Department of Communication Studies

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Browsing Department of Communication Studies by Author "Boateng Anson, Jonas Kodwo"

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    Face-to Face with COVID-19: Experiences of Ghanaian Frontline Journalists Infected with the Virus
    (Springer International Publishing, 2022-05) Boateng Anson, Jonas Kodwo; Buatsi, Redeemer
    Journalists around the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, media houses have had to make drastic adjustments to the impact of challenges wrought by the pandemic on their operations. Ghanaian media houses also faced similar challenges and disruptions. News reporters and journalists felt the impact of these disruptions with many Ghanaian journalists losing their jobs. This study used affective-emotive theoretical perspective to examine how the possibility of contracting COVID-19 could affect or trigger emotions of fear and anxiety among Ghanaian journalists. The study set two main objectives (1) what workplace safety policies and protocol guidelines were established in newsrooms to mitigate the spread of the virus and (2) to what extent did journalists fear for the safety and well-being of close family members because of their journalism work. The study conducted in-depth unstructured interviews with five journalists who had recovered from the COVID-19 infections. The study found that despite high degrees of fear and anxiety among respondents about on-assignments and workplace infections, respondents still maintained ‘emotional detachment’ to attain objectivity in news reporting. Respondents also expressed high degrees of fear of exposing family members to the virus.
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    Proclivity of Sexual Harassment and Blame Attribution in Journalism: Experiential Narratives of Ghanaian Female Journalists
    (Observatorio (OBS*) Journal, 2021) Boateng Anson, Jonas Kodwo; Epp, Lauk
    Though the proclivity of sexual-related harassment in African journalism is high, the rates of reporting of these incidences and empirical studies are low. The study employs a gendered approach for an exploratory inquiry into the lived experiences and impressions of Ghanaian female journalists about sexual harassment. The study examines how female journalists experience both newsroom harassments and on-assignment sexual harassment, including the role they play in quid pro quo exchanges, which are relevant aspects of sexual harassment in the profession. The study also examines blame attribution strategies female journalists adopt in assigning blame for sexual harassment occurrences. The study uses a respondent-assisted sampling technique to select and conduct in-depth-interviews with twenty-three female journalists drawn from a cross-section of Ghana's journalism industry. Findings show that most Ghanaian female journalists have encountered sexual harassment from influential men either in the newsroom or on assignment. They also engage in quid pro quo exchanges with influential news related persons either for financial or job-related rewards. Consequently, older female journalists adopt other women blame attributions in assigning blame for incidences of sexual harassment in journalism practice in Ghana.
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    Reversal of Gender Disparity in Journalism Education- Study of Ghana Institute of Journalism
    (Observatorio (OBS*) Journal, 2017) Boateng Anson, Jonas Kodwo
    Journalism has practically become a feminine profession across the world. To understand the root of the flow of women into the Journalism profession it is pertinent to begin at the university education level. Gallagher’s 1992 worldwide survey of female students in 83 journalism institutions reveals a significant increase in number of female students. Djerf-Pierre (2007) and others argue along Bourdieu’s conception of education as a form of social capital which empowers, enable and enhances women’s competitiveness in a pre-dominantly androgynous social arena. Using 16 years of enrolment data retrieved from the Academic Affair Unit of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), a leading Journalism, and Communication University in Africa, the empirical study examines the growing feminization of journalism. This study uses the UNESCO gender parity index model (GPI) to ascertain the gender parity ratio of male to female students enrolled at the University. Findings indicate a significant shift in the gender parity ratio in favor of women in the journalism education.