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THE STATION OF THE NATION: Ghana Television and the Illusion of Public Service Broadcasting Lawrence Asafo-Agyei Master Thesis Department of Media & Communication Faculty of Humanities UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Autumn 2010 Abstract Ghana Television (GTV), the national television channel of Ghana has, since its establishment in 1965, struggled to function effectively as a public service broadcaster. As the television wing of the publicly owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), which comprises both radio and television, GTV has often had to operate in a political environment characterized by military dictators who sought to use broadcasting as a tool to legitimize themselves. In 1992, Ghana returned to constitutional governance. The natural expectation was to see GBC, and for that matter GTV, transformed into a true public service broadcaster, but this was soon dissipated by the sudden appeal of liberal market ideas in the new political environment. The media was deregulated, dismantling the monopoly structure of the broadcast market. For the first time, GTV faced competition from commercial television. At the same time, in the general shift towards market oriented policies, government reduced funding for state institutions including GBC. Facing dwindling funds, GTV was forced to compete with the new commercial television stations in both the audience and advertising markets, yet it was expected to pursue public service television goals and not only follow commercial principles. Even though GBC as a whole was faced with these challenges, this thesis limits itself to television. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, policies and programming are examined to see how possible it is for GTV to function as a proper public service broadcaster in the face of commercialization and the controlling tendencies of government. The study concludes that existing laws and policies expose GTV to commercial and political pressures, which have implications for its public service broadcasting role. In addition, the absence of a comprehensive accountability mechanism has created a regulatory vacuum. As a result, the critical public service expectations of inclusive programming, national identity and enlightenment are bearing the brunt and GTV is far from the “station of the nation” it claims to be or should be. i Acknowledgments I owe many thanks to my supervisor, Helge Rønning. Anytime I left your office, I was bursting at the seams with hope and energy. Even though my shortcomings moderated your wish to turn me into an intellectual, Heaven knows you tried… Hard! I thank you for your patience and your encouragement. I also wish to express my gratitude to the Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway, for the financial support towards my fieldwork. I say thank you to my respondents for your insights. To all the GBC staff who were helpful especially the Director General, Director of Business, Head of Programs –TV, GTV Newsroom, the Research Unit, Reference Library, Audiovisual Library and the Finance Department, I say ‗me da mo ase.‘ I appreciate your assistance Magdalena. You were very busy, but that did not stop you from spotting all those glaring errors I was blind to see. I hope I have not made new ones. Many thanks to you, Priscilia. I can never repay you for your kindness. I cannot end this without acknowledging some very important people who provided selfless, invaluable help. Your name may not be listed here, but the fact that there is black text on these pages at all is a testament of your support. I did not end it halfway because of you. And because of this your name is forever etched in my heart. iii Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................. iii Contents ................................................................................................................................... v Tables & Figures .................................................................................................................... ix Abbreviations and Acronyms ............................................................................................... xi 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 2 Background ........................................................................................................................... 3 The Political Environment .................................................................................................... 3 Social and Economic Environment ....................................................................................... 4 A Historical Overview .......................................................................................................... 5 The Media Today .................................................................................................................. 8 Structure .............................................................................................................................. 10 2. Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................... 11 Previous Studies in this Area .............................................................................................. 11 Defining Public Service Broadcasting ................................................................................ 13 Conceptualizing Public Service Broadcasting .................................................................... 16 The Inductive Approach ..................................................................................................... 17 The Deductive Approach .................................................................................................... 21 The Authoritarian Vision .................................................................................................... 21 v The Libertarian Vision ........................................................................................................ 22 Television and Public Service Broadcasting Concept ........................................................ 23 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 23 3. Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 25 The Mixed Methods Approach ........................................................................................... 25 Triangulation ....................................................................................................................... 26 Qualitative Interviews ......................................................................................................... 26 Units of Analysis................................................................................................................. 27 Sampling – Interviews ........................................................................................................ 28 Sampling – Transmission Schedules & News Programs .................................................... 28 Documents .......................................................................................................................... 29 Internet as a Resource ......................................................................................................... 29 Quantitative Content Analysis ............................................................................................ 30 Establishing the Programs Categories ................................................................................ 30 Measuring Diversity............................................................................................................ 32 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 35 4. Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................... 37 The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Decree, 226 ............................................................ 37 The Constitution of Ghana .................................................................................................. 38 The National Media Commission ....................................................................................... 39 National Communications Authority Act 524, 1996 .......................................................... 40 Entry Regulation ................................................................................................................. 41 Content Regulation ............................................................................................................. 42 Ghana National Media Policy ............................................................................................. 44 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................