2023 (Volume 9, Number 1)
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Item Social Media and Crisis Management During the Covid 19 Pandemic: An Analysis of the Twitter Activity of Five Key Ghanaian State Actors in the First Year of the Pandemic(Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2023-06-01) Asuman, Manfred Kofi Antwi; Appiah, AlfredThe covid 19 pandemic led to a public health crisis which was responsible for the death of more than four hundred and fifty thousand people. Governments worldwide devised many strategies to help slow down the spread of the virus and reduce its impact on the economy and livelihoods of people. Even though social media platforms played a key role in information dissemination and awareness creation in relation to the novel Corona Virus, it is unknown if the activity of key government social media accounts have any relationship with the number of recorded cases. The researchers used a quantitative content analysis strategy to analyse the posts of 5 key Ghanaian government accounts on Twitter between 11th March 2020 and 11th March 2021, in relation to certain Covid 19 keywords. The researchers found that, no correlation exists between the Twitter posts of key government accounts and number of recorded Covid-19 cases in Ghana. The study also shows that, the lowest number of Covid 19 related tweets were posted in December 2020, the month of the Ghanaian elections, whereas, the highest number of Covid 19 related tweets were posted in March 2020, the month in which the first case was detected in Ghana.Item Framing Competence: African Women Leaders’ Representation in US News Media(Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2023-06-01) Azanu, Benedine; Asafo, Solace; Quashigah, TimothyThis study examines the media representations of African women presidents (Ellen Johnson-Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Joyce Banda of Malawi and Sahle-Work Zewde) in two US newspapers: The New York Times and Washington Post, six months into their first terms in office. Addressing the dynamics of Western representation, this paper examines how the newspapers negotiated the representation of African women leaders through the lens of framing. Informed by qualitative content analysis, the findings indicate African women leaders were predominantly framed around competence, and stereotypes in ways that invoke socio-cultural concepts about marriage and domesticity as essential in women’s upward mobility to leadership spaces. This paper makes the argument that such gendered representations normalize these stereotypes as the global standard for women leaders and symbolically annihilate women who do not meet such criteria. This study extends the body of literature by applying feminist media concepts on traditional media, specifically newspapers, and representation of the Other, thus merging concepts of framing, feminism and transnationalism.Item Political Communication in an Emerging Democracy: A Framing Analysis of President Akufo-Addo’s 2021 Inaugural Address(Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2023-06-01) Opoku, Mensah Eric; Sikanku, Godwin Etse; Adae, Eric Kwame; Osei-Fordjour, Nana KwamePresident Akufo-Addo’s (Ghana) 2021 inaugural address is analysed from a framing perspective. A theory-guided approach anchored by framing as the conceptual framework and framing analysis as the methodological approach were employed. Five major frames were unearthed: (a) “The can-do spirit”, (b) “Ghana beyond aid” (c) “maturing democracy”, (d) “social and economic justice” and (e) “unity, confronting COVID-19 and seizing destiny”. The Presidential inaugural address is the first and most significant speech the President will give after he is sworn in. This research offers insights into the underlying meanings that the president seeks to communicate to the nation beyond linguistic or rhetorical considerations. The research contributes to understanding as well as appreciating the role and nature of presidential communication in a contemporary and emerging democracy such as Ghana.Item Agency And Processes in a Pandemic: Confronting Covid 19 Through Presidential Addresses(Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2023-06-01) Awuku, B. OffeibeaGrounded in the transitivity strand of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, this study investigates the transitivity patterns of the first two addresses delivered by the president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo, to Ghanaians after Ghana recorded its first six cases of the coronavirus to ascertain how the Covid 19 pandemic is construed in Ghana and how its initial reality is interpreted. Among many things, the addresses sought to give directives, call on various sectors and create awareness concerning the pandemic’s causes, effects, and precautions. The study discovered the projection of the president of Ghana as the active agent who is placed in the driver’s seat of Ghana’s fight against the pandemic together with some ministries and parliament as well as the entire Ghanaian populace. The processes associated with these participants are of movement depicting that they are active in their quest to confront the pandemic. Unfortunately, the health officials who are ideally expected to be active under such circumstances are not given agent roles in the data. There is a great awareness of the interpretation of the reality of the pandemic that is being portrayed in these addresses. Even though it is beyond the scope of this study to examine the reception and impact of these addresses and draw conclusions, the study reveals that examining these addresses clarifies the government’s position on the pandemic situation as well as strategies for creating awareness and promoting preventive behaviours and attitudes.Item Exploring the Linguistic Landscape of Cape Coast: Are Our Indigenous Languages Safe in the Public Space?(Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2023-06-01) Gyasi, William Kodom; Dery, Marcelinus; Bangmarigu, Manasseh JonahThe use of the English language as the official language in Ghana has had a toll on the representation of Ghanaian languages in the public space. Even though few studies in Ghana have investigated the linguistic landscape of towns such as Ajumako, Kejetia, and some others, there is no known study on the linguistic landscape of Cape Coast metropolis, the hub of education in Ghana. This study explored the linguistic landscape of Cape Coast Metropolis. The researchers selected forty (40) billboards from four strategic locations in the Cape Coast metropolis. Using Landry and Bourhis’ (1997) theory of linguistic landscape, and Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) theory of Reading Images, the researchers analyzed the data gathered. The analysis revealed that Cape Coast is a multilingual town and the three languages used in the public space are English Language, Twi, and Fante. Further analysis revealed that the English language dominated the public space, followed by Twi, and lastly, Fante. Moreover, it was discovered that visuals in the billboards play a complementary role in communicating meaning to the audience. This study calls the attention of policymakers to consider revising the language policy towards promoting the use of Ghanaian languages in the public space as a strategy to sustain the culture of using our languages in the public space.Item A Philosophical Perspective of Communication(Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2023-06-01) Coker, WincharlesThe study of communication suffers from two basic problems: It lacks a theoretical canon and philosophical rigor. In view of these limitations, this article explores the significance of continental philosophy for the growth of the field. Attention is given to the traditions of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and epistemology in an effort to grasp how such notions as experience, interpretation, and power explain communicative intents, acts, and processes. The paper concludes that the application of these philosophies is necessary for traversing the borders of arid positivism and technological determinism in communication and media theory, research, and practice.