Press Freedom Rankings: Ghana place 60 out of 180 countries in press freedom rankings
Wia dis foto come from, Getty Images
Ghanaians dey raise concerns over de latest Reporters Without Borders media rankings wey place de country 60 out of 180 countries on global press freedom index.
De latest ranking be de worst performance of de country in de last 17 years when Ghana rank 66th in 2005.
Dis press freedom rankings dey come on de back of BBC Trending investigative radio piece wey shine de light on de state of press freedom for Ghana.
In de last year, state security arrest journalists wey report or make statements which be critical of people in government.
So what be some of de reasons for which Ghana dey perform poorly on press index rankings.
Political Context
According to de report, although de country gt reputation as regional leader in democratic stability, "journalists dey experience growing pressure in recent years."
"To protect dia jobs den dema security, dem dey increasingly resort to self-censorship, as govment show say dem be intolerant of criticism" de report state.
In addition, dem explain say politicians dey own one third of media outlets or people wey be close to top political parties - sake of dis de content dem produce be largely partisan.
End of Di one wey oda users dey read well well
Safety Issues
According to Reporters Without Borders, de safety of journalists dey deteriorate for Ghana in recent years.
In 2020, reporters wey dey cover de effectiveness of anti-Covid-19 measures suffer attack from security forces.
Again, political leaders make death threats against investigative journalists.
Plus, nearly all cases of law enforcement officers wey attack journalists no see any interest from authorities.
Economic Context
Another reason for de poor ranking of Ghanaian be say most media outlets dey face financial problems.
"Dis dey show through low salaries den poor working conditions for journalists" dem state.
According to de report, govment advertising to newspapers den stuff no be transparent, sake of that some media outlets dey fold sake of production costs.
Meanwhile, state owned media dey benefit from govment advertising contracts den payment for de publication of news items.
Methodology change
One important element wey Reporters Without Borders establish be say dis year dem change de methodology for de rankings, sake of that people for take care when comparing 2022 rankings den scores to 2021.
De 2022 edition of de World Press Freedom Index, assess de state of journalism in 180 countries and territories, dem highlight de disastrous effects of news and information chaos.
