ANALYSED Edition dates analysed Daily Graphic 2014 Month Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday January 27 1 16 24 11 26 February 25 12 20 28 8 2 March 18 26 20 28 1 9 April 8 30 10 18 5 27 May 20 7 22 16 17 11 June 17 18 5 13 21 15 July 8 30 10 18 26 27 August 26 6 14 15 2 31 September 30 17 25 13 6 21 October 7 22 16 10 18 26 November 18 11 27 7 1 21 December 9 3 18 5 13 2 66