University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE COVERAGE OF GHANA’S MALE AND FEMALE MINISTERS IN THE MEDIA AND WHY THEY MADE THE NEWS BY ANITA NUNAME AVUMEGAH (10599699) THIS DISSERTATION IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MA COMMUNICATION STUDIES DEGREE. OCTOBER 2017 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I declare that, I have personally undertaken this study under the supervision of the undersigned. The works of other scholars that were used in this study have been duly acknowledged. …………………………………….. …………………………….................... Dr. Gilbert Tietaah Anita Nuname Avumegah (Supervisor) (Student) Date…………………………………. Date…………………………………… i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION This work is first of all dedicated to God Almighty for His grace and blessings which kept me going throughout my period of study. I also dedicate this work to my family for the continuous love, encouragement and support they have shown me. I am eternally grateful. ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to acknowledge God Almighty for the opportunity and the means to undertake this programme through which this study was made possible. My heartfelt appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr. Gilbert Tietaah of the Department of Communication Studies (University of Ghana) for the constructive criticism and tireless direction and encouragement which led to the completion of this work. I am truly grateful for your time and efforts. I also wish to thank Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo, Dr. Margaret Amoakohene, Dr. Sarah Akrofi- Quarcoo, Dr. Marquita Smith, and Dr. Abena Yeboah-Banin for the opportunity to have benefited from their wealth of wisdom and experience during my course of study. To Mr. Benson Osei-Tutu, I say a big thank you for the continuous IT related assistance which was offered freely and willingly. My final thanks go to my family and friends for the support shown me in completing this work and to Maxfield of statology.com for the assistance with my data analysis. I am grateful for your patience and your time. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT The main aim of this study was to compare the coverage received by Ghana’s male and female ministers in the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers and to determine what role gender played in the selection, framing and placement of these news stories. In order to achieve the aims of the study, a mixed methods approach was employed. Quantitative content analysis was used to examine and compare the coverage received by male and female ministers in the newspapers, in terms of quality, quantity and prominence. In-depth interviews with reporters of the same newspapers were used to determine the role played by gender in the selection, framing and placement of these stories. The composite week method was used to sample 132 issues of both newspapers while purposive sampling was used in selecting four respondents for the in-depth interviews. The study was underpinned by the Symbolic Annihilation and Framing theories. The findings showed that male ministers received more than half of the total coverage. Female ministers recorded more stories with negative tone compared to male ministers. The findings also showed that male journalists reported more on male ministers while female journalists reported more on female reporters. However, female ministers received more prominent coverage than their male counterparts by dominating on the front, centre and back pages of the newspapers selected for the study. Recommendations were made for further studies to expand the range of media, notably radio, television and the growing social media platforms. News houses and political organizations should also develop policies of affirmative action to encourage greater attention to women as gender, political and social minorities in Ghana. iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………i Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..iii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….iv CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1Background to the Study ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 The Role of the Media in Democratic Governance…………………………………………………………………..1 1.1.2 The Ghanaian Media .................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.3 Women in Media Content............................................................................................................ 3 1.1.4 Women in Ghanaian Media Content ........................................................................................... 4 1.1.5 Ghanaian Women in Politics ........................................................................................................ 6 1.1.6 Portrayal of Women in Politics .................................................................................................... 7 1.1.7 Portrayal of Female Politicians in the Ghanaian Media ............................................................... 8 1.2 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................................. 9 1.3 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 10 1.4 Research Questions....................................................................................................................... 10 1.5 Significance of the study ............................................................................................................... 11 1.6 Scope of the Study ........................................................................................................................ 11 1.7 Historical Overview of the Newspapers under Study……………………………………………………………..…12 1.7.1 The Daily Graphic ....................................................................................................................... 12 1.7.2 The Daily Guide .......................................................................................................................... 13 1.8 Definition of Terms ....................................................................................................................... 13 1.9 Organisation of the Study ............................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................................ 15 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 15 2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 15 2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 Framing Theory .......................................................................................................................... 15 v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.1.2 Symbolic Annihilation ................................................................................................................ 17 2.2 Related Studies ............................................................................................................................. 19 2.2.1 Western and oriental Studies .................................................................................................... 19 2.2.2 Related studies in Africa. ........................................................................................................... 27 2.3 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................................................... 30 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................... 30 3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 30 3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................................ 30 3.2 Quantitative Content Analysis ...................................................................................................... 31 3.3 In-depth Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 31 3.4 The Study Population .................................................................................................................... 32 3.5 Unit of Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 32 3.6 Sampling Technique ...................................................................................................................... 33 3.7 Data Collection .............................................................................................................................. 34 3.8 Coding Technique.......................................................................................................................... 34 3.9 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 42 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................................... 43 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................................. 43 4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 43 4.1 Content Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 43 4.1.1 Coverage by Newspaper ............................................................................................................ 44 4.1.2 Subject of Story .......................................................................................................................... 45 4.1.3 Research Questions (RQ) ........................................................................................................... 47 4.1.4 Type of Story .............................................................................................................................. 47 4.1.5 Focus of Story by Subject ........................................................................................................... 48 4.1.5.1 Focus of Story by Newspaper ................................................................................................. 49 4.1.5.2 Issue-frame ............................................................................................................................. 50 4.1.5.3 Personality-frame.................................................................................................................... 51 4.1.6 Story Format/Enhancement ...................................................................................................... 52 4.1.7 Tone of Story .............................................................................................................................. 54 4.1.8 Research Questions.................................................................................................................... 54 4.1.9 Placement of Story ..................................................................................................................... 55 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.1.10 Research Questions (RQ) ......................................................................................................... 58 4.1.11 Source of Story ......................................................................................................................... 59 4.1.12 Context of Story ....................................................................................................................... 60 4.1.13 Gender of reporter ................................................................................................................... 62 4.2 In-Depth Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 63 4.2.1 Selection of news stories ........................................................................................................... 63 4.2.2 Placement of news stories ......................................................................................................... 64 4.2.3 Framing of News Stories ............................................................................................................ 64 4.2.4 Consideration of Gender in the Selection and Placement of News Stories ............................... 66 4.2.5 Nature of Coverage .................................................................................................................... 67 4.2.6 Steps Female Ministers Should Take In Order To Attract More Coverage ................................ 68 4.2.7 Research Questions (RQ) ........................................................................................................... 69 CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................................................. 70 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 70 5.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 70 5.1 Quantity of Coverage .................................................................................................................... 70 5.2 Stereotyping of Women in the Media .......................................................................................... 71 5.3 Unfavourable Coverage Received by Women in the Media ......................................................... 72 5.4 Coverage and Prominence ............................................................................................................ 73 5.5 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 74 5.6 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................................ 74 5.7 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 75 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................ 76 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................ 82 APPENDIX A: Coding Guide ..................................................................................................................... 82 APPENDIX B: Interview Guide ................................................................................................................. 86 APPENDIX C: Interviews .......................................................................................................................... 87 vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Differences in the Quantity of Coverage Received by Male and Female Minister……………………..46 Table 2: Subject of Story by Newspaper…………………………………………………………………………………………………46 Table 3: Type of Story by Subject…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..48 Table 4: Focus of Story by Subject………………………………………………………………………………………………………...49 Table 5: Issue-frame by Subject……………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….51 Table 6: Personality-frame by Subject…………………………………………………………………………………………………...52 Table 7: Story Format/Enhancement by Subject…………………………………………………………………………………….53 Table 8: Tone of Story by Subject…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..54 Table 9: Placement of Story by Subject………………………………………………………………………………………………... 57 Table 10: Placement of Story by Newspaper………………………………………………………………………………………….58 Table 11: Source of Story by Subject……………………………………………………………………………………..………………59 Table 12: Source of Story by Newspaper…………………………………………………................................................60 Table 13: Context of Story by Subject…………………………………………………………………………………………………...61 Table 14: Gender of Reporter by Subject………………….…….…………………………………………………………………….62 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Coverage by Newspaper………………………………………………………………………………………………………….45 Figure 2: Focus of Story by Newspaper………………………………………………………………………………………………….50 viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study The importance of the media to society is first evident through its ability to bring to the attention of the public, events that happen around them and also inform them on relevant issues, to enable them make certain useful decisions in different aspects of their lives. It is for this reason that Croteau and Hoynes (2014, p.18) stated that “from a sociological perspective, the media play a crucial role in almost every aspect of our lives”. Without the media, vital information, knowledge, entertainment, and in the information age, communication with others, will be difficult if not impossible (Webster, 2002). The media are so powerful that the messages it sends out, could influence the audiences that receive them. It is therefore necessary that information given out by the media, is accurate and balanced. This study seeks to explore the role the media plays in Ghanaian politics, by looking into the way ministers are covered using a gendered frame. Therefore, the coverage male and female ministers received in selected newspapers will be compared, to determine whether female ministers in Ghana receive equal coverage as their male counterparts, where quantity, quality and prominence are concerned. 1.1.1 The Role of the Media in Democratic Governance Buckely, Duer, Mendel and Siochrú, (2008) in highlighting the important role of the media in democracy and good governance, quoted Pippa Norris, director of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Democratic Governance Group, by summing up the role of the media into three main parts. He stated that the media act “as a watchdog over the powerful, 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh promoting accountability, transparency and public scrutiny, as a civic forum for political debate, facilitating informed electoral choices and actions; and as an agenda-setter for policy makers, strengthening government responsiveness, for instance to social problems and to exclusion” (Buckley et al. 2008, p. 12). It is evident then that the media contribute to democracy by bringing to the attention of the public, what public officials are doing right or wrong, thereby making them accountable for their actions. The media also gives the public the voice that they need to contribute to the governance process by making their concerns known to the authorities and at the same time suggesting solutions to these problems. 1.1.2 The Ghanaian Media The contributions of the media in Ghana to democracy has been widely acknowledged in scholarly and anecdotal observations (Tietaah 2013; Tietaah 2015; Gadzekpo 2007, Karikari 2007). The media in Ghana dispense their watchdog role, by tirelessly reporting on the activities of public officials and bringing to light incidences of corruption and public accountability on the part of these officials. They also perform their civic forum role by giving the Ghanaian public the voice to address issues that are of importance to them and also informing the public on pertinent issues regarding policies that affect them. These roles are further strengthened by the diverse nature of the media system in Ghana. This diversity of the media in Ghana can be attributed to the (relative) freedom that they enjoy under the far reaching provisions of Chapter 12 and other consequential clauses of 1992 constitution. It is also reflected in Ghana’s relatively high ranking of 26th position in the latest report of the World Press Freedom Index, 2017. The freedom the press in Ghana enjoy, enables them perform their roles without fear of persecution or prosecution and gives the opportunity for the establishment of private media organisations. This represents significant progress, considering the range of restrictive decrees and laws that defined the country’s media 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and political history, especially during the periods of military rule. According to Gadzekpo (2007, p.96) during this period, media content was censored, laws on defamation and newspaper licensing were re-instituted, the private press faced intense pressure and editors and journalists were appointed by government, making the media more beholden to the government than to the citizens. However, with the return to democratic rule in 1992, the media was assured the freedom and protection to freely discharge their duties. In addition, the National Media Commission was instituted, to insulate the state media from governmental control and ensure that journalists perform their duties with as much professionalism as possible (Gadzekpo 2007, p.96). This paved the way for the establishment of several private media organisations. According to the National Communications Authority (NCA), as at June 2017, there were 505 authorised radio stations in Ghana with 392 in operation and 117 television stations with 51 of them on air. According to The National Media Commission (NMC), there are 827 newspapers and 157 magazines in Ghana (Yeboah-Banin, 2016). With the increase in media houses comes the opportunity for the Ghanaian public to access information with ease and convenience, as some media houses even operate in the various local languages. 1.1.3 Women in Media Content Several studies have revealed a persistent bias in the way women are covered in the media through stereotypes, trivialization and underrepresentation, as compared to the coverage men receive. According to Ryan (2013, p.13) “the media continues to cover female politicians in gendered terms, focusing on their marital status or appearance and emphasizing stereotypically “female issues like education and healthcare”. Major and Coleman (2008) have also suggested that although the media may have made some progress where the coverage of women is concerned, they still indulge in the stereotypical portrayal of women, through the issues they cover and the 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh type of stories they write. Ross and Carter (2011) also revealed that when women did appear in the news, they were mostly covered as victims, eye candy or as mothers. This goes to show that stereotyping in news reportage still remains a problem for women. With regards to the underrepresentation of women in the media, Khan (1994) suggested that women received less coverage in the media compared to men. Studies conducted by Ross, Evans, Harrison, Shears and Wadia (2013) and Hooghe, Jacobs and Claes (2015) also stated a huge difference in the volume of coverage received by male and female politicians, with females receiving less coverage. The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2015 report revealed that in the last five years, there has been no improvement in the coverage women receive in the media with regard to quantity. The report showed that “women make up only 24% of persons heard, read about or seen in newspaper, television and radio news” (GMMP 2015, p.8). This is exactly the same figure recorded five years ago. In addition, the underrepresentation of women in the media is not only limited to the traditional (print and broadcast) media but has also found its way into new electronic media forms, showing only 26% of people in internet stories and media news tweets to be women (GMMP 2015, p.8). It is therefore evident that where news coverage is concerned, men received better coverage than women with regards to both quality and quantity, making it difficult for women to make significant achievements especially where politics is concerned. 1.4 Women in Ghanaian Media Content Several studies in Ghana have shown media portrayals of women confining them to traditional and domestic roles, ignoring their achievements and the fact that more and more women are venturing into previously defined male fields. Asiedu and Ampofo (2012) discussed the stereotypical portrayals of women as sexual objects, exploitative, unfaithful, unreliable, enchantresses, witches, 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh jealous, competitive and materialistic in popular Ghanaian music and music videos. This was attributed to the music industry in Ghana being largely male dominated. In Ghanaian movies also, it is very common to see women portrayed as evil, weak, gentle, homely, as sex objects and gold diggers. Owusu & Kwansah-Aidoo (2012) stated that although efforts are being made by feminists and female producers to rewrite the story of Ghanaian women, there are still several cases of the stereotypical portrayals of women in movies. Ofori-Birikorang and Donkor (2014) also argued that women were constantly portrayed in domestic fields that reinforce negative societal perceptions about their roles in society, even though the Ghana National Media Commission and feminists have stressed the need to avoid such depictions of women in the media. It is clear then that though efforts are being made to change previously held notions and stereotypes about women in the media, the situation remains the same. This depiction of women by the media contributes to limitations most women place on themselves leading them to accept the traditional and domestic roles imposed on them by society without striving for more, or stepping out of their comfort zones into male dominated fields. Women still fare worse than their male counterparts in other media forms, aside popular media. With regards to the functions played by men and women in news stories, Yeboah and Kimani (2011) revealed that men were covered more as experts and spokespersons than women, although by narrow margins. Men were also more likely to be quoted directly and paraphrased in news stories than women. Looking also into the role of women as newsmakers or sources, Yeboah (2010) stated that women were significantly underrepresented in news coverage, with the men receiving a significantly higher proportion of coverage. This again shows that even in Ghana, women were still at a disadvantage where media coverage is concerned, be it in the news or in popular media. 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.1.5 Ghanaian Women in Politics The contributions of Ghanaian women in politics, especially in ministerial positions, can be traced as far back as the struggle for independence. Tsikata (1989) has stated that the Convention People’s Party (CPP) upon attaining independence in 1957 recognised the hard work and contributions of women to the independence struggle and this translated into a few women holding high political offices such as members of parliament, deputy ministers and district commissioners. This shows that the participation of women in politics and public life in Ghana, can be traced as far back as independence. For this reason, Ghana was recognised as one of the first African countries to introduce a quota system for women (Allah-Mensah 2015). Yet women’s involvement remain minimal compared to men, prompting political parties to promise to appoint some percentage of women in government should they be voted into power. Today, more women have been appointed to prominent positions although there is still a wide gap in the deficit of women in comparison with men. According to Ocran (2016) although there has been significant and steady improvements in the number of female ministers in government from 2000 to date, there is still more to be done. It should be noted that even with changes in government after each election, women have maintained their positions or are still appointed to high political offices (Ocran 2016). The number of women occupying public offices through political appointments keeps rising, showing the efforts of governments to include women in the political process. According to Yovonoo (2016), as at July 2016, there were seven women ministers of state (representing 25% of the total number of ministers), three in cabinet and four non-cabinet members. There were also five deputy ministers (representing 26% of the total number of deputy ministers), and three deputy regional ministers (representing 30% of the total number of deputy regional ministers). In the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, women represent 27% 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of ministers appointed by the president, very close to the promise he made of appointing at least 30% of women into public office positions (Citifmonline.com, 26/04/2017). However, this is not much different from the records of past governments. 1.1.6 Portrayal of Women in Politics Various studies conducted by different scholars have supported the claim that women in politics do not receive equal coverage as compared to men and that the little coverage they do receive is mostly biased against them or is unfavourable to them. Lünenborg and Maier (2015) have shown that the media describes politics as a male field by emphasising the gender of women and suggesting that they belong to the ‘second sex’ where politics is concerned. Therefore, women are still considered as greenhorns in the field of politics, despite their achievements. Other scholars have shown the trivialisation and stereotypical treatment of women in politics which is not the same for men. Whereas men receive issues coverage, coverage on women is mostly centered on issues such as their personal lives, personalities, appearance, children and marital status (Bystrom, Robertson and Banwart, 2001). Kahn (1996) also revealed that aside receiving less media coverage, the little coverage female candidates received was qualitatively different, in that, focus was placed more on their viability than on their stance on political issues. But in cases where women did receive issues coverage, the issues were limited to “female issues” like health and education while men were covered on “male issues” like defence and foreign policy. This form of coverage received by women is regarded as negative and unfavourable because it puts them at the disadvantage with their male counterparts especially where electoral races were concerned. However, not all scholars viewed this type of portrayal of women, as negative. According to Lee (2004) the stereotypical portrayal of women in politics through the descriptions given to them by the Hong Kong media as good mothers, wives and daughters can be termed as positive portrayal. 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh However, Lee admitted that this does not reflect the realities of the struggles women go through in balancing their careers and homes perfectly. 1.1.7 Portrayal of Female Politicians in the Ghanaian Media The trivialisation of women’s issues by the Ghanaian media is not any different from the disparaging of women in politics all over the globe (Gadzekpo, 2003). According to Donkor (2016) female politicians in Ghana were portrayed as prostitutes, women without husbands, quarrelsome, iron ladies/Margaret Thatcher, smokers and witches. The portrayal as prostitutes was the most frequently used theme, followed by women without husbands and then iron ladies. This shows that Ghanaian female politicians face the same challenges as their colleagues in other parts of the world. It goes to show that society still places restrictions on women by confining them to domestic life and forcing them to act in accordance with the traditional roles given to them by society. They are expected to concern themselves with issues of managing the home and caring for their husbands and children or risk being labelled. Those women who deviate from the “norm” have to put up with name-calling. Also, although men receive relatively more prominent coverage than women do, there appear to be some women who receive prominent coverage in the media. In most of these cases, these women receive prominent coverage mainly because of their affiliations with certain prominent men such as their husbands or fathers. Donkor (2016) explains that, Samia Nkrumah received a lot of media coverage during her race for the Chairperson position of the Convention People’s Party (CPP). She was framed by the media as the daughter of Ghana’s first president and was said to be contesting the chairperson position of her father’s political party. In the same way, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings attracted a lot of media attention when she stood for flagbearer ship 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). She was also framed by the media as the wife of former President Jerry John Rawlings. It can be stated that the media in Ghana covers women in politics unfavourably compared to their male counterparts. Women are faced with the challenge of appearing less in the media or receiving unfavourable coverage. For those who seemed to attract lots of media attention, their affiliation to prominent men were highlighted while their efforts or achievements were downplayed. The same cannot be said for men who continue to dominate in the news and receive positive coverage in addition. 1.2 Statement of the Problem Empirical evidence on media coverage of politicians has consistently demonstrated that there is a systematic bias in the way men and women in politics are portrayed in the media, in terms of volume and substance of coverage (Ross et al. 2013). This tends to belittle the efforts and achievements of women and at the same time limits the aspirations of others, preventing them from venturing into politics. This is because they are discouraged by what they see in the media regarding the few women who have dared to venture into the male dominated field of politics. Croteau and Hoynes (2014, p.17) stated that “in contemporary society, the mass media serve as a powerful socialising agent”. Socialisation can be defined as the system by which we learn and internalise the values, beliefs and norms of our culture and in the process, develop a sense of self (Croteau and Hoynes, 2014 p.16). This therefore highlights the critical role played by the media in influencing the opinions and perceptions formed by the public where women in politics is concerned. An increase in coverage and more positive portrayals of female politicians in the media could serve as encouragement for other women aspiring to become politicians (Wolbrecht and Campbell 2007). This study therefore sought to compare the coverage received by Ghana’s male 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and female ministers in the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers for the year 2013. In addition to the nature of coverage, the study was also aimed at finding out if gender played any role in the selection, placement and framing of news stories. 1.3 Research Objectives This study sought to determine the nature of coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana in terms of quantity, quality and prominence in the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers for the year 2013. It also sought to determine the role played by gender in the framing, selection and placement of these news stories. Therefore, the following key objectives were outlined for the study: 1. To compare the quantity of coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana; 2. To compare the quality of coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana; 3. To compare the coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana, in terms of prominence; 4. To determine the role played by gender in the framing, selection and placement of news stories involving ministers in Ghana. 1.4 Research Questions The following are the questions that this study sought to answer: 1. What is the quantity of coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana? 2. What is the quality of coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana? 3. What kind of coverage do male and female ministers in Ghana receive in the media in terms of prominence? 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4. What role does gender play in the framing, selection and placement of news stories involving male and female ministers in Ghana? 1.5 Significance of the study Several studies have been conducted where gender and media is concerned. Again, several studies have been conducted to compare the coverage women in political races or elections receive to that which their male counterparts receive. However, there have not been as many studies examining the coverage given to female politicians in non-elected offices. This study therefore attempted to fill the gap in this area of the coverage of female politicians in the media. The study is also aimed at bringing to the attention of the Ghanaian media the role they play in shaping the perceptions of audiences where women in politics is concerned. Therefore, based on the findings, the role played by the Ghanaian media in the fight for gender equality will be revealed especially where politics is concerned. Finally, the current study sought to contribute to existing literature especially with regard to coverage of women in non-elected offices. This is because the majority of studies conducted in relation to the portrayal of female politicians in the media, have focused on women in electoral races. 1.6 Scope of the Study The Daily Graphic and Daily Guide Newspapers were purposely selected for this study. According to Geopoll (2018), out of the top 15 newspapers in circulation in Ghana, the Daily Graphic is in the lead with the Daily Guide coming second. These newspapers were selected because they are both daily newspapers and receive the highest followership and readership in 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Ghana. The Daily Graphic which is state-owned is the most widely circulated newspaper in Ghana with a daily readership of 1,519,000. The Daily Guide which is privately owned, comes next comes next with a daily readership of 726,000 (GeoPoll, 2018). Brief profiles of both newspapers have been given below. 1.7 Historical Overview of the Newspapers under Study 1.7.1 The Daily Graphic The Daily Graphic, the leading and largest newspaper publishing and printing company in Ghana is published by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd. (GCGL). It was established in 1950 as the West Africa Graphic Limited by the Daily Mirror group of newspapers in the United Kingdom. It was later acquired by the Ghanaian government in 1962 and became a statutory corporation. However, in 1999, it became an autonomous private limited liability company under the Companies code 1963, Act 179, after which it acquired its current name (Graphic Annual Report, 2012). It is published six times a week, from Monday to Saturday and has a rich content covering politics, business, education, women and others. Its mission is to empower its audience and consumers everywhere with authentic information and excellent products through visionary leadership and strong brands. Products of the GCGL include The Mirror, Graphic Sports, Graphic Business and Graphic Online. The company boasts of several awards including the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) media organization of the year, which has been won three times (graphic.com.gh). 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.7.2 The Daily Guide The Daily Guide newspaper is one of the leading privately owned dailies in Ghana. It is published by Western Publications Ghana Ltd. (WPGL) which is owned by The Blay Family (Media Ownership Monitor, Ghana, 2014). Other products of the WPGL include News One, Business Guide and dailyguideghana.com, the online newspaper. According to commerceghana.com (2012), it is the most patronized and widely circulated private newspaper in the country and comes second to the Daily Graphic. It has been in existence for 20 years and covers content such as politics, business, health, education and several others (dailyguideghana.com). 1.8 Definition of Terms The glossary below describes how the following words used in the study were operationalised. Minister: This refers to someone who has been appointed and is charged with heading a ministry or a region in Ghana, including deputies. Coverage: This refers to the news presented in the media Portrayal: This refers to how ministers are represented in the media Trivialisation: This refers to how issues are downplayed by the media Stereotyping: This refers to media portrayals that maintain widely misconstrued notions Misrepresentation: This refers to inaccurate presentations in the media Underrepresentation: This refers to the insufficient representation in the media 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.9 Organisation of the Study The entire study is organised into five chapters. Chapter one gives a background of the study and discusses the importance of the media to society and to democracy. It also discusses the how women in general and specifically, women in politics are portrayed in the media. It again looks at the objectives and significance of the study. Chapter two deals with the theoretical framework (Symbolic Annihilation and Framing theories) underpinning the study. It also reviews literature on the portrayal of women in the media both in Ghana and other parts of the world. Chapter three looks at the methodology employed in the data collection and analysis process. Chapter four presents the findings of the study answering the research questions that were posed. Chapter five involves a discussion of the findings, concludes the study and makes recommendations for future studies. 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter reviewed related studies on media coverage of political figures. The various studies reviewed were carried out in several parts of the world on how female politicians had been covered in the media and whether there were any differences between the coverage they received and the coverage their male counterparts received. The review shows how different scholars have interpreted the data they had gathered and highlights the differences and similarities between these findings. This chapter also discusses the theoretical framework underpinning this study. The theories employed are the Framing and Symbolic Annihilation theories and they were used to give more insight on the coverage of ministers in the media. 2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1.1 Framing Theory According to Shih, Wijaya and Brossard (2008), one of the most commonly used theories where media coverage of politics is concerned, is framing. Entman (1993 p.52) explains that “to frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them salient in a communication text, in such a way as to promote problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described”. In highlighting some parts of information, the media is able to make it seem more important and memorable to audiences thereby influencing the way they interprets the message. Entman (1993, p.52) therefore suggested that “frames then define problems (that is, determine what a causal agent is doing with what costs and benefits, usually 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh measured in terms of common cultural values), diagnose causes (that is, identify the forces creating the problems), make moral judgments (that is, evaluate causal agents and their effects) and suggest remedies (that is, offer and justify treatments for the problems and predict their likely effects)”. This simply means that framing is able to present a problem, state the cause of the problem, suggest how wrong or right it is and finally provide a solution to the problem all in one. The media relies on the framing theory when covering political issues because with framing, journalists determine exactly what information they want to include in, or exclude from a story and also how they want to present it to audiences. This in turn influences how the audience will perceive the information they have received (McQuail, 2005). According to Iyengar (2005), candidates and partisan pundits are also known to employ framing although the actual framers are increasingly journalists. This means that the media plays a crucial role where the successes or failures of politicians are concerned because they are able to present them to audiences either in negative or positive ways. However, the p+oliticians themselves are able to control how the public perceive them, through the use of framing, so as to appear more appealing to them, especially the voting public. Gameson and Modigliani (1989), suggested that framing can be done through the use of metaphors, exemplars, catch-phrases, depictions and visual images. However, Tankard (2001), identified 11 ways in which the media employs framing in news stories. They are through: headlines, subheads, photos, photo captions, leads, source selection, quote selection, pull quotes, logos, statistics and charts and finally, concluding statements and paragraphs. This suggest that framing is not only employed by use of text only but also through visuals, where the visuals have a more profound effect when used as compared to the text. This is means that photos are more memorable to viewers than text. So if in an article, a gendered photo is used in addition to text that 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh makes no reference to gender, the effects would be more damaging than using a neutral photo in addition to misogynistic words (Coleman, 2010). Framing, especially in broadcast news coverage of political issues, can be categorised into two genres, namely thematic and episodic frames. Thematic frames show issues in a more general context and could take the form of a comprehensive background report while episodic frames portray issues in more individual or specific contexts (Iyengar, 1991). The media employs more of episodic framing than thematic framing because it is more engaging for audiences. Although research has shown that episodic framing trivialises public discourse and does not encourage citizens to make the necessary links among issues, leading to the exclusion of important issues, compared to thematic framing which is more effective at promoting learning and informing of citizens (Iyengar, 1991). From the above, it can be argued that framing theory is very useful in political news coverage, in that politicians themselves can employ it to present themselves in a more appealing light to audiences or give themselves an edge over their competition and even the media, so as to dispel some of the notions the media might present to the audiences concerning them. They do this by highlighting their strengths and achievements and do not focus on their shortcomings. The media is not left out of the framing discourse since they are known to rely more on framing in their work, by focusing on the issues that will best compliment the story they are trying to tell. 2.1.2 Symbolic Annihilation Symbolic Annihilation as used by Ohye and Daniel (1999) refers to the underrepresentation or almost total absence of certain groups of people in the media. These groups consist mostly of minorities and are classified based on factors such as age, gender, race and sexual orientation. Merskin (1998) also referred to symbolic annihilation as the exclusion, marginalisation, 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh trivialisation or the ignoring of a particular group in the media and cultural productions. However, Tuchman (1978) employed the theory in the context of women and the media and argued that women face symbolic annihilation because of the way they are omitted, trivialized and condemned by the media. This is backed by several studies that have portrayed women in several stereotypical and traditional roles such as victims, mothers, wives and sex symbols (Asiedu and Ampofo, 2012; Kwansah-Aidoo, 2012; Donkor, 2016; Lee, 2004). According to the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP 2015, p.11), “only 4% of stories clearly challenge gender stereotypes”. This goes to show that even with the achievements of women in politics and other domains, the media continue to present them in roles that do not depict these achievements. This could in the long run affect the audience that receive these messages, especially young women. Yeboah and Kimani (2011, p.436) in effect stated that “where, repeatedly, the news covers women in less significant roles and treats them with relatively less prominence than men, it is possible that audiences, including women themselves, would internalize such portrayals and limit their expectations of women’s relevance and abilities.” Tuchman (1978) believes that the media plays a crucial role in shaping the wants, needs and expectations of young girls and adds that constantly repeating such stereotypical and trivial themes encourages the subordination of women in society thereby keeping them dependent. It is essential that the media present women in a more positive light and also reflect the realities and achievements of women. This could be done by giving them more relevant and unbiased coverage, as more and more women enter the field of politics. By employing these two theories, it is evident that framing women in stereotypical roles, misrepresenting or underrepresenting them and trivializing them in the media is not only biased against them but also influences the way women perceive themselves and limits their aspirations and abilities. This is because by continuously seeing the messages they are presented with by the 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh media, they are not encouraged to venture into politics which according to the media is a male field. The media could therefore use framing to rather portray women in more empowering and positive ways. Again, underrepresenting women in the media symbolically annihilates them and does not show the realities of more and more women venturing into the field. This makes it seem as if there are only a few women in politics thereby strengthening the notion that politics is a male field. This study is therefore aimed at determining the role played by the media where the portrayal of women in politics is concerned. 2.2 RELATED STUDIES The following studies show the differences in media coverage of male and female politicians and how various scholars have interpreted these differences based on the context or countries in which these studies were conducted. 2.2.1 Western and oriental Studies One of the earliest studies that showed the differences in media coverage received by male and female politicians was conducted by Kahn in 1994. This study highlighted the important role played by the media in shaping the perceptions of voters through their portrayals of male and female electoral candidates leading either to their success or failure in the elections. The researcher suggested certain reasons for the differences in the coverage of male and female officials. The first reason was to reflect the stereotypes that people had about men and women in general. Kahn (1994) argued that by emphasising a female’s compassion and a male’s competence, the media believed they were showing people the characteristics of men and women. Secondly, as novelty was one of the elements of newsworthiness, female candidates might attract more attention than males because politics is a male dominated field. Finally, according to Kahn (1994) gender differences 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh in media coverage for men and women might show the campaign strategies adopted by these candidates. However, this could have several implications for the candidates. For instance, if the media focused more on issues pertaining to policy (where men usually dominate with regards to coverage), voters might believe that men were better with policy issues than women. Based on these assumptions, newspaper coverage of 26 United States (US) senate races and 21 gubernatorial races between 1983 and 1988 were analysed. Three major newspapers with the largest circulation in the US were selected for the study. In addition, the candidates’ own television advertisements were analysed and this was compared to the newspaper coverage to examine the differences between the messages the media were putting out in the public about the candidates and the messages that these candidates were putting out in the public about themselves. Findings revealed that women received less media coverage in US senate races and this could put them at a disadvantage in the elections. Again, it was revealed that women received more horserace coverage as compared to their male counterparts and this implicitly questioned their suitability for the offices they intended to hold. Also, men were covered more on issues such as foreign policy and defence (termed ‘male issues’) while women were covered on issues such as education and health (termed ‘female issues’). The media also focused more on male issues than on female issues, giving men an advantage over women. The conclusion of Kahn’s (1994) study was that, female candidates received less and negative media attention and this could hinder their chances of winning elections. According to Ross, Evans, Harrison, Shears and Wadia (2013), their study was motivated by the concern that content analysis research has repeatedly shown a systematic bias in the way female and male politicians are portrayed in the media, where volume and substance of the media coverage is concerned. Ross et al (2013) conducted this study to examine the differences in media coverage 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of male and female candidates in the 2010 British General Elections, focusing on frequency and content/tone. News stories focusing on the candidates, with regard to the election, were selected from 11 major newspapers (including weekend newspapers) with the largest circulation and diverse audiences. The sample for the study were issues of these newspapers from 7th April to 5th May 2010, representing the four weeks leading to the elections including the day before the elections. The findings showed a high percentage of gender bias against women in the media. Women received less coverage compared to their male counterparts and the researchers suggested this could be because, most of the time, female candidates were few in electoral races. Again, women received less coverage in news articles focusing on policy but received more coverage in opinion pieces and features. With regards to the role the gender of the journalists played in using particular sources or writing the stories, majority of the stories were written by men and male reporters were more likely to write about men than female reporters were to write about women. The researchers concluded that it was disappointing that although there had been an increase in the number of women involved in politics, women still received less coverage in the media and that the fact that they were women was what was emphasised rather than their competence or previous experience as politicians. In a study to interrogate the relationship between gender and power in the coverage of two leading German politicians, Lünenborg and Maier (2015) compared the coverage received by the first female German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and Frank-Walter Steinmeier who was the Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor at the time. This study did an in-depth analysis of articles that exclusively focused on Merkel and Steinmeier from leading newspapers. The selection of these newspapers was not limited to political newspapers only, but also included tabloids, business magazines, women’s magazines and general interest magazines. This was done to enable the 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh researchers include a wide spectrum of print coverage and involved such publications as Der Spiegel, Brigitte, Die Tageszietung and Bild. These papers were also among the highest circulated newspapers and have a diverse target audience. The researchers described how the media depicted politics as a male dominated field and sought to analyse how “the press employs both traditional and new representations of masculinity/femininity or challenges hegemonic gender constructions” (Lüneneborg and Maier, 2015, p.181). The study also combined qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis in order to “systematically describe how top-level politicians are constructed as powerful and authoritative human beings on the manifest level of the text and also to analyse in-depth and discursive strategies and implicit connotations of gendered constructions of social reality in media content” (Lüneneborg and Maier, 2015, p.184). The content categories analysed was developed based on three main dimensions. These are: personal descriptions (that is the language used by the media in labelling the two politicians), the (political) body (that is the way their bodies, clothing, and style of fashion were depicted by the media) and political manoeuvring (referring to how the media characterized the actions, political decisions and performance of these politicians). Finally, the researchers stated that politics was inscribed as a male field and although the media conferred authority and status on Merkel due to her position as Chancellor, as was equally done with Steinmeier, emphasis was placed on the fact that she is a woman and belonged to the “second sex” in the political sphere. In addition, Steinmeier was portrayed more prominently. In another study by Hooghe, Jacobs and Clae (2015), the allotted speaking time given to Members of Parliament (MPs) in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium) from 2003 to 2011 was examined. This study underpinned by the media bias theory, was done to determine whether the rise in the number of female MPs, thanks in part to gender quota legislation, had had any effect on 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the coverage they received in the media. To determine whether the female MPs still received less coverage as compared to their male counterparts, other factors such as age, holding other political positions, experience and being a member of the majority or opposition party were included. This was to determine whether the female MPs still received less coverage even when other factors as those mentioned above were in play. The study also used a large sample of data covering every time an MP was covered on the two largest television news networks in the Dutch speaking region of Belgium from 2003 to 2011. Since Belgium employs both the French and Dutch languages, the media system is either French or Dutch. For the purposes of this study, only the media system for the Dutch language community was considered. Television news coverage for the National Chamber of Representatives and the Flemish Regional parliament was analysed. The data analysed was collected by the Electronic News Archives (ENA) which is one of the largest digital news archives for scientific research, using a coding scheme. The researchers used multilevel regression analyses to determine which factors such as age, experience, member of the majority or opposition party influenced the volume of coverage received by the MPs. They found out that the news media was still biased against female politicians and that these female MPs were significantly less likely to be allotted speaking time and they actually received less speaking time when compared with their male counterparts, even when other factors were considered. Another study supporting the notion that the media was biased against female politicians was conducted by Dan and Iorgoveanu (2013). This study which was underpinned by the framing theory, discussed the differences in coverage received by the four most prominent male and female candidates from Romania, vying for European office, from 8th May to 7th June 2009 (with this period representing the last four weeks before the elections). The study employed a verbal and visual-framing analyses and the following frames were developed. The horse-race frame (referring 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to the visibility and viability of the candidates), the trivialisation-frame (referring to gendered coverage) and the issue-frame (referring to the balance between issue-related coverage and gendered coverage). Dan and Iorgoveanu (2013) argued that since the public might not have the opportunity of knowing these candidates personally, their only chance of getting close to the candidates is through the media, which helped the public in forming perceptions and opinions of them, eventually translating into the votes the candidates received. It was therefore necessary to examine how these candidates were portrayed to the people through the media. The data was collected from 249 news accounts, from the websites of the most influential broadsheets and tabloids in Romania which had different target audiences. The data was gathered using a coding scheme to enable an easier interpretation of the information from these newspapers and to ensure a high intercoder reliability. It was later analysed using descriptive statistics to record frequencies and cross tabulations while t-tests were used to compare samples. The analysis showed a gender bias in the coverage received by the candidates. The findings showed differences in the quantity and quality of coverage received by male and female candidates and this coverage was not favourable to the females. Also, while women dominated in the tabloids, the men dominated in the broadsheets and were portrayed prominently. The trivialisation and issue-frame were also more frequent for the female candidates and these went a long way to undermining their authority where the political campaigning process was concerned. Ibrosheva and Raicheva-Stover’s study in 2009 was conducted to examine how female politicians were portrayed in the 2005 parliamentary elections in Bulgaria. The study which also supports the trend that politics is a male dominated field, sought to determine if there had also been a change in the presentation and role of female politicians in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe in general, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which led to changes in the social, political and cultural systems. Also, 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh it sought to fill the gap in the media’s portrayal of female politicians in Eastern Europe and determine whether gender played any role in the way the Bulgarian media portrayed these female officials. The study employed a textual analysis method and was underpinned by the framing theory. All issues of Trud, the most circulated newspaper in Bulgaria, from 28th May to 23rd July 2005 were chosen and data was collected from headlines, articles, profiles, editorials, pictures and cartoons of the sampled newspapers. Again, the researcher chose to use the Trud newspaper because it was foreign-owned and could therefore reflect the current globalisation process. The findings revealed that the media focused a lot of attention on the appearance of female politicians and downplayed their achievements by suggesting that these politicians succeeded because of their good looks and charms. Again, emphasis was placed on the fact that these officials were women. Even in cases where the professional achievements of these female were mentioned, their roles as mothers, wives and daughters were also highlighted. Male politicians received more photographic coverage compared to their female counterparts and photographs of female politicians only highlighted their femininity. Finally, most of the stories were written by female journalists which goes to demonstrate that these reporters also carried on in the trivialisation and stereotyping of female politicians without examining the impact this form of coverage could have on the women’s political careers. In contrast, Lee (2004) described the media’s framing of female officials in Hong Kong as perfect women (who were able to effortlessly combine both their domestic and career lives) as a positive portrayal. While other scholars such as those mentioned above regarded this form of coverage as negative, Lee described the Hong Kong media’s portrayal of these officials as good wives, mothers and daughters as positive. According to Lee, the media saw the increase in the number of female politicians as a sign of social progress. The researcher also looked at how this portrayal of female 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh officials impacts on other women in Hong Kong and ignored the actual problems that they faced. The study employed a textual analysis of newspaper articles using data that was collected from Ming Pao and Apple Daily, the most popular newspapers in Hong Kong. The unit of analysis was all news stories focusing on these female officials from the above mentioned newspapers from 1998 to 2001. Lee went on to state that though demeaning remarks about these female officials and coverage regarding their appearance did appear in the newspapers, they only happened a few times and the public was very quick to condemn them. Therefore these female officials were described as two-sided because they could be tough and firm in their professional lives and be tender and loving in their domestic lives. Also, they did not need help to manage their homes and took up the domestic chores on their own even with their busy schedules by using their time efficiently. The study also highlighted the fact that these female officials were regarded as morally superior because they tended to avoid corruption as compared to men. Therefore these female officials could be seen as agents of change. However, Lee concluded by stating that though it was necessary to portray these women as perfect so as to empower working women, the realities concerning the difficulty they faced in trying to balance a political career and a home should not be taken lightly or ignored. This is because, it would make other women find it very difficult to live up to these standards and this could be the reason that more women eventually failed in politics. Therefore, it is necessary that the media not only hail female politicians for perfectly balancing their domestic and career lives but also acknowledge the struggles that they face in doing so. In this way, the average woman could be encouraged to enter into politics as she sees other women just like her, who face the same struggles of balancing a domestic and professional life, succeeding alongside men, in politics. 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.2.2 Related studies in Africa Yovonoo (2016) employed quantitative content analysis of coverage given to female Parliamentary Candidates (PC) in the 2012 general elections, in three major newspapers in Ghana. This was to determine the nature and extent of coverage that these female PCs received and compare that with the coverage their male counterparts received. The study also sought to determine whether gender played a role in the kind of coverage received by the female PCs and whether male candidates were portrayed more prominently than women. The study was underpinned by the liberal feminist theory and framing theory and data was collected from all issues of the newspapers from 1st October to 6th December 2012 (representing the period when campaigning peaked as the elections drew closer). All stories on the politicians focusing on the elections were sampled and a coding guide was used to help in a better interpretation of the data gathered. Again, male politicians dominated on all the prominent pages of these newspapers sampled except on the gender page where stories on female candidates was more dominant. With regard to enhancements, more stories of female candidates were accompanied by photographs than stories of male candidates. Also, the tone of coverage was more favourable to female candidates than males thereby contradicting the findings of other studies which showed high rate of negative coverage for female candidates. Finally, male reporters covered more male candidates whereas female reporters covered more female candidates. A similar study conducted by Yeboah and Kimani (2011) sought to determine whether women were underrepresented in the news both as subjects and sources. The study therefore compared the number of men who featured prominently in the news to that of women who featured prominently. Prominence was therefore based on the appearance of these subjects in photographs in addition to text, whether the subjects were quoted directly and whether they were named as experts in the 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh topics of interest to the story. The study was underpinned by the cultivation theory to explain the impact that the portrayal of women in the media had on audiences leading to limitations on women’s abilities and goals where politics is concerned. The muted group theory was also used to show that the media encouraged the marginalisation of women through the kind of coverage given to them. In addition, the theory of symbolic annihilation was used to show that women were being annihilated by receiving less coverage in media making them more or less non-existent. The study employed a content analysis of 12 issues each of six local newspapers in Ghana and these papers were selected based on circulation and diversity in audience. The findings showed that more men were covered in the news stories than women, with the women receiving only 14.6% where frequency of coverage was concerned. Again, women were more likely to be paraphrased than men although the difference was only marginal while more men who featured in news stories were either quoted directly or paraphrased. The findings also showed that there was only a 1% difference in number of men who appeared in news stories as experts than women and the difference in proportion of women appearing in photographs than men was just 1%. The researchers therefore concluded that men were covered more in the news than women and that they enjoyed more prominent coverage than women. 2.3 Summary The above studies showed a consistent underrepresentation and trivialisation of women as compared to men, using stories from both print and broadcast media. This was done by emphasising the fact that they are women, covering them on trivial issues such as their sense of fashion and appearance and publishing photos that only sought to highlight their femininity. For the majority of these studies, the scholars regarded this kind of coverage received by women as unfavourable and undermined their achievements while discouraging other women from pursuing 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh their political ambitions. Again the fact that the media did not portray the increasing number of women venturing into politics, was highlighted by some of these studies. However, one study reviewed, disagreed with the fact that portraying women in stereotypical traditional roles is negative. According to the study, portraying female politicians as good wives and mothers who are able to perfectly balance their private and professional lives is positive, though it is necessary for the media to make it clear that it is not a very easy thing to do. Other studies also showed that though men appeared to receive more prominent and quality coverage than women in the media, the difference is only marginal. Again, a majority of the studies reviewed, employed the framing theory, which was also used in the current study, as it is one of the commonest theories used where gender and media studies is concerned. The current study therefore sought to determine whether female ministers in Ghana received equal coverage as their male counterparts in the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers, in terms of prominence, quality and quantity. 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This chapter looks at the methods, procedures and processes used in collecting and analysing the data gathered for the study and gives the rationale for the choices made and processes employed. It also explains the research design, how the data was gathered and where it was collected. This study employed a mixed methods approach as this is the most appropriate method needed to acquire the information being sought. A quantitative content analysis of news stories from the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers for 2013 was used to assess the prominence, quantity and quality of coverage received by the ministers. On the other hand, in-depth interviews (a qualitative method) with journalists and editors from the above named newspapers were employed to determine why they made the news and also seek to ascertain if gender played any role in the editorial selection, framing and placement of the news stories. 3.1 Research Design Among the three approaches (quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods) used in research, this study employed the mixed methods approach. Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004, p. 17) define mixed methods research as “the class of research where the researcher mixes or combines quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods, approaches, concepts or language into a single study”. Creswell (2009) also defined mixed methods research as a combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches in a study, ensuring that the overall strength of the study is greater than the results that a qualitative or quantitative research will produce on its own. 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Therefore to achieve the objectives of the current study, quantitative content analysis and qualitative in-depth interviews were employed. 3.2 Quantitative Content Analysis According to Creswell (2009), quantitative research is used in testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables, using instruments, which will aid in the statistical analysis of the data collected. Since this study sought to examine the coverage male and female ministers received in selected newspapers, a quantitative content analysis was the more appropriate approach to use. Content analysis as defined by Barbie (2008, p. 243) “is a method of collecting social data by carefully specifying and counting social artefacts such as books, songs, speeches, and paintings. Without making any personal contact with others, you can use this method to examine a wide variety of social phenomena.” Other social artefacts used in content analysis are newspapers, web pages, poems, songs, paintings and constitutions. With the aid of a coding guide, data was collected from news stories in sampled issues of the selected newspapers and this data was analysed to determine the differences or similarities in the quality and quantity of coverage received by male and female ministers. 3.3 In-depth Interviews Qualitative research is used in exploring the meanings that are ascribed to social phenomena by individuals or groups of people, by collecting data in the natural setting of the participants based on their experiences with the topic in question (Creswell, 2009). The method that best addressed the reason for which the ministers made the news and determined the role played by gender in the selection, placement and framing of these stories, was the in-depth interview. This is because the researcher was able to interact with key informants to engage the issues that guided the coverage 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of male and female politicians. An interview guide was created with questions crafted from themes that flowed from the objectives of the study. This also enabled a logical flow in questioning and avoided asking questions that were of no relevance to the study. The interviews began with general questions then later graduated to more specific questions. 3.4 The Study Population The study population comprises all issues of the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers for the year 2013, as well as all journalists/editors from these newspapers. This period represents the first year of the ministers in office in the just ended National Democratic Congress administration. This would determine how the ministers fared in the media in just their first year in office. Data gathered from the newspapers addressed the “what” and “how” of the study, which is, the issue of prominence, quality and quantity of coverage while data gathered from journalists/editors of these newspapers addressed the “why” of the study, which is, why the ministers made the news and the role gender played in them making the news. 3.5 Unit of Analysis The unit of analysis which can be defined as the smallest element of a content analysis (Wimmer and Dominick, 2011), is the individual elements from which the quantitative data for the study will be gathered. Using the selected newspapers, the unit of analysis was therefore any editorial content focusing on a minister of state and included editorials, letters, opinion pieces, features, letters and profiles. Commercial contents in newspapers such as adverts were excluded. 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.6 Sampling Technique Sampling is usually done in a study to minimise cost and save time as it is mostly impossible for researchers to study the entire population, especially in a very large study. The sampling technique chosen for the content analysis was the constructed/composite week sampling method. Therefore, for each month, the individual dates were written on pieces of paper and grouped according to the days of the week on which they fell. This means that, all dates that fell on Monday were grouped together, dates that fell on Tuesday were grouped together, and this was done through to Saturday for the Daily Graphic and from Monday to Friday for the Daily Guide. One date each was selected at random from all groups to represent each day of the week for that month and this was done for all 12 months. In the event that, for a particular month, no stories were found on ministers for instance, in a sampled Monday edition, another date representing a Monday was chosen. If no data was acquired from the second sample, a third sample was chosen. This was repeated until all Monday editions were exhausted. Only then could it be concluded that no data was acquired for Monday, for that particular month. For the in-depth interviews, purposive sampling was used in selecting the respondents based on the knowledge and expertise they possessed regarding the topic in question. For the purpose of this study, two reporters and editors from each of the newspapers in question were selected. Reporters were selected because they were the ones who wrote the stories from which data was collected and would therefore be better suited to answer the questions being asked. Editors were also selected because they played supervisory roles by determining which stories made it into the newspapers in the first place; and even on which pages they were placed. The convenience of the respondents with regards to date, venue and time of the interview was also taken into consideration. 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.7 Data Collection The quantitative data was collected from the library of the Department of Communication Studies (University of Ghana), using issues of the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers for the year 2013. A coding guide was used to make the process of data collection and analysis easier. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with two of the respondents at their office premises while the other two were interviewed via telephone. This was done based on the convenience and availability of the respondents. Access to these respondents was facilitated through introductory letters from the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana, stating the reason and intentions of the interviews to be conducted. 3.8 Coding Technique The coding guide employed in the study was based on the Yovonoo (2016) coding guide. It was however modified based on the aims and objectives of the current study to address the specific issues raised by the study. The coding guide was used to collect, analyse and interpret the data that was gathered. Therefore, variables such as subject of story, focus of story, type of story, context of story and story format were included. These variables were operationally defined as follows: Type of story: News stories were classified into categories such as straight news story, editorial, feature, opinion piece, letter, rejoinder/retraction, interview, investigative report, news analysis, photo story, profile and other. The “other” category catered for stories that did not fall within the defined categories. Subject of story: This dealt with the minister that the news story referred to and was further categorized into two groups; being, male minister or female minister. 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Focus of story: This referred to the central idea being discussed in the story. This category was further divided into four groups; namely, issue-frame, personality-frame, issues and personality frame and “other”. Therefore, if two-thirds or more of the story focused on issues, then the story was coded as an issue based story. The same was done for personality and issues and personality frames. The “other” category catered for stories that did not fall among the defined categories. Issue frame: The issue frame was grouped into eight broad categories and the “other” category, which catered for stories that did not fall within the eight defined categories. Stories focusing on issues spoke to matters such as politics and governance, economy, security and crime, power and energy, legal and social, health and science, education and media and arts. In case more than one issue was discussed in a story, the issue which was given the most prominence (in terms of length) was chosen. Sub-issues to the main issues have been further defined below. 1. Politics and Government  Party politics, interparty relations.  Government business, policies, bills and legislation, district assembly matters.  Foreign/international policies, diplomatic relations, regional/continental relations, bilateral/multilateral/multinational relations, negotiations, treaties.  Other related issues. 2. Economy  Economic and trade policies, strategies, conditionality initiatives (e.g. IMF, IFC, World Bank, Millennium Challenge Account, trade negotiations, contracts). 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Economic indicators, statistics, business, banking, micro/macro-financing, international/government/private/corporate funding, trade, stock/bond markets, investments-money markets, small and medium scale entrepreneurships, private sector development, insurance schemes, revenue generation.  Grants/loans/scholarships, cost-sharing, fundraising, dividends, corporate social responsibility, imports/exports, debt recovery and servicing.  Poverty/poverty reduction, housing, rural electrification, social welfare, aid to the needy (e.g. school feeding, free laptops, uniforms and shoes).  Labour issues, strikes, trade unions, negotiations, human resource development/capacity building, employment, unemployment.  Rural economy, agriculture and agricultural policy, farming practices, food security, land rights/ issues/disputes, trading/hawking, fishing, pair trawling, tourism.  Consumer issues/protection, taxation/levies/tariffs, regulation, prices, market issues, lending rates.  Transport, traffic, road safety, aviation, ports/shipping, railways.  Other related issues. 3. Security and Crime  National and regional security/policing the nation/defence/training, chieftaincy disputes, peacekeeping, conflict resolution.  Non-violent crime, bribery, theft, drug dealing, fraud, corruption (including political corruption/malpractices). 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Smuggling, peddling of fake products, child/ human trafficking, contempt of court.  Violent crime, murder, abduction, kidnapping, vehicle snatching, assault, drug related violence.  Gender-based violence, harassment, domestic violence, rape, defilement, incest, trafficking, female genital mutilation, forced marriages.  War, civil war, tribal animosity/ethnic violence, terrorism, state-based violence.  Riots, demonstrations, public disorder, institutional indiscipline.  Disaster, accident, famine, earth tremor, floods, fire outbreaks, collapse of buildings, plane crush, car crash, disaster management.  Other related issues. 4. Power and Energy  Mining, oil drilling and exploration, oil refinery, petroleum products, bio-fuel generation, premix fuel energy generation, gas production.  Hydro power, thermal power, solar energy, power distribution.  Load shedding and management.  Other related issues. 5. Legal and social  Development issues, sustainability, community development. 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Family relations, intergenerational conflicts, parenting.  Human rights and associated violations, women’s rights, children’s rights and welfare, gay and lesbian rights, rights of minorities, people with disabilities.  Religion, culture tradition, celebrations, durbars, traditional practices, controversies, teachings, ethnic diversity, funerals.  Migration, refugee asylum seekers, ethnic conflict integration.  Women’s movement, activism, events, demonstrations, gender and equality, advocacy, affirmative action, women empowerment.  Changing gender relations, roles and relationships of women and men outside the home.  Family law, family codes, property law, inheritance law and rights.  Legal system, judicial system, legislation (apart from family, property and inheritance law), prosecution.  Other related issues. 6. Health and science  Science, technology/infrastructure, research, funding discoveries, developments, policies.  Health, hygiene, healthcare services, healthy eating, modern/traditional medicine, drugs/ narcotics, drug use/abuse, safety, disability, disease control.  Medical research, Policy, funding (apart from HIV/ AIDS). 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  HIV-AIDs, Incidence, policy, treatment, and people affected, training of healthcare providers.  Other epidemics (e.g. Avian Influenza), contagious viruses.  Malaria, Water/air-borne diseases like Guinea worm and TB, cancers, associated control.  Mother/Child mortality, six childhood killer diseases, safe motherhood.  Birth control/family planning, fertility, sterilization, termination of pregnancies, reproductive health.  Environment, water, nature, pollution, sanitation, waste management, global warming ecology, land degradation/deforestation/afforestation, erosion, land management weather monitoring.  Other related issues. 7. Education  Education (nursery to tertiary) and associated facilities, training and funding, child care, girl child education.  Informal education, vocational training, adult literacy, distance learning literacy, student activism.  Educational seminars, workshops and conferences.  Other related issues. 8. Media and Arts 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Media including computer and internet, information/telecommunications, ICTs, postal services, mobile telephony, portrayal of women and/or men, pornography.  Media, performance, ethics/policy, press freedom and related issues.  Media training/conference/workshop.  Beauty/Music/talent contest, fashion beauty enhancement, award ceremony.  Sports and related issues like facilities, events, participants, training, policies, funding.  Other related issues. Personality frame: Stories focusing on personality spoke to the character traits (being the values, qualities); work experience, age, gender, competence, appearance and physical attributes (being sense fashion, bodily descriptions); familial role (being mother, father, wife, husband, daughter, son); reference to family, achievements and “other”, for those topics that did not fall within the categories named above. Placement of story: This looks at the page on which the story was published. Therefore this category was grouped into “front page lead story”; “front page other story”; “centre spread”; “politics page”; “editorial page”; “back page” or “other” to cater for stories that were published on any other pages aside those already specified. The page on which a story is placed has an influence on the prominence of the story and the importance readers may attach to it. Stories on front pages therefore attract more attention. 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Source of story: This refers to the name of the person or organisation attributed at the beginning or end of the story for writing the story or providing information for the story. These were further grouped into: staff reporter (from programme, event, press conference, workshop, seminar, and donation), press release, news agency, individuals, no source stated, or “other”, for stories that did not fall under any of these categories. Context of story: This refers to the facts or circumstances surrounding the event being reported or written about. This category was grouped into ministry related event, speech event, interview with journalist, press statement/press conference, inauguration/inspection/launch of project, donations of items, political party event and “other” for stories that do not fall under any of these contexts. Gender of reporter: The gender of the reporter who wrote the story or provided information for the story. This is grouped into male, female and “cannot determine” for stories where the gender of the reporter could not be determined. Story format/Enhancement: This has to do with whether the story is accompanied by a picture or not. The groups under this category are text only, photograph (sole), photograph (with others), cartoons and “other”. Tone of Story: This refers to the attitude or presuppositions of the writer of the story. This is categorised as favourable, unfavourable and neutral. If the writer portrays the minister as competent in his/her position or portrays the minister as for instance, incorruptible then the tone 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh was regarded as positive. If otherwise, the tone was regarded as negative. The tone was regarded as neutral if it was neither positive nor negative. 3.9 Data Analysis The quantitative data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics tools with the help of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Data was described using frequency distribution tables and bar and pie charts, depending on the research questions being answered. Chi-square tests were used to determine significant relationships between variables while T-tests were used to investigate significant mean differences. Tests were carried out using a confidence level of 95%. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic coding. The interviews were audio-recorded with the consent of the journalists to facilitate transcription for easy analysis. The scripts were later coded and grouped into themes that tapped into the research questions to be answered. 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS 4.0 Introduction This chapter deals with the findings of the study. Since the study employed a mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) approach, the subsequent analysis/discussion of the (quantitative) content analysis and (qualitative) in-depth interviews are presented separately. The aim of this study was to compare the nature of coverage received by Ghana’s male and female ministers in the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide newspapers in the year 2013 and also determine the role played by gender in the framing, selection and placement of these news stories. The nature of coverage is determined by the prominence, quantity and quality of coverage that these ministers received in the newspapers. Therefore, the content analysis answers questions on the nature of coverage while the in-depth interviews answer questions on the role played by gender in the selection, framing and placement of the news stories. 4.1 Content Analysis In order to determine the quantity, quality and prominence of coverage received by the ministers, data was collected quantitatively with the aid of a coding guide. Using the composite week sampling method, 132 issues of the selected newspapers for the year 2013 were sampled for the study. Out of the 132 issues sampled, stories on ministers were coded from 130 issues, meaning that for two of the samples, no data was obtained. The data were recorded using a coding sheet after which it was entered into the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software, for analysis. Categorical data was described using frequencies and percentages whiles continuous data 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh was described using means and standard deviations. Chi-square tests were used to determine significant associations and odds ratio (OR) was calculated to quantify the likelihood of events occurring relative to one another. Independent t-tests were used to investigate significant mean differences while statistical tests were carried out using a confidence level of 95%. 4.1.1 Coverage by Newspaper The Daily Graphic and Daily Guide are the two newspapers selected for the study. Out of the 132 newspaper issues from which relevant items were coded, 70 of them were from the Daily Graphic while the remaining 60 were from the Daily Guide. The number of news stories focusing on ministers from newspaper issues examined, equalled 222. From this figure, 112 news stories (representing 50.5%) were recorded for the Daily Graphic newspaper while 110 news stories (representing 49.5%) were recorded for the Daily Guide newspaper. Although the Daily Graphic has more pages and is published six times a week, compared to the Daily Guide which is published five times a week and has fewer pages, the difference between the number of stories recorded from both newspapers is 10 (representing just 1%). Therefore the difference is not significant. The coverage of news stories on ministers by newspaper is shown in Figure 1 below. 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 1: Coverage by Newspaper 49.5% 50.5% DAILY GRAPHIC DAILY GUIDE 4.1.2 Subject of Story The subject of story deals with the gender of the minister on which the story was done and was therefore categorized into male and female. Out of 222 news stories coded, 134 stories (representing 60.4% of the total number of stories coded) had male ministers as subjects while 88 stories (representing 39.6% of the total number of stories coded) had female ministers as subjects. This shows a 20.8% difference in the quantity of coverage received by male and female ministers in the selected newspapers for the specified period. An independent t-test was conducted to determine whether the mean number of stories covered on male ministers was significantly different from that of their female counterparts. Though the mean number of stories for male ministers was slightly higher (with a difference of 0.15) than that of females, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.230). This is shown in Table 1 below. 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 1: Differences in the Quantity of Coverage Received by Male and Female Ministers Subject of story N Mean Std. Deviation P-value Male minister 134 1.75 0.87 0.230 Female minister 88 1.90 0.87 Independent t-test From the 134 news stories on male ministers that were coded, the Daily Graphic recorded 57 stories (making up 42.5%) while the Daily Guide recorded 77 stories (making up 57.5%). Out of the 88 stories on female ministers that were coded, the Daily Graphic recorded 55 stories (making 62.5%) while the Daily Guide recorded 33 stories (making up 37.5%). Therefore, the Daily Graphic had more stories on female ministers than the Daily Guide with a difference of 25%. The subject of story by newspaper is illustrated in the table below. Table 2: Subject of Story by Newspaper Subject of story Newspaper Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value ministers ministers N=222 N=88 N=134 Daily Graphic 55 (62.5%) 57 (42.5%) 112 (50.5%) 2.25 (1.30-3.91) 0.004 Daily Guide 33 (37.5%) 77 (57.5%) 110 (49.5%) 0.44 (0.26-0.77) Chi-Square test 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.1.3 Research Questions (RQ) RQ1. What is the quantity of coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana? The quantity of coverage was determined using the number of stories recorded for both male and female ministers. Out of the total number of 222 stories, there were 134 stories on male ministers (making 60.4% of the total number of stories) while female ministers recorded 88 stories (making 39.6% of the total number of stories). It can be said that coverage on male ministers was significantly higher compared to coverage on female ministers, with a difference of 20.8%. Out of the 134 stories on male ministers, 57 stories (making 42.5%) were from the Daily Graphic and 77 stories (making 57.5%) were from the Daily Guide. Of the total number of 88 stories recorded for female ministers, 55 stories (representing 62.5%) were from the Daily Graphic and 33 stories (representing 37.5%) were from the Daily Guide. It can be concluded the Daily Guide had more stories on male ministers than females, while the difference between the stories on male and female ministers in the Daily Graphic was not significant. 4.1.4 Type of Story The table below shows that out of a total of 222 stories, 210 stories (making up 94.6% of the total number of stories) were straight news stories. The remaining 12 stories (representing 5.4%) were editorials, features and opinion pieces. Feature stories came second with a total of 8 stories (representing 3.6% of the total number of stories). Three of the stories were editorials (making up 1.4%) and one story was an opinion piece, (representing 0.5% of the total number of stories). Out of the total number of stories on male ministers, 126 stories (representing 94.0%) were straight news stories, 7 stories (5.2%) were features and 1 story (0.7%) was an editorial. Of the total number of stories on female ministers, 84 stories (representing 95.5%) were straight news stories, 2 stories 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (2.3%) were editorials, 1 (representing 1.1%) was a feature story and 1 story (representing 1.1%) was an opinion piece. Table3 shows the type of story by subject of story. Table 3: Type of Story by Subject Subject of Story Type of story Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Straight news 84 (95.5%) 126 (94.0%) 210 (94.6%) 22.3 (7.96-62.69) <0.001 story Editorial 2 (2.3%) 1 (0.7%) 3 (1.4%) 3.09 (0.28-34.64) 0.564 Feature 1 (1.1%) 7 (5.2%) 8 (3.6%) 0.21 (0.03-1.73) 0.154 Opinion 1 (1.1%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.5%) - 0.396 piece Chi-Square test 4.1.5 Focus of Story by Subject The focus of the story examines if the ministers were covered based on issues, their personality, or both. Of the 222 stories coded, 167 (75.2%) were on issues, 46 (20.7%) were on the personality of the ministers and the remaining 9 (4.1%) were on both issues and personality. Male ministers received more issues coverage with 111 stories (representing 82.8% of total coverage on males) compared to females who received 56 stories focusing on issues (representing 63.6% of the total female coverage). However, for personality coverage, female ministers recorded 30 stories (representing 34.1% of the total female coverage) while males recorded 16 stories (representing 11.9% of the total male coverage). For both issues and personality coverage, male ministers recorded seven stories (representing 5.2% of total male stories) while females recorded only two 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh stories (2.3%). Here, male ministers received more issues coverage and again received more issues and personality coverage compared to their female counterparts. Focus of story by subject is illustrated in Table 4 below. Table 4: Focus of Story by Subject Subject of story Focus of story Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Issues 56 (63.6%) 111 (82.8%) 167 (75.2%) 0.36 (0.19-0.68) <0.001 Personality 30 (34.1%) 16 (11.9%) 46 (20.7%) 3.81 (1.93-7.55) <0.001 Issues and personality 2 (2.3%) 7 (5.2%) 9 (4.1%) 0.42 (0.08-2.08) 0.324 Chi-Squared test, *significant relationship 4.1.5.1 Focus of Story by Newspaper The Daily Graphic devoted more space to issues coverage making 83.9% of the total number of its stories, 14.3% on personality coverage and the remaining 1.8% to issues and personality coverage. The Daily Guide also recorded more issues coverage at 66.4%, personality coverage at 27.3% and the remaining 6.4% were recorded for issues and personality coverage. The Daily Guide recorded more stories on personality and issues and personality compared to the Daily Graphic which recorded more issue based stories than the Daily Guide. 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 2: Focus of Story by Newspaper Daily graphic Daily guide 90 83.9% 80 70 66.4% 60 50 40 30 27.3% 20 14.3% 10 6.4% 1.8% 0 Issues Personality Issues and personality 4.1.5.2 Issue-frame Using nine categories of issues, the legal and social category recorded the most number of stories being 35 (representing 21.0% of the total number of issue-based stories). The health and science category came in second with 28 stories (16.8%) followed by media and arts with 26 stories (15.6%). Next was economy with 24 stories (14.4%) and politics and governance with 21 stories (12.6%). Stories on security and crime were 15 (9.0%), stories in the other category were 8 (4.8%) and stories on education were 6 (3.6%). The least number of stories recorded were four, on power and energy (representing 2.4%). It can be concluded that female ministers were three times more likely to receive coverage on legal and social (p-value 0.002) and health and science issues (p- value 0.007) compared to their male counterparts. However, they were 94% less likely to receive 50 Percentage University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh coverage on media and arts issues compared to male ministers (p-value 0.001) and they recorded no stories at all for the power and energy category. Table 5: Issue-frame by Subject Subject of story Issue-frame Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=167 N=56 N=111 Politics and governance 5 (8.9%) 16 (14.4%) 21 (12.6%) 0.58 (0.20-1.68) 0.459 Economy 4 (7.1%) 20 (18.0%) 24 (14.4%) 0.35 (0.11-1.08) 0.064 Security and crime 4 (7.1%) 11 (9.9%) 15 (9.0%) 0.70 (0.21-2.30) 0.775 Power and energy 0 (0.0%) 4 (3.6%) 4 (2.4%) - 0.302 Legal and social 20 (35.7%) 15 (13.5%) 35 (21.0%) 3.56 (1.64-7.69) 0.002* Health and science 16 (28.6%) 12 (10.8%) 28 (16.8%) 3.30 (1.43-7.60) 0.007* Education 3 (5.4%) 3 (2.7%) 6 (3.6%) 2.04 (0.40-10.44) 0.404 Media and arts 1 (1.8%) 25 (22.5%) 26 (15.6%) 0.06 (0.01-0.47) <0.001* Others 3 (5.4%) 5 (4.5%) 8 (4.8%) 1.20 (0.28-5.21) 1.000 Chi-Square test, *significant relationship 4.1.5.3 Personality-frame For the personality-based stories, the character traits category recorded the highest number of stories at 22 (being 47.8% of the total personality-based stories) followed by competence with 15 stories (32.6%). This was followed by the achievements category with 3 stories (6.5%) and the reference to family and other category with the same number of stories being 2 (4.3%). Work experience and family role recorded the least number of stories being one (making 2.2%). Female ministers had a little more than half of the total number of personality-based stories focusing on their character traits, that is 16 stories (being 53.3%) while males had six stories (being 37.5%) 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh focusing on their character traits. Where male ministers recorded one story on work experience, female ministers recorded none. Again, female ministers recorded 10 stories (33.3%) on competence while males recorded five stories (31.3%). Finally, male ministers recorded more stories on achievements at 2 (12.5%) while females recorded just one story (3.5%). Table 6: Personality-frame by Subject Subject of story Personality-frame Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=46 N=30 N=16 Character traits 16 (53.3%) 6 (37.5%) 22 (47.8%) 1.90 (0.55-6.59) 0.364 Work experience 0 (0.0%) 1 (6.3%) 1 (2.2%) - 0.348 Competence 10 (33.3%) 5 (31.3%) 15 (32.6%) 1.10 (0.30-4.04) 1.000 Family role 1 (3.3%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (2.2%) - 1.000 Reference to family 1 (3.3%) 1 (6.3%) 2 (4.3%) 0.52 (0.03-8.86) 1.000 Achievements 1 (3.3%) 2 (12.5%) 3 (6.5%) 0.24 (0.02-2.89) 0.274 Others 1 (3.3%) 1 (6.3%) 2 (4.3%) 0.52 (0.03-8.86) 1.000 Chi-Square test 4.1.6 Story Format/Enhancement The format of the story examines whether the news stories were accompanied by photographs or cartoons or were in the form of text only. From the total number of stories coded, 28 of them (representing 12.6% of the total number of stories) were in the form of text only. Male ministers received more than half of this figure with 18 stories (representing 13.4% of the total number of male stories) while female ministers recorded 10 stories (representing 11.4% of the total number of female stories). This means that male ministers who did not have any enhancements accompanying their stories were more than females. The number of stories where the ministers 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh appeared in sole photographs were 102 (making 45.9% of the total number of stories), with 33 stories (representing 37.5% of the total female stories) on female ministers and 69 stories (representing 51.5% of the total male stories) on male ministers. Here, it can be stated that, male ministers appeared more in sole photographs than females. However, 90 stories (representing 40.5% of the total number of stories) were accompanied by photographs of the ministers with other people. From this number, 43 stories were on female ministers (making 48.9% of the total number of stories on females) while 47 stories were on male ministers (representing 35.1% of the total number of stories on males). Here, the difference is only marginal. The other category recorded just two stories (representing 0.9% of the total number of stories) which were both on female ministers. For one of the stories there was a photograph that did not include the minister and for the other story, there was both a cartoon drawing and a photograph of the minister. The table below shows the story format/enhancement by subject of story. Table 7: Story Format/Enhancement by Subject Subject of story Story format Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Text only 10 (11.4%) 18 (13.4%) 28 (12.6%) 0.83 (0.36-1.88) 0.686 Sole photograph 33 (37.5%) 69 (51.5%) 102 (45.9%) 0.57 (0.33-0.98) 0.053 Photograph with 43 (48.9%) 47 (35.1%) 90 (40.5%) 1.77 (1.02-3.06) 0.050 others Other 2 (2.3%) 0 (0.0%) 2 (0.9%) - 0.150 Chi-Square test 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.1.7 Tone of Story From the table shown below, it is obvious that more than half of the stories being 156 (representing 71.2% of the total number of stories) were neutral in tone. However, out the total number of coverage for female ministers, 23 stories (representing 26.1%) had a negative tone while only 4 (representing 4.5%) had a positive tone. On the other hand, out of the total number of stories recorded for male ministers, 20 stories (representing 14.9%) had a positive tone while 17 stories (representing 12.7%) had a negative tone. It can be concluded that male ministers received more favourable coverage compared to female ministers. This is indicated in Table 8 below. Table 8: Tone of story by Subject Subject of story Tone of story Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Positive 4 (4.5%) 20 (14.9%) 24 (10.8%) 0.27 (0.09-0.82) 0.015* Negative 23 (26.1%) 17 (12.7%) 40 (18.0%) 2.44 (1.21-4.89) 0.012* Neutral 61 (69.4%) 97 (72.4%) 156 (71.2%) 0.86 (0.48-1.56) 0.651 Chi-Square test, *significant relationship 4.1.8 Research Questions RQ 2. What is the quality of coverage received by male and female ministers in Ghana? To determine the quality of coverage received by male and female ministers in the selected newspapers, the tone of story, type of story, focus of story and story format/enhancement were examined. For story format, female ministers were 17% less likely to have no photographs accompanying their stories (p-value 0.686) and 43% less likely to have sole photographs accompanying their 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh stories, as compared to their male counterparts (p-value 0.053). However, female ministers had an equal chance of having photographs with others accompanying their stories (p-value 0.050). Therefore it can be stated that male ministers had more enhancements than their female counterparts. Where the type of story is concerned, female ministers were 78% more likely to be covered in straight news stories (p-value 0.001) and were 97% more likely to be covered in editorials (p-value 0.564) compared to their male counterparts. However, they were 79% less likely to be covered in feature stories (p-value 0.154). For the focus of story, female ministers were less likely to be covered on issues (p-value 0.01) and were 97% more likely to be covered on personality (p-value 0.01). It is therefore obvious that female minsters received more personality based coverage which focused on their character traits, competence, family relationships and role, work experience and achievements while their male counterparts recorded more issues based coverage. With the tone of story, female ministers were 73% less likely to have stories on them with a positive tone (p-value 0.015) and were two times more likely to receive negative coverage in the newspapers (p-value 0.012). Here, the probability value (p-value) shows the relationship between the subject of the story and the tone of the story. Therefore, a p-value of less than 0.05 shows a significant relationship between the two variables. 4.1.9 Placement of Story The placement of a story in a newspaper is fundamental to the importance attached to the story. For instance, if a story is placed on the front page, that story is deemed as very important and is 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh therefore aimed at drawing attention to it. The placement of a story is also a determinant of the prominence placed on the story. Out of 222 news stories coded, 14 stories (making up 6.3% of the total number of stories) were front page lead stories. From the 14 front page lead stories, 8 were on female ministers (representing 57.1%) while 6 stories were on males (representing 42.8%). The “front page other stories” recorded were 4 (making up 1.8% of the total number of stories). This figure was recorded for female ministers only meaning male ministers did not record any stories for this category. The total number of stories on the centre spread was 3 (representing 1.4% of the total number of stories), with two of these stories (making 66.6% of the total number of stories on the centre spread) on female ministers and one story (making 33.4% of the total number of stories on the centre spread) on male ministers. The politics page recorded a total number of 20 stories (making 9.0% of the total number of stories), where 5 stories (representing 25% of the total number of stories on the politics page) were on females and 15 stories (representing 75% of the total number of stories on the politics page) were on males. There was a total of four stories on the back page (representing 1.8% of the total number of stories). From these four stories, three (representing 75% of the total number of back page stories) were on female ministers while male ministers recorded just one story (representing 25% of the total number of back page stories). A majority of the stories were recorded on the other pages totalling 177 (representing 79.7% of the total number of stories). Female ministers recorded 66 stories (representing 37.2% of the total number of stories on the other pages) while male ministers recorded 111 (representing 62.7% of the total number of stories on the other pages). It is obvious that the ministers were mostly covered on the other pages consisting of the gender, business, 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh education, sports, and health pages. With about five stories placed on Pages two and three. The placement of story by subject of story is indicated in Table 9 below. Table 9: Placement of Story by Subject Subject of story Variable Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Front page lead story 8 (9.1%) 6 (4.5%) 14 (6.3%) 2.13 (0.71-6.38) 0.258 Front page other story 4 (4.5%) 0 (0.0%) 4 (1.8%) - Centre spread 2 (2.3%) 1 (0.7%) 3 (1.4%) 3.09 (0.28-34.64) 0.564 Politics page 5 (5.7%) 15 (11.2%) 20 (9.0%) 0.48 (0.16-1.37) 0.231 Back page 3 (3.4%) 1 (0.7%) 4 (1.8%) 4.69 (0.48-45.87) 0.303 Other pages 66 (75.0%) 111 (82.8%) 177 (79.7%) 0.62 (0.32-1.20) 0.174 Chi-Square test Out of a total of 14 front page lead stories, the Daily Graphic recorded 4 stories (3.6%) while the Daily Guide recorded 10 stories (9.1%). For front page other stories, both newspapers recorded two stories each. The Daily Graphic recorded more stories on the center spread, and other pages compared to the Daily Guide. The majority of the stories were however recorded on the other pages with the Daily Graphic covering 80 stories (71.4%) while the Daily Guide covered 97 stories (88.2%). The Daily Graphic recorded 20 stories on the politics page while the Daily Guide recorded no stories. However this is due to the fact that the Daily Guide has no politics page. This is shown in the table below. 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 10: Placement of Story by Newspaper Subject of story Variable Daily Daily guide Total OR (95% C.I) P-value graphic N=110 N=222 N=112 Front page lead story 4 (3.6%) 10 (9.1%) 14 (6.3%) 0.37 (0.11-1.22) 0.105 Front page other story 2 (1.8%) 2 (1.8%) 4 (1.8%) 0.98 (0.14-7.10) 1.000 Centre spread 2 (1.8%) 1 (0.9%) 3 (1.4%) 1.98 (0.18-22.2) 1.000 Politics page 20 (17.9%) 0 (0.0%) 20 (9.0%) - <0.001 Back page 4 (3.6%) 0 (0.0%) 4 (1.8%) - 0.122 Other pages 80 (71.4%) 97 (88.2%) 177 (79.7%) 0.34 (0.16-0.68) 0.002 Chi-Squared test, 4.1.10 Research Questions (RQ) RQ 3. What kind of coverage do male and female ministers in Ghana receive in the media in terms of prominence? In answer to research question three, it can be stated that, female ministers dominated the front, centre and back pages while male ministers dominated the politics page and other pages. This means that female ministers were two times more likely to make the front page lead stories compared to their male counterparts (p-value 0.258). Also, female ministers dominated the front page other stories as the male ministers recorded no stories for this category. Again, female ministers were three times more likely to make the centre pages compared to male ministers (p- value 0.564) and were four times more likely to make the back pages compared to their male counterparts (p-value 0.303). Male ministers dominated the politics page with a significant difference of 50% while the difference by which they dominated the other pages over their female counterparts is 25.5%. Since the front, centre and back pages are the most important pages, it can be stated that female ministers received more prominent coverage compared to male ministers. 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.1.11 Source of Story A large proportion (161) of the stories were from staff reporters (representing 72.5% of the total number of stories). Staff reporters reported more on male ministers, making 104 stories (77.6%) whereas female ministers recorded 57 stories (64.8%) from staff reporters. This was followed by stories that did not have any source stated at 29 (representing 13.1% of the total number of stories). The news agency category was next with 16 stories (making 7.2%). The other category recorded 13 stories (representing 5.9%) with nine stories (10.2%) on male ministers and four stories (3.0%) on females. This consists of stories that were reported on by two reporters, other media houses and the various desks, for instance, the gender and sports desks. The press release category recorded two stories (0.9%) which were both on male ministers. However, one story (0.5%) was recorded for the individual category and was on female ministers. Table 11 shows the source of story by subject. Table 11: Source of Story by Subject Subject of story Source of Story Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Staff reporter 57 (64.8%) 104 (77.6%) 161 (72.5%) 0.52 (0.29-0.96) 0.046* Press release 0 (0.0%) 2 (1.5%) 2 (0.9%) - 0.519 News agency 7 (8.0%) 9 (6.7%) 16 (7.2%) 1.20 (0.43-3.35) 0.793 Individuals 1 (1.1%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.5%) - 0.396 No source stated 14 (15.9%) 15 (11.2%) 29 (13.1%) 1.50 (0.69-3.29) 0.316 Others 9 (10.2%) 4 (3.0%) 13 (5.9%) 3.70 (1.10-12.4) 0.038* Chi-Squared test, *significant relationship 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh For the newspaper based differences, the Daily Guide recorded more stories for the staff reporter (81 stories, representing 73.6%), no source stated (17 stories, representing 15.5%) and other categories (7 stories, representing 6.3%) compared to its counterpart. The Daily Graphic recorded 80 stories (71.4%), 12 stories (10.7%) and 6 stories (5.4%) for the staff reporter, no source stated and other categories respectively. However, for the news agency category, the Daily Graphic recorded more stories. With the press release category, both newspapers recorded an equal number of stories being one (0.9%). This is shown in Table 12 below. Table 12: Source of Story by Newspaper Newspaper outlet Variable Daily Daily guide Total OR (95% C.I) P-value graphic N=110 N=222 N=112 Staff reporter 80 (71.4%) 81 (73.6%) 161 (72.5%) 0.90 (0.50-1.61) 0.765 Press release 1 (0.9%) 1 (0.9%) 2 (0.9%) 0.98 (0.06-15.9) 1.000 News agency 12 (10.7%) 4 (3.6%) 16 (7.2%) 3.18 (0.99-10.2) 0.067 Individuals 1 (0.9%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.5%) - 1.000 No source stated 12 (10.7%) 17 (15.5%) 29 (13.1%) 0.66 (0.30-1.45) 0.325 Others 6 (5.4%) 7 (6.3%) 13 (5.9%) 0.83 (0.27-2.56) 0.783 Chi-Squared test, *significant relationship 4.1.12 Context of Story The category with the highest number of stories was the other category with 118 stories (representing 53.2% of the total number of stories). Male ministers recorded 70 stories (52.2%) while female ministers recorded 48 stories (54.5%). This category consisted of contexts such as the appointment of these ministers, working visits made by the ministers, courtesy calls, durbar of 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh chiefs and training programmes or seminars. Others were enstoolment of these ministers as chiefs, tragedy sites that theses ministers visited, addressing parliament, investigations, wedding ceremony, awards ceremony, probes and scandals. The category with the second highest number of stories was the inauguration/inspection/launch of project with 30 stories (at 13.5%). Here, male ministers recorded 21 stories (15.7%) while their female counterparts recorded 9 stories (10.2%). This was closely followed by press statement/conference with 29 stories (at 13.1%), 13 stories (14.8%) recorded for females and 16 stories (11.9%) recorded for males. The least number of stories was recorded for political party event at 1 (making 0.5% of the total number of stories) and was on male ministers. Male ministers also recorded more stories for the ministry related event, speech event and interview with journalist categories with 3 (2.2%), 10 (7.5%) and 12 (9.0%) stories respectively. Females ministers on the other hand recorded 2 (2.3%), 6 (6.8%) and 3 (3.4%) stories for the ministry related event, speech event and interview categories respectively. Table 13 below shows a significant value between donation of items and the context of story with female ministers being 11 times more likely to be covered during donation of items compared to their male counterparts (p-value 0.007). Table 13: Context of Story by Subject Subject of story Context of Story Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Ministry related event 2 (2.3%) 3 (2.2%) 5 (2.3%) 1.02 (0.17-6.20) 0.986 Speech event 6 (6.8%) 10 (7.5%) 16 (7.2%) 0.91 (0.32-2.59) 0.856 Interview with journalist 3 (3.4%) 12 (9.0%) 15 (6.8%) 0.36 (0.10-1.31) 0170 Press statement/conference 13 (14.8%) 16 (11.9%) 29 (13.1%) 1.27 (0.58-2.81) 0.547 Inauguration/ 9 (10.2%) 21 (15.7%) 30 (13.5%) 0.67 (0.29-1.55) 0.421 inspection/launch of project 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Donation of items 7 (8.0%) 1 (0.7%) 8 (3.6%) 11.49 (1.39- 0.007* 95.13) Political party event 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.7%) 1 (0.5%) - 1.000 Others 48 (54.5%) 70 (52.2%) 118 (53.2%) 1.10 (0.64-1.88) 0.784 Chi-Square test, *significant relationship 4.1.13 Gender of reporter Male reporters reported more on male ministers than they did for female ministers while female reporters also reported more on female ministers than on males. The total number of stories done by male reporters was 118 (being 53.2% of the total number of stories). From the total number of stories on male ministers, male reporters wrote 89 (66.4%) while female reporters wrote 16 (11.9%). Out of the total number of stories on female ministers, female reporters wrote 31 (35.2%) while male reporters wrote 29 (33.0%). For 25.7% of the stories the gender of the reporter could not be determined. However, it is obvious that female reporters were four times more likely to report on female ministers than for males (p-value 0.001) while male reporters were 75% less likely to report on female ministers than males. Table 14: Gender of Reporter by Subject Subject of story Gender of reporter Female Male Total OR (95% C.I) P-value minister minister N=222 N=88 N=134 Male 29 (33.0%) 89 (66.4%) 118 (53.2%) 0.25 (0.14-0.44) <0.001* Female 31 (35.2%) 16 (11.9%) 47 (21.2%) 4.01 (2.03-7.93) <0.001* Cannot determine 28 (31.8%) 29 (21.6%) 57 (25.7%) 1.69 (0.92-3.11) 0.116 Chi-Square test, *significant relationship 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2 In-Depth Interviews Interviews with four reporters/editors were conducted within a period of two weeks (form the 18th to the 30th of October, 2017). Two reporters each were selected from the same newspapers (Daily Graphic and Daily Guide) used for the content analysis because they would be best equipped to answer questions on why these ministers made the news in their respective newspapers, why they were covered the way they were and also why these stories were placed on particular pages. The findings are presented according to the themes under which the interview questions fell. The 11 interview questions were grouped into the following seven themes: Selection of news stories, placement of news stories, framing of news stories, consideration of gender in the selection, framing and placement of news stories, nature of coverage and steps female ministers should take in order to attract more coverage. 4.2.1 Selection of news stories When asked about the policies that informed the selection of news stories as an organisation and as individual journalists, there were varied responses. An analysis of responses revealed that three reporters referred to newsworthiness, two mentioned public interest and contributions to societal development, one mentioned proximity and timeliness, one mentioned relevance to society and advancement to democracy and one mentioned truth in content and balance of story details. They all admitted that these factors were policies that the organisations employed and this in turn influenced the personal decisions of these reporters in their news selection decisions. Below are some of the responses that were gathered: We focus on the contributions of the story to democracy, to the development of the society and the country as a whole and its relevance to society (Respondent Three, Editor at the Daily Guide). 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh We look at the newsworthiness meaning if the readers will be interested in it, it has to be timely; we don’t report on dead news because it’s past and gone. Also proximity, you know how close the story is to us and the impact it has on us (Respondent Two, Reporter at the Daily Graphic). 4.2.2 Placement of news stories According to the reporters, newsworthiness, public interest, personality, advancement in the sale of the newspapers, prominence, timeliness, relevance to society and impact on advancement to democracy are factors considered in the placement of news stories. Public interest was mentioned by three of the journalists. For those who mentioned advancement in sales, they made it clear that although they hoped to make more sales they still went the extra mile to ensure that whatever they reported on was balanced and accurate. Below are some of the responses that were given: Apart from the public interest which I mentioned before being number one, I think personality also counts…Also, don’t forget we are in a competitive market so we have to look at what will appeal to audiences so we can make sales and make profits and pay the bills. But mind you, we go the extra mile to present an account of all sides of the story. It is not because we are trying to make sales that we will do things half way (Respondent One, Reporter at the Daily Graphic). The first thing is to consider what the people want. So human interest stories like crime, politics, usually make it to the front page (Respondent Four, Reporter at the Daily Guide). 4.2.3 Framing of News Stories In answer to the quality of coverage female ministers received compared to males, three of the reporters mentioned that they personally gave male and female ministers equal coverage and that 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh coverage was fair to both sides. Two of them added that, the gender of the newsmaker did not influence the style of coverage because coverage was mostly focused on the issue at hand. Therefore, it might appear that females receive unfair coverage. This is because the female ministers are less than the men and also because they seemed to be less involved in their work than the men who are more active. So since the coverage is mainly on the issue, those who are more actively involved in the issues receive good coverage and appear to be doing their jobs. However, one respondent from the mentioned that females received more positive coverage than their male counterparts mostly because they are fewer in number while the men received the more of both positive and negative coverage due to their superior number. Some responses have been indicated below: I think coverage is equal in quality and is also fair to both sides. You know mostly, the story will focus on the issue at hand so if the story has no bearing on the minister personally, then it is not necessary to include matters of their personal life. But if it has to do with their personal life then we are definitely going to include that in the story. So gender does not determine the style of coverage. So I will say there is no difference because it boils down to the issues (Respondent One, Reporter at the Daily Graphic). I think it is equal and fair to both males and females. We don’t cover men differently from how we cover women, you know coverage is mostly based on issues (Respondent Two, Reporter at the Daily Graphic). I think because of their superior number, male ministers attract more of both positive and negative stories in relation to females. Females on the other hand receive better quality stories because they are fewer than the males. For fairness, men receive more unfair coverage in relation to women but I won’t say it is because 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh deliberate efforts are being made to cover them unfairly (Respondent Three, Editor at the Daily Guide). 4.2.4 Consideration of Gender in the Selection and Placement of News Stories Here, two respondents mentioned that although other factors are considered, gender is equally important in the selection and placement of their news stories. They went on to add that their newspaper has a gender page which is dedicated to issues on gender. Therefore, most gendered stories were placed on the gender page unless it was too important then it was moved to the front page. This is done with the aim of projecting women and drawing the attention of policy makers to certain issues affecting women. Two other reporters on the other hand, mentioned that gender was not a major factor in the selection and placement of news stories. This is because newsmakers were given equal opportunities at making the news and they received the prominence they deserved based on the factors that were mentioned earlier where placement is concerned. However, one added that the insistence of their CEO who is a woman makes them a bit more considerate of issues involving gender. A few of the responses have been highlighted below: …because we have a gender page, most gender stories are found on the gender page unless of course the story is too important then we move it to the front page (Respondent Two, Reporter at the Daily Graphic). As I pointed out earlier, it is not a major factor but for the insistence of our female CEO who is now an envoy, we try to consider gender issues a bit more (Respondent Three, Editor at the Daily Guide). 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Whoever is making the news has an equal platform so we don’t give special consideration to stories because of the gender of the newsmaker (Respondent Four, Reporter at the Daily Guide). 4.2.5 Nature of Coverage Here, three respondents mentioned that there will be a huge disparity in the quantity of coverage. This is because male ministers greatly outnumber their female counterparts and this influenced the numbers in the coverage that they received. A reporter however, answered that in his opinion, the coverage that female ministers received compared to males was fair in quantity because the females were not interested in making the news but the men were and that is the reason for which they received more coverage. Another reporter’s response confirmed this statement by stating that the female ministers were always unavailable to the media and shied away from reporters. Below are some responses given by the respondents: We don’t discriminate based on gender. We give both male and female ministers equal opportunities for coverage. But you know the women are less than the men so the men end up receiving more coverage. The women also, don’t make themselves available, they always shy away from stories and the media because they don’t want any problems (Respondent Two, Reporter at the Daily Graphic). I think it is fair because the women don’t want to make the news but the men do. Personally I try to project them as best as I can but what they say doesn’t make sense most of the time. For instance you attend an event where a female minister comes to commission a project and she ends up talking about something else which has nothing to do with the reason for which you are there in the first place (Respondent Four, Reporter at the Daily Guide). 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2.6 Steps Female Ministers Should Take In Order To Attract More Coverage In answer to the question on what female ministers needed to do in order to attract more media attention, the responses were varied for each of the respondents. One respondent mentioned that in order for female ministers to attract more media coverage, they will have to change their attitude towards the media, adding that even if they did not change their attitude, they will not be denied media coverage. This is because the media owed it to the readers to present them with the issues that occur. Another from the mentioned that they should be more visible and forthcoming and stop shying away from the media. The final two respondents advised that they should aggressively seek media attention just as their male counterparts do and they should involve themselves in issues of relevance in order to attract more media coverage. Below are some of the responses: It’s all about relevance. You remember I said that sometimes you attend an event to commission a project and they end up talking about something else. In this case, you won’t make the news. So if they are involved in relevant issues they will make the news (Respondent Four, Reporter at the Daily Guide). I think they should be more visible and forthcoming and stop shying away from us. The males are more forthcoming. For instance, if you want to interview a female minister she will keep asking you to go and come, go and come, or she will ask you to present a letter or something of that sort. But by the time she is ready to grant me the interview I may have gotten the information I need from a male minister, unless of course I need the information from her in particular (Respondent Two, Reporter at the Daily Graphic). 68 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2.7 Research Questions (RQ) RQ 4. What role does gender play in the framing, selection and placement of news stories involving male and female ministers in Ghana? Based on the responses given by the reporters interviewed, gender was a huge consideration in the selection and placement of news stories for two of them. This is because their newspaper which is the Daily Graphic has a gender editor and a gender page where most issues on gender are placed. However, if a story on gender was too important, it was moved to the front page. The other two reporters who work with the Daily Guide newspaper mentioned that, the issue of gender was not a consideration in their news selection and placement decisions. This is because newsmakers were given equal opportunities where selection and placement was concerned irrespective of their gender. One however admitted that there was a bit of influence from their female CEO and this made them a bit more considerate of issues on gender. In regards to the role of gender in the framing of news stories, three respondents (two from Graphic and one from Guide) mentioned that the gender of the newsmaker did not influence the style of coverage in any way because the coverage was usually focused on issues. One respondent (from the Guide) however mentioned that because the female ministers were fewer than the males, they received more positive coverage. It can be concluded that, gender played no role in the framing of news stories but where selection and placement of news stories was concerned, gender was a huge consideration for the Daily Graphic but was not for the Daily Guide. 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 5.0 Introduction This study was conducted to examine and compare the nature of coverage received by male and female ministers in two newspapers, namely the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide, and to determine what role gender played in the selection, framing and placements of these news stories. Therefore, a content analysis of the above mentioned newspapers for the year 2013 was conducted, in addition to in-depth interviews with reporters/editors from these newspapers. This chapter seeks to highlight some of the findings that were made and then compare and contrast with findings from other related studies. The responses received from the in-depth interviews will also help provide reasons for some of the findings. 5.1 Quantity of Coverage As mentioned earlier during the analysis, out of 222 stories coded, 134 stories (representing 60.4%) were recorded for male ministers while female ministers recorded 88 stories (representing 39.6%). The difference between the number of stories recorded for males and females is 46 stories (representing 20.8%). This means that male ministers received more than half of the total coverage in both newspapers. This supports the findings made by Kahn (1994), Ross et al (2013) and Yeboah and Kimani (2011). In-depth interviews with journalists revealed that male ministers far outnumber their female counterparts and this is the main reason why the males make the news more. A fact which was highlighted by Kahn (1994) and Ross et al. (2013). However, this was not the only reason why 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh female ministers were covered less in the media. In addition, the respondents mentioned some attitudes portrayed by the female ministers which also accounted for low numbers in the coverage they received. Some of these were the fact that female ministers were not interested in making the news, they kept shying away from reporters and they were always unavailable to the media. Again, looking at the quantity of coverage received by the ministers in relation to the gender of the reporter, male reporters were more than the females. Of the total number of stories, male reporters recorded more than half being 53.2% while their female counterparts recorded 11.9%. For the remaining 25.7%, the gender of the reporter could not be determined. From the stories recorded, male reporters recorded more stories on male ministers (66.4% of the total number of male stories) while female reporters recorded more stories on female ministers (35.2% of the total female stories). This finding also supported that made by Yovonoo (2016) and Yeboah and Kimani (2011) where male reporters covered more male ministers and female reporters covered more female ministers. 5.2 Stereotyping of Women in the Media A look at the focus of story for the total number of stories recorded revealed that issues coverage amounted to 75.2% of the total coverage, coverage on personality recorded 20.7% of the total coverage while issues and personality coverage recorded just 4.1% of the total coverage. However, when issues coverage is examined in relation to gender, it is obvious that men received more issues coverage (accounting for 82.8% of the total number of coverage on males), dominating on issues such as economy, power and energy, politics and governance and media and arts. For issues coverage, female ministers recorded 63.6% of the total coverage and dominated on issues such as health and science and legal and social, but only by thin margins. As stated by Kahn (1994) female 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh politicians received issues coverage on “female issues” while males were covered on “male issues” and this made female politicians seem incapable of dealing with these “male issues”. On the other hand, they dominated the coverage on personality based stories, recording almost two times the number of stories (30 stories for females and 16 stories for males) recorded for male ministers, with the majority of them being on character traits and competence. This finds support in the findings made by Bystrom, Robertson and Banwart (2001) where they stated that while men received issues coverage, coverage on women was mostly focused on issues such as their appearance, marital status, personal lives or their personalities. Speaking with the respondents in the interviews, it was revealed that stories were not framed based on the gender of the newsmaker but rather on the issue being discussed which translates into the context of story. A look at the results for the context of story, the “other” category recorded the most number of stories. Some of the contexts mentioned by the researcher under the “other” category were probes, investigations and scandals, where female minters dominated with a 2% difference over their male counterparts. This could account for the high number of personality based stories recorded for female ministers. Again, female ministers recorded less stories on their achievements and none on work experience, although the differences were just marginal. 5.3 Unfavourable Coverage Received by Women in the Media Looking at the tone of coverage, female ministers received positive coverage in only 4% of the total female coverage while the males recorded positive coverage for 14.9% of the total male coverage. However, the females dominated the negative coverage category with 26.1% of their total coverage compared to 12.7% for the males. The majority of the stories for both male and female ministers was in the neutral category. Findings made by Dan and Iorgoveanu (2013) 72 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh support the findings of the current study, revealing how unfavourable the tone of coverage received by female politicians is. However, Yovonoo’s (2016) findings did not support the findings made by the current study where tone of coverage for female politicians is concerned. Her study, revealed that female parliamentarians in Ghana received more favourable coverage compared to their male counterparts. 5.4 Coverage and Prominence An analysis of the placement of story shows that female ministers dominated the front, centre and back pages which are the most prominent pages of a newspaper. They recorded 13.6% of the total female coverage for the front page stories, compared to 4.5% for the male ministers. Again, they recorded 2.3% for the centre pages and 3.4% for the back pages compared to 0.7% and 0.7% respectively for the male ministers. This shows that female ministers received more prominent coverage than their male counterparts, although with just a slightly larger margin. Here again, there was a contradiction with the findings from the study conducted by Yovonoo (2016), where male parliamentarians received more prominent coverage than females, with the exception of the gender page where female parliamentarians dominated. Also, findings by Yeboah and Kimani (2011) were not supported as their study revealed that men received more prominent coverage based on enhancements, source attribution and functions they played in news stories. Donkor (2016) suggested that women who happened to receive prominent media coverage may attributed to their affiliations to prominent men. This statement did not find support in the current study as according to the interviews conducted with journalists, placement of news stories was based on factors such as public interest and enhancement of newspaper sales. 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.5 Summary It can be stated that the current study revealed findings which showed some differences when compared with the findings of other studies reviewed in previous chapters. For instance, the findings of the current study in relation to prominence, contradicted the findings made by Yovonoo (2016) and Yeboah and Kimani (2011). Analysis on the tone of coverage also revealed contradictory results between the current study and that of Yovonoo (2016) but supported findings made by Dan and Iorgoveanu (2013). However, in relation to underrepresentation of women in the media, misrepresentation of women in the media and bias against women in the media, the findings of this study supported that of other studies reviewed earlier such as Ross et al. (2013), Yeboah and Kimani (2011) and Kahn (1994). 5.6 Limitations of the Study One of the limitations of the current study is the limited nature of the scope that was examined. The study examined issues of two selected newspapers for the year 2013 only. This period represents just the first year out of a four-year term that these ministers would be in office. A wider scope, examining the whole four year term of these ministers in office could reveal more interesting findings. For instance whether the frequency with which they made the news was maintained, reduced or increased. Again, the current study was limited to only two newspapers namely, the Daily Graphic and Daily Guide. This does not enable the findings to be generalised to all newspapers in Ghana. Including more newspapers in the study will ensure that the findings can be generalised to the entire total of newspapers in Ghana. 74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Finally, a future study could be conducted comparing the coverage ministers of state received in different regimes to determine if there would be any differences or similarities. 5.7 Recommendations Based on the findings of the current study and the limitations acknowledged above, the following recommendations are made for future studies:  Future research could focus on other forms of media like broadcast and new media, to determine the kind of coverage female politicians receive on other platforms, particularly the growing social media outlets.  Also, survey research could be conducted to determine the views audiences may have on how female politicians are portrayed in the media. For purposes of policy interventions and response by the media, the following recommendations are made:  In response to the observation about the disproportionate amounts of news space devoted men versus women ministers, the reporters/editors explained that this was partially a reflection of the unequal numbers of male and female ministers in government. Although several governments have pledged to include more women in government, it is clear that more efforts need to be made in this regard. Policy response must, therefore, institute affirmative quotas for the appointment of more women to ministerial positions and public office roles in general  The media institutions themselves would also need to be more affirmative both in the recruitment of reporters/editors and in the coverage of issues related to women as political, social and cultural minorities in Ghana. 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh BIBLIOGRAPHY African Media Barometer. (2013). 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Personality/ trivialisation frame 3. Issues and personality frame 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4. Other G. Issue frame 1. Politics and governance 2. Economy 3. Security and Crime 4. Power and Energy 5. Legal and social 6. Health and Science 7. Education 8. Media and Arts 9. Other H. Personality frame 1. Character traits (values, qualities, etc.) 2. Work Experience 3. Age 4. Gender 5. Competence 6. Appearance and physical attributes (sense of style/fashion, bodily descriptions, etc.) 7. Familial role (mother, father, daughter, son, wife, husband, etc.) 8. Reference to family 9. Achievements 10. Other I. Placement of story 1. Front page lead story 2. Front page other story 3. Centre spread 4. Politics page 83 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5. Editorial page 6. Back page 7. Other pages J. Source of story 1. Staff reporter (from programme, event, press conference, workshop, seminar, donation, etc.) 2. Press release 3. News Agency (eg. Ghana News Agency) 4. Individuals 5. No source stated 6. Other K. Context of story 1. Ministry related event 2. Speech event 3. Interview with journalist 4. Press Statement/Press conference 5. Inauguration/inspection/launch of project 6. Donation of items 7. Political party event 8. Other L. Gender of reporter 1. Male 2. Female 3. Cannot determine M. Story format/enhancement 1. Text only 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2. Photograph (sole) 3. Photograph (with others) 4. Cartoon 5. Other N. Tone of story 1. Positive 2. Negative 3. Neutral 85 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX B: Interview Guide 1. How long have you been a journalist/editor? 2. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a newspaper? 3. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a journalist/editor? 4. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news selection decisions? 5. What are some of the factors you consider in the placement of a news story? 6. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news placement decisions? 7. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quantity? 8. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quality and fairness? 9. How will you describe/judge your coverage of female ministers compared to men? 10. What about female ministers will make them more attractive for news coverage? 11. What about female ministers will make them less attractive for news coverage? 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX C: Interviews RESPONDENT 1 (REPORTER, DAILY GRAPHIC) 1. How long have you been a journalist/editor? Let me say for two and a half years. I had my internship here, did my national service here and then I am currently working here. 2. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a newspaper? First of all we look at the newsworthiness, the public interest, and also if the story can lead to a change in society. But the most important thing is the public interest because we are a state newspaper. 3. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a journalist/editor? We could have our own personal way of selecting stories but it has to be under the broader guidelines of what the newspaper wants, it has to be in tandem with the general policies of the newspaper because in the end when it comes out, it is not coming out as your personal story but it is representing the whole brand so it is very, very, important. 4. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news selection decisions? It is a very big consideration in our news selection decisions. I don’t know if you have analysed other newspapers but I think Graphic is the only newspaper in Ghana with a gender page. We have a whole page dedicated to gender issues, we have a gender editor 87 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and even if you look at the make up in the newsroom, it is very gender balanced. So gender is a very big deal in what we do here. 5. What are some of the factors you consider in the placement of a news story? Apart from the public interest which I mentioned before being number one, I think personality also counts. So for instance, if there is a story from the presidency, or on some policy issue like the free SHS policy, it will make the front page, not because we are towing party lines but because we believe a lot of people will be interested in knowing what exactly is going on concerning the policy. So you will realise that the president makes the front page a lot, it is not because somebody calls from the flagstaff house to tell us to place it on the front page but because we believe the people have the right to know what is going on within the government so they can assess and criticise it. Also, don’t forget we are in a competitive market so we have to look at what will appeal to audiences so we can make sales and make profits and pay the bills. But mind you, we go the extra mile to present an account of all sides of the story. It is not because we are trying to make sales that we will do things half way. So I will say public interest and personality are important factors here. 6. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news placement decisions? Like I said it is a big consideration. So first of all we look at the magnitude of the story, for instance defilement or stories that show women as vulnerable and things like that. Also, we look at the kind of message we want to send out or if we feel that the story will let policy makers know that they need to do more to empower women, we give it all the prominence that it deserves. 88 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quantity? First of all there will be a disparity or there will not be a balance because male ministers are more than female ministers, definitely. But I don’t go around looking for stories from male ministers only. If there is a story concerning a female minister, I won’t decide not to do it because she is a woman. So far as there is an issue that I think the public will be interested in, I am going to cover it. Also, I think gender is not a consideration for making the news because, if as a minister, you are media friendly, you will receive more coverage but if you are not, then you won’t. 8. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quality and fairness? I think coverage is equal in quality and is also fair to both sides. You know mostly, the story will focus on the issue at hand so if the story has no bearing on the minister personally, then it is not necessary to include matters of their personal life. But if it has to do with their personal life then we are definitely going to include that in the story. So gender does not determine the style of coverage. So I will say there is no difference because it boils down to the issues. 9. How will you describe/judge your coverage of female ministers compared to men? Again, I will say it is equal although we go the extra mile for coverage of women in general, you know I mentioned the page gender. It is because we feel men receive enough coverage so we try to project the women a bit more, yeah. 89 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10. What about female ministers will make them more attractive for news coverage? I don’t want to say some ministries are more important than others but based on the issues that come up, some female ministers will receive more coverage than others because of the kind of projects their ministries are involved with, like for instance, the gender ministry. Also, their attitude towards the media counts, that is how accommodating and welcoming you are to the media. 11. What about female ministers will make them less attractive for news coverage? You know as for the coverage we will cover you because we owe it to our readers to let them know what is going on. Also how hard you work counts. So if for instance, there is an issue concerning your ministry and you don’t seem to be doing anything about it, we will cover you in a not very positive light in a way to push you, you know. So I won’t say you will receive less coverage but rather how you will be covered will be the issue here. 90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh RESPONDENT TWO (REPORTER, DAILY GRAPHIC) 1. How long have you been a journalist/editor? For 18 years or more, because I had my national service here, and I have been here ever since for the past 17 years. 2. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a newspaper? We look at the newsworthiness meaning if the readers will be interested in it, it has to be timely; we don’t report on dead news because it’s past and gone. Also proximity, you know how close the story is to us and the impact it has on us. There are others also but they don’t come to mind right now. 3. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a journalist/editor? It is the same as the factors I mentioned earlier because the organisation’s policy is supposed to guide us in our personal decisions also. 4. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news selection decisions? It is a huge consideration because we have a gender and children’s page where we focus mostly on gender issues. So most gender stories will be placed there. So we place a lot of value on stories concerning gender. 91 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5. What are some of the factors you consider in the placement of a news story? We look at how newsworthy the story is, the prominence of whoever is making the news, and how current the story is. You know for the front page for instance the story has to be very fresh. Yeah, that sort of thing. 6. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news placement decisions? Like I mentioned before, because we have a gender page, most gender stories are found on the gender page unless of course the story is too important then we move it to the front page. 7. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quantity? We don’t discriminate based on gender. We give both male and female ministers equal opportunities for coverage. But you know the women are less than the men so the men end up receiving more coverage. The women also, don’t make themselves available, they always shy away from stories and the media because they don’t want any problems. 8. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quality and fairness? I think it is equal and fair to both males and females. We don’t cover men differently from how we cover women, you know coverage is mostly based on issues. 92 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9. How will you describe/judge your coverage of female ministers compared to men? I will say its 70:30. 70% for males and 30% for females but this is only because the women don’t make themselves available. 10. What about female ministers will make them more attractive for news coverage? I think they should be more visible and forthcoming and stop shying away from us. The males are more forthcoming. For instance, if you want to interview a female minister she will keep asking you to go and come, go and come, or she will ask you to present a letter or something of that sort. But by the time she is ready to grant me the interview I may have gotten the information I need from a male minister, unless of course I need the information from her in particular. 11. What about female ministers will make them less attractive for news coverage? I think shying away from the media makes them less attractive for coverage. Unless we need to cover them in particular, regarding specific issues of great interest, we will end up covering those who are willing to speak to us. 93 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh RESPONDENT THREE (EDITOR, DAILY GUIDE) 1. How long have you been a journalist/editor? For the past 31 years. 2. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a newspaper? We focus on the contributions of the story to democracy, to the development of the society and the country as a whole and its relevance to society. 3. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a journalist/editor? On the personal level, it has to be in conformity with the mission of the Daily Guide, which is to enhance democracy as I mentioned before and also to enhance the sales of the newspaper. 4. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news selection decisions? It is hardly an issue but the insistence of our CEO, a woman, influences us here and there when selecting stories. 5. What are some of the factors you consider in the placement of a news story? Exactly the same issues as I mentioned before, being value as an attraction for our readers, its relevance to society and the impact on advancement to democracy. 94 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news placement decisions? As I pointed out earlier, it is not a major factor but for the insistence of our female CEO who is now an envoy, we try to consider gender issues a bit more. 7. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quantity? Male ministers receive more coverage but only because they outnumber their female counterparts. 8. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quality and fairness? I think because of their superior number, male ministers attract more of both positive and negative stories in relation to females. Females on the other hand receive better quality stories because they are fewer than the males. For fairness, men receive more unfair coverage in relation to women but I won’t say it is because deliberate efforts are being made to cover them unfairly. 9. How will you describe/judge your coverage of female ministers compared to men? Under my authority as editor, I think we cover more male ministers than females because they outdo their female counterparts, speaking in terms of the work that they do. 95 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10. What about female ministers will make them more attractive for news coverage? I think if they aggressively seek media attention like their male counterparts do, they will attract more media coverage. 11. What about female ministers will make them less attractive for news coverage? They should step up their game. If they don’t then they will remain less attractive where media coverage is concerned. 96 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh RESPONDENT FOUR (REPORTER, DAILY GUIDE) 1. How long have you been a journalist/editor? 20 years. I was the young readers project from 2000-2007 then I joined the Daily Guide and I have been here ever since. 2. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a newspaper? One, it has to be newsworthy. Also, the relevance of the story for the newsroom because we don’t publish falsehoods, we deal with the truth so we try to get all sides to a story to ensure that the details are balanced. 3. What policies (or principles/values/mission/vision) inform your selection of a news story as a journalist/editor? It is the same things I mentioned before, newsworthiness, truth in content, balance of story details. 4. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news selection decisions? Whoever is making the news has an equal platform so we don’t give special consideration to stories because of the gender of the newsmaker. 5. What are some of the factors you consider in the placement of a news story? The first thing is to consider what the people want. So human interest stories like crime, politics, usually make it to the front page. 97 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6. In what way(s) is the issue of gender a consideration in these news placement decisions? For example novelty, if there is a story on a woman who is an armed robber, people will be interested in that. Not only armed robbery but if a woman does something good or appears in a stories as heroines, they will make the front page too because these are things that are usually reported about men so women doing these things are considered important and therefore given prominent placement. 7. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quantity? I think it is fair because the women don’t want to make the news but the men do. Personally I try to project them as best as I can but what they say doesn’t make sense most of the time. For instance you attend an event where a female minister comes to commission a project and she ends up talking about something else which has nothing to do with the reason for which you are there in the first place. 8. What do you think about the coverage that female ministers receive in the media compared to men, in terms of quality and fairness? Everyone who makes the news is given the coverage they deserve as long as it is newsworthy. But the problem is that in the past the women were fewer than the men so women were receiving less coverage. Although now there are more women than there used to be, they are still fewer than the men. But I think they receive fair coverage as the men and the same goes for equality also. 98 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9. How will you describe/judge your coverage of female ministers compared to men? Yeah, it is fair as I mentioned before. 10. What about female ministers will make them more attractive for news coverage? It has to do with the subject. So if they are more involved in issues that will attract media attention then they will receive coverage accordingly. 11. What about female ministers will make them less attractive for news coverage? It’s all about relevance. You remember I said that sometimes you attend an event to commission a project and they end up talking about something else. In this case, you won’t make the news. So if they are involved in relevant issues they will make the news. 99