Click Icons Above To Access Information On Specific Media/ICTs In Ghana 

Media and Communication in Ghana- An Overview

The ways in which people access information are rapidly evolving all over the world. Africa is no exception, as radio and television outlets proliferate and new media expand the range of potential information sources. In Ghana, as this research shows, change in the information landscape is in some ways evolutionary and in other ways revolutionary. The reach of traditional media (radio, television and print) is far from uniform throughout the country. Reliable internet connections are out of reach for most citizens. Mobile phones, however, are opening up a powerful new avenue of communication and information-sharing for the population, but mobile’s full promise as an empowering communication tool has yet to be fulfilled.

Based on the AudienceScapes survey data about Ghanaians’ access to media and ICTs, and how people are using them to gather and share information, two key points emerge:

• Traditional media continue to play dominant roles in informing Ghanaians and in their information source preferences. Even when internet or mobile phones are used, it is often to access information from traditional sources. For example, Ghanaians will use the internet to access a newspaper’s website or they will listen to radio stations via their cell phones.
• Resource and access constraints prevent many Ghanaians, particularly in rural or remote locations, from gathering information or communicating via television, newspapers or the internet. However, radios and mobile phones are more widely accessible across the country and are clearly the modes of communication with the most long-range potential in development communication in Ghana.  

Chart 1 shows how household access to media and ICTs differs in a general sense in rural and urban settings. The gap in access to TV and radio underlines radio’s supremacy as a traditional information source outside urban areas. Meanwhile, mobile phone access is at relatively high levels across the board; even the existing urban/rural gap in mobile phone access should be viewed with caution, given indications that rural access is catching up quickly. Note that the urban/rural gap for mobile phones is already narrower in relative terms than that for access to computers, TVs or landline telephones, even though the latter three technologies have been commercially available in Ghana for longer periods.

Chart 1
        

Ghana has clearly entered the new media world, but it has not yet conquered all impediments to universal access for citizens. Note that Ghana placed ninth of 35 African countries on the International Telecommunications Union’s 2009 ICT Development Index, which factors in levels of access, use patterns and the ICT skills levels of individuals. [1] The price measure used to calculate the ICT Development Index (a price basket of fixed line telephone, mobile telephone and broadband internet service costs as a share of monthly gross national income per capita) indicates that Ghana’s ICT services are more expensive than 12 of the 32 African countries for which prices were measured (and more costly than 124 of the 150 countries measured worldwide). [2]

That said, mobile phone ownership in Ghana is expanding rapidly and has already leapfrogged the rate of access to landlines. According to figures compiled by the World Bank, the number of fixed telephone lines available to the population has remained relatively stable at two per 100 people in the five-year period 2002-2007; mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people shot up from two to 32. [3]

AudienceScapes survey data indicate mobiles are now available in the home to more than 10 times as many Ghanaians as landline phones. Access to the internet has grown, but remains very low overall. [4]

The higher prevalence of computers than internet connections in Ghanaian homes suggests that barriers to home web use are related to subscription costs or internet connectivity, rather than lack of technology.

Chart 2
           

Despite limited household access, many Ghanaians find ways to access media and ICTs outside of their homes (see Chart 2). For example, there are more regular users (used the item for any purpose in the week prior to the survey) of radio, TV, internet and mobile phones than measures of ownership or home access would suggest. Outside of the home, people can access these communication sources at friends’ or families’ homes, in communal settings or through commercial outlets (internet cafés, phone kiosks, etc.).

Use of Media and ICTs for Gathering News and Information

The AudienceScapes survey asked respondents when they last used various sources (media, ICTs, institutional and word-of-mouth) to gather information. Their answers in Chart 3 give an indication of the relative importance of various sources for average Ghanaians to find out about general topics.

Radio was clearly the most widely used information source. TV and word-of-mouth networks far outpaced new ICTs and formal public information sources, such as billboards and pamphlets.

Chart 3
               

Nearly as many respondents reported getting news and information from SMS services as from newspapers, suggesting that at least in terms of national averages, mobile phones are as important a source of information as some traditional media. Whether the reach of SMS services begins to rival TV and radio will be one of the most important trends to watch in the coming years.

Chart 4 gives relative levels of trust expressed by respondents in various information sources. At first glance, it may seem that trust in SMS-delivered information is rather low and significantly trails trust in a number of other sources, such as radio, TV and friends/family. However, this partly reflects the sampling base, given that a large amount of people answered the SMS trust question by saying “do not know” or “do not use for news and information.” In fact, only seven percent of respondents described SMS news as “untrustworthy,” which bodes well for future use of this medium by those seeking news and information.

Chart 4
               

[1]Information Society Statistical Profiles 2009: Africa. International Telecommunication Union, 2009. p. 30.

[2]Information Society Statistical Profiles 2009: Africa. International Telecommunication Union, 2009. p. 37 and Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index 2009. International Telecommunication Union, 2009, p. 57.

[3]World Development Indicators Database, The World Bank Group, April 2009.

[4] “ICT at a Glance: Ghana” Information and Communications for Development 2009, The World Bank Group. P.210.