The Cyber Dimension of Citizen Participation on Ghanaweb: an Analysis of Ghana's 2008 Presidential Campaign
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The Cyber Dimension of Citizen Participation on Ghanaweb: An Analysis of Ghana's 2008 Presidential Campaign A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Prosper Y. Tsikata November 2010 © 2010 Prosper Y. Tsikata. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled The Cyber Dimension of Citizen Participation on Ghanaweb: An Analysis of Ghana's 2008 Presidential Campaign by PROSPER Y. TSIKATA has been approved for the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Scripps College of Communication by Michael S. Sweeney Professor of Journalism Gregory J. Shepherd Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii Abstract TSIKATA, PROSPER Y., M.S., November 2010, Journalism The Cyber Dimension of Citizen Participation on Ghanaweb: An Analysis of Ghana's 2008 Presidential Campaign (147 pp.) Director ofThesis: Michael S. Sweeney While in its original form the public sphere is believed to manifest in every conversation in which private individuals assemble to form public opinion, technological convergence has extended assembly to digital spheres for critical dialogue. This has led to the disruption in power hierarchies and a freer participation. Unknown is how this evolution has impacted on content encoding and decoding in online media like Ghanaweb. Using convenient sampling, virtual ethnography and questionnaires, this study examined the content of 82 (N=82) selected news items and features relating to two presidential candidates in Ghana‘s 2008 presidential election in the light of media theories. It extended Hall‘s polysemic interpretation of text in analyzing online text, and offered a fourth dimension to the reading of the text. The results indicate that while individual writers bring their own meanings and multiple influences to content production, news organizations are still immersed in their traditional structures. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Michael S. Sweeney Professor of Journalism iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Michael Sweeney, sincerely for his support and guidance in this undertaking. I must say that it has been my greatest privilege working with him. There is no doubt that his interest and enthusiasm in my topic helped shaped what I had conceived initially for this research into a workable research project. I am particularly impressed by all the sacrifices he made going through my work at short notices and making recommendations even outside his office hours. It is obvious that these days, as a result of weighty academic demands on professors, one hardly finds academicians who are wholly committed and ready to do the ―handholding‖ for students under their tutelage through the labyrinth of theories and methods. I can say without doubt that if I should travel this road again, I definitely will choose Dr. Sweeney as my conductor. I also wish to express my appreciations to Dr. Robert Stewart and Dr. Steve Howard for being part of my committee and placing their expertise in this subject matter at my disposal. I believe personal disposition towards individuals we work with go a long way to shape their work and outlook on life. This is not a trait any strict academic regulation can impose on any academician towards his/her students, it is a special rapport that comes with recognizing the needs of students very early in their academic pursuit and being in alignment to offer that support, and I can say without reservation that I have received all that from you. I am glad to know you and to have worked with you. To my numerous friends, I would like to express my gratitude to you all. Your support was most paramount to this entire project. iv Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background to the Study .......................................................................................... 1 1.2. Aims and Objectives of the Study ........................................................................... 5 1.3. Significance of the Study: ........................................................................................ 6 1.4. Research Method ..................................................................................................... 7 1.5. Limitations of the Study .......................................................................................... 8 1.6. Presentation of the Study ......................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 11 2.1. Media/Content Production ..................................................................................... 11 2.2. Decoding the Media Content ................................................................................. 19 2.3. Ghana‘s Media Environment and Timeline ........................................................... 26 2.4. Internet Spread and Use/Application in Ghana ..................................................... 31 Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework of the Study............................................................... 37 3.1. Glocalization .......................................................................................................... 37 3.2. The Digital Public Sphere ...................................................................................... 44 Chapter 4: Research Method ............................................................................................. 50 4.1. Secondary Research ............................................................................................... 51 4.2. Primary Research ................................................................................................... 53 4.2.1. Sampling Procedure ........................................................................................ 53 4.2.2. Intercoder Process for Content ........................................................................ 57 4.2.3. Coding Categories for Content Production ..................................................... 58 4.2.4. Virtual Ethnography ........................................................................................ 62 Chapter 5: Empirical Results and Interpretation ............................................................... 68 5.1. Data Analysis and Interpretation of Content Production ....................................... 68 5.1.1. News Source ................................................................................................... 68 v 5.1.2. Episodic Category ........................................................................................... 70 5.1.3. Stereotype and Bias Category ......................................................................... 74 5.1.4. Genre Theoretical Category ............................................................................ 76 5.1.5. Ideologically Driven Category ........................................................................ 78 5.1.6. Narrative Category .......................................................................................... 80 5.2. Data Analysis and Interpretation for Content Decoding ....................................... 82 5.2.1. Decoding Content and the Fourth-Dimension ................................................ 82 5.2.2. Decoding Features .......................................................................................... 84 5.3. Questionnaire-Generated Results ........................................................................ 102 5.3.1. Questionnaire Generated Results from Writers ............................................ 102 5.3.2. Questionnaire-Generated Results and Observations on Interactive Platforms ................................................................................................................................. 107 Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusion ........................................................................... 110 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 122 Appendix A: Coding Protocols for Content Analysis .................................................... 130 Appendix B: Questionnaire............................................................................................. 133 Appendix C: Consent Form ............................................................................................ 137 vi List of Tables Page Table 5.1.1a: News Source for Atta-Mills ......................................................................69 Table 5.1.1b: News Source for Akuff-Addo ...................................................................70 Table 5.1.2a: Episodic Category in Reference to Atta-Mills ..........................................72 Table