Media Coverage of the 2017-2019 Banking Sector Reform in Ghana: A Content Analysis of the Daily Graphic Newspaper

Abstract

Ghana has just come out from a banking sector clean-up that sought to restore investor and public confidence in the sector instituted by the Bank of Ghana (BOG). The licenses of distressed banks were revoked and consolidated; some were merged. More importantly, officials who played key roles leading to the collapse of such banks are facing prosecution and have been barred from playing roles in the financial service industry in Ghana. Nonetheless, there is a public outcry that the institutions involved in the clean-up had kept the citizens in the dark, thereby questioning the potency of the media in the country. Musah (2019) posit that it is unfortunate that the media in Ghana pay less attention to the financial sector, than other sector such as politics. This is advanced by the fact that the media’s role and attempts at reporting on the financial and banking sectors are gravely challenged by the inadequacy of information volunteered or made public by the sector. This study therefore seeks to study how the Daily Graphic newspaper reported the banking sector crises by looking at the frames used, weight and space given as well as education given by the outlets to the people on the reform between 2017-2019.