Case Studies from Ghana by Seyram
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Media, Technology, and the Global Technoclass: Case studies from Ghana by Seyram Ama Avle A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) in the University of Michigan 2014 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Aswin Punathambekar, Co-Chair Professor Gerald Patrick Scannell, Co-Chair Associate Professor Steven J. Jackson, Cornell University Assistant Professor Joyojeet Kunal Pal © Seyram A. Avle Dedication To Sebastian and Julia Avle ii Acknowledgements Thanks to my advisors and committee co-chairs, Paddy Scannell and Aswin Punathambekar, for giving me the ideal mix of guidance, freedom, and overall unwavering support. I was fortunate to have this dynamic duo on my side. I am also grateful to my committee members, Steve Jackson and Joyojeet Pal, for their strong faith in my ability to do this work. Their feedback challenged me and made the work stronger. Russ Neuman deserves special thanks for always having time to talk to me, offering words of encouragement and pragmatic advice, all with a warm smile. This work would not exist without the individuals in Ghana who took time out of their busy schedules for my interviews, survey, and visits to their place of work. I am grateful for their willingness to answer my numerous questions and trust that my research would “go somewhere”. I received financial support from the Department of Communication Studies, Rackham Graduate School, Center for the Education of Women, and ProQuest. Thank you to the administrators there who made it possible for me to travel to Ghana, present my work at conferences, and write the dissertation with peace of mind. I was fortunate to meet so many wonderful people in Ann Arbor. Friends in the Department of Communication Studies and across the University of Michigan were always supportive and altogether made graduate school a fantastic experience. Thanks in particular to my cohort - Mo Jang, Yioryos Nardis, SooYoung Bae, Rebecca Yu and YuWon Oh - for being the best group of people to go on this journey with, Tapiwa Mushove for being like family, Kitior Ngu for her calm presence, Kim Trent for the laughs, Julia Lippman, Lauren Guggenheim, Katie Brown, and Sarah Erickson for the solidarity, Noah Wolfson for being a breath of fresh air, Sarah Trinh (+ Lulu) for the companionship, and Joseph Bayer for being Joe. Thanks also to Awo Addo, Chief Anku, Natalie Johnson, Ato Ulzen-Appiah, Fatumo Guled and Dominique Dupont-Dubois for being the kinds of friends everyone should have. Finally, my family deserves eternal thanks for their unconditional love and support. iii Table of Contents Dedication.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………....ii Acknowledgments..…………………………………………………………………………………….…….……..iii List of Tables…………………...………………………………………………………………………………………..v List of Appendices.……………………………………………………………………………..…………………….vi List of Acronyms……………………………...………………………………………………………….…………..vii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………ix Part I: Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Preamble ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 – Media, technology, and emerging class dynamics in historical context ............... 9 Global/local dynamics ................................................................................................................................................... 9 Class distinctions and the emergent technoclass ........................................................................................... 24 Chapter 2 –Background and Methodology ........................................................................................... 32 Ghana ................................................................................................................................................................................. 32 Methods ............................................................................................................................................................................ 42 Overview of remaining chapters ........................................................................................................................... 53 Part II: Radio ....................................................................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 3 - ‘Discerning listeners’: Joy FM and the construction of a new audience ............... 55 Radio in the Ghanaian mediascape ....................................................................................................................... 59 Media, networked publics and new cultural elites ........................................................................................ 63 Conclusion/Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 73 Chapter 4 – Networked radio: Sociality and interactivity on Citi FM .......................................... 75 Sociality and interactivity ......................................................................................................................................... 78 Citi FM ............................................................................................................................................................................... 81 Class and the new (networked) radio ................................................................................................................. 98 Part III: ICT ....................................................................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 5 – New knowledge: Techpreneurship in Ghana ............................................................ 102 Entrepreneurship in communication technology industries .................................................................. 106 Ghanaian techpreneurs ........................................................................................................................................... 108 Techpreneurs, privileged labor and power .................................................................................................... 122 Chapter 6 – Elite articulations: Returnees in ICT ............................................................................ 128 Return migration of skilled labor in ICT industries .................................................................................... 132 Returnee techpreneurs ............................................................................................................................................ 135 Returns, technology and class .............................................................................................................................. 143 Part IV: Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 148 The global technoclass ............................................................................................................................. 152 Complications, implications and future directions ........................................................................ 158 Tables ................................................................................................................................................................. 160 Appendices ....................................................................................................................................................... 167 References ........................................................................................................................................................ 179 iv List of Tables Table 1: Media/ICTs in the home in Ghana……………………………………………………………….....160 Table 2: Growth of radio stations……………………………………………………..………………………….161 Table 3: Distribution of TV stations (June 2002)…………………………………………………………..162 Table 4: Authorized radio stations – 3rd quarter of 2013 (NCA)…………………………………….163 Table 5: Technical Skills of Survey Respondents………………………………………………………..…164 Table 6: Experience of Survey Respondents Building Mobile Applications…………………….165 Table 7: Kinds of Applications by Survey Respondents…………………………………………………166 v List of Appendices Appendix A: Interview Participants……………………………………………………………………………..167 Appendix B: Interview Consent Form…………………………………………………………………………..168 Appendix C: Survey……………………………………………………………………………………………………..170 vi List of Acronyms BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa CBS – Citi Breakfast Show FDI – Foreign Direct Investment FM – Frequency Modulation G-7 – Group of Seven nations IBM – International Business Machines Corporation ICT(s) – Information Communication Technology (-ies) IMF – International Monetary Fund KNUST – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology MEST – Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology MICTs – Media and Information Communication Technologies MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology MNC – Multinational Corporation NAM – Non-aligned Movement NCA – National Communication Agency NITA – National Information Technology Agency OECD – Organization for Economic Co-operation