The Role of the Mass Media in Ghana’s Democracy

There is a linkage between the mass media and democracy. The press in the Gold Coast played a significant role in the struggle for the country’s independence from colonialism. Ghana was birth after independence and it has experienced a history of democracy and a mixture of coup d’états. This reduced the beauty of the once vibrant democratic state to a state where the rights of many Ghanaians were imprisoned, beaten, killed by soldiers. Journalist like Kweku Barku, Kwesi Pratt and others were beaten extensively and some were killed as a result of providing the citizens with information on how the military were corrupt. These inhuman treatments brought a state of fear and relegated the media to a background of silence and created no freedom of speech and also to show how powerful there were by creating a state of fear. In 1992 Ghana re-establish democracy called the Fourth Republican Constitutional democracy. The mass media has contributed so much to our peaceful five successful presidential and parliamentary elections that have been held. The constitution of Ghana has embedded in it the rule of law which has given the fundamental rights including freedom of media, association and freedom of speech among many. The mass media is more vibrant than ever before and today governments rely on the media for information from the people and also help government to disseminate information to the people. The role of the media is vital to keep or destroy our democracy.

Firstly, a truly democratic society requires a medium of information dissemination and educating our citizen and their participation in democracy. Ideally newspapers and public affairs programs on radio and television, the internet contributing to inform, educate and enga...

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...way to sanitize the system to ensure the maintenance of the democratic culture so that all will enjoy the peace that comes with it. This way the citizenry will be fully aware of the issues on both side of the divide in order to make a good judgment for the formation of fair opinion. It is therefore significant in my view to give the media all the necessary encouragement to play their role more effectively through policies that will strengthen them and straighten any rough edges that may be found among them and the nation Ghana.

Works Cited

Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992.

Daily Graphic, March 2, 2009 No 17855

Jakubowicz, K. Media and Democracy. In Council of Europe (1998) Media and Democracy. Council of Europe Publishing.

Galtung, J. (1996) Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and civilization. London: Sages Productions.