Ghana in Search of Government Accountability in Controlling Political Corruption: Are the Private Mass Media Part of the Solution or the Problem? A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Sociology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Joseph Yaw Asomah Copyright Joseph Yaw Asomah, August, 2018. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis/dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis/dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis/dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis/dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis/dissertation. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this thesis/dissertation in whole or part should be addressed to: Department of Sociology 1019-9 Campus Drive University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A5 Canada OR Dean College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies University of Saskatchewan 116 Thorvaldson Building, 110 Science Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5C9 Canada i ABSTRACT In democratic settings, private mass media are often considered a powerful force against political corruption, which is one of the major impediments to development in Ghana’s fourth republic. Guided by the theories of democracy, the media as watchdog, structuration and the public sphere, this dissertation uses a mainly qualitative methodology to answer this question: “Can private mass media play any constructive role in fighting political corruption in emerging democracies such as Ghana?” The findings indicate that private media are a part of both the problem and the solution regarding political corruption. Private mass media contribute to fighting political corruption by providing a forum for anti-corruption discourse, exposing political corruption, creating awareness, mobilizing for anti-corruption reforms and demanding political accountability. At the same time, they also aggravate the problem via biased reporting, propaganda peddling, media corruption and failure to do consistent investigative and follow-up reporting on political corruption. The results also indicate that an interplay of factors – including democratic freedoms, ownership interests, funding, competition, access to information, and the influences of historical legacies and civil societies – shapes the watchdog role of the private mass media. This dissertation extends our substantive understanding of the contested watchdog responsibilities of the private media and examines the implications these findings have for policy, theory and further research. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am highly indebted to my advisor, Dr. Hongming Cheng, for his invaluable guidance, support, and encouragement throughout my doctoral studies. His advice and mentorship significantly contributed to the completion of my doctoral research on time. I am also most grateful to my advisory committee – Dr. Daniel Beland, Dr. Li Zong, Dr. Wan Li, and Dr. Ibironke Odumosu- Ayanu – for their prompt, insightful and constructive feedback, from the research proposal stage to the final dissertation. I also thank the external examiner, Dr. Xiaogang Deng, University of Massachusetts (Boston), his thoughtful review of my dissertation. Additionally, I sincerely thank faculty members, the administrative staff, and my colleague graduate students of the Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan, for their indispensable support and love throughout my studies, especially when I lost my mother in 2016. My heartfelt appreciation also goes to Dr. Rui Feng for his Graduate Studies Award, which supported my doctoral fieldwork in Ghana; and to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the University of Saskatchewan, for the Dean’s scholarship, which helped me focused on my studies without financial worries. Furthermore, I am highly indebted to my family – particularly Joyce Camda Sarfo – for their prayers, care and love; and to Professors Russell Smandych and Baffoe Michael, and to all my friends, and pastors, for their support and encouragement. I thank the Department of Sociology at the University of Manitoba for not giving up on me when the Canadian High Commission in London refused me Canadian student visa twice in 2012, and for its support while I was pursuing my MA (thesis-based) in sociology. I am also grateful to all the research participants for their time and preparedness to share with me their experiences and different kinds of expertise in the role of the Ghanaian private media in political corruption. Above all, my most profound gratitude goes to the Almighty God for giving me the gift of life and for making what I thought impossible possible in my life. Indeed, I cannot agree much more with this song entitled Great is Thy Faithfulness. In my local dialect, I say Awurade me Nyankopon, medawase (LORD my God, I thank you). iii DEDICATION For my late parents, Madam Grace Afia Serwaa and Mr. Kofi Asumah. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE ................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 8 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Institutions & Mass Media .................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Defining (Political) Corruption ........................................................................................... 11 2.4 Mass Media Contribution to Anti-Corruption Efforts ........................................................ 20 2.5 Mass Media Contribution to Corruption ............................................................................. 24 2.6 Factors Influencing Mass Media’s Watchdog Role ............................................................ 26 2.7 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 27 CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF RELEVANT THEORIES ............................................................... 29 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 29 3.2 Democratic Theory ............................................................................................................. 29 3.3 Media Theories ................................................................................................................... 32 3.3.1 Authoritarian Theory ................................................................................................... 32 3.3.2 Liberal Theory ............................................................................................................. 34 3.3.3 Social Responsibility Theory........................................................................................ 38 3.3.4 The Development School.............................................................................................. 39 3.3.5 Democratic Participant Theory ................................................................................... 42 3.3.6 Public Sphere Theory ................................................................................................... 44 3.3.7 Limits of the Media Theories ....................................................................................... 47 3.4 Theory of Structuration ....................................................................................................... 49 3.5 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 51 3.6 Summary ............................................................................................................................