Media Manager, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, has cast doubt on the commitment of Ghana’s major political parties, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), to promoting independent journalism.
He argued that neither party appears willing to support a media environment strong enough to hold politicians accountable and challenge those in power.
Dr Ashigbey stressed the need for well-resourced and editorially independent media organisations capable of scrutinising government and political actors without fear or favour.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, November 9, Dr Ashigbey said mounting financial challenges facing media organisations, alongside the increasing control of major digital platforms over advertising revenue, were undermining their ability to sustain quality and responsible journalism.
His remarks followed discussions on the poor remuneration of media practitioners and President John Dramani Mahama’s announcement of a GH¢10 million allocation to the Media Development Fund.
“The politicians would not want independent media to thrive. They both, the NDC and NPP, would not want it to thrive,” he said.
Dr Ashigbey warned that Ghana could not allow political interference and commercial pressures to undermine the media’s capacity to fulfil its constitutional mandate.
He noted that the increasing migration of advertising revenue to major digital platforms had placed traditional media organisations under severe financial strain, limiting their ability to invest in investigative reporting and retain skilled journalists.
He said the situation was gradually pushing media houses towards greater dependence on public relations materials, at the expense of independent reporting, critical scrutiny and in-depth analysis.
“The tendency for a lot of what I call PR journalism tends to drive what it is that we do rather than the very rigorous, critical, analytical, independent journalism that you can get,” he said.
Dr Ashigbey said the issue was particularly concerning in Ghana, where political parties wield significant influence over governance, making a financially independent media essential to holding those in power accountable.
He questioned how the media, despite its recognition as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, could effectively perform this watchdog role without the financial support and public funding enjoyed by the other arms of government.
He pointed out that while the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary received funding from the public purse, the media had no equivalent guaranteed financial support to enable it to fulfil its constitutional mandate.
According to him, media managers were facing increasing difficulties in raising the funds needed to sustain the quality of journalism required to serve the public interest.
Dr Ashigbey further noted that the media industry was evolving, with some independent news organisations in other countries turning to subscription-based models to generate revenue, sustain their operations and safeguard editorial independence.
Dr Ashigbey called for the adoption of sustainable funding mechanisms to strengthen media organisations and enable them to undertake critical journalism without undue influence from political or commercial interests.
Although he welcomed the proposed GH¢10 million allocation to the Media Development Fund, he stressed that setting up the fund alone would not be enough to secure the future of independent journalism.
He urged citizens to push for a sustainable funding framework that guarantees media independence, warning against an arrangement that leaves the survival of the media dependent on the goodwill of political leaders.
Dr Ashigbey appealed to Ghanaians to exercise their collective constitutional power to demand a sustainable funding system that would strengthen independent journalism.
He said the proposed Media Development Fund offered an opportunity to ease the financial challenges facing media organisations, but its effectiveness would depend on the commitment of stakeholders to establishing a transparent framework that prioritises the public interest.
