Journalism and Democratic Cultures

Hasty’s book, Press and Political Culture in Ghana, brought me greater insight into the manner by which information is circulated in Ghana. Especially in terms of private versus state-run presses When looking the stark operational and ultimately, production, differences between private and state-run presses, I understood that while private presses often produced news that was more likely to be critical of Ghanaian institutions, they struggled with having access to their sources and other resources. “With celebrations of charismatic oppositional politicians and entrepreneurs, coupled with the push for an inviolate sphere of private accumulation free from state control, the private press contains the seeds of liberal domination with a global rhetoric of human rights, individualism, and free speech supporting the interests of a local rising elite” (Hasty xxxiii). State-run presses on the other hand were often called upon by government institutions to cover specific events, interviews were set up ahead of time, and transcripts of speeches were given to journalists. “The newly independent state of Ghana relied heavily on the nationalized ‘state media’ to integrate a diversity of ethnic and regional identities, political factions, and economic interests through a superordinating narrative of national integration and development. In the state press the modern project of development is primarily portrayed as material progress, a continual process of socioeconomic cultivation, accumulation, and distribution under the ‘benevolent’ leadership of the state” (Hasty xxxiii). Private presses attempted to speak to Ghanaians about their institutions, whereas state-run presses were a way for institutions to speak directly to Ghanaians and control the conversation. Nonetheless, media consumption plays an immense role in the lives of Ghanaians. “Waking up in your house any morning in the bustling Ghanaian capital of Accra, you are immediately drawn in to the local discourse of news. The first sound you may hear in the morning, after the soft sweeping of needle brooms on the compound floor, is the chattering of disc jockeys on the radio, discussing the fresh news of the morning from the pages of the Daily Graphic or the Ghanaian Independent. As you get ready to go out in the morning, a friend or two might stop by to say hello, adding, ‘My friend, have you heard what they’re saying about the president’s wife?’ of ‘Can you believe what they found in the finance minister’s closet?’ Stepping out of your house, the source of this discourse comes to view as you spot groups of young men tending kiosks or striding along the roadside, proffering an impressive array of daily and weekly newspapers” (Hasty xxiii). Ghanaians have direct access to news as soon as they wake up in the morning, and it remains available via a multitude of a variety of avenues throughout the day. From waking up in the morning and hearing the news on various radios throughout the day (cars, tro tros, stands, etcetera) to the newspapers sold on the roads, to the television broadcasters. Therefore, journalists have an integral role in terms of creating Ghana’s democratic culture. Their work shapes Ghanaians understanding of their government, knowledge of the actions of their institutions, and shapes how they see a public figure’s character. In Ghana, people don’t tend to shy away from political conversations and the vast majority seem to have a consistent appetite for political news. “A cosmopolitan group, they [Daily Graphic staff] all spoke the transnational language of political liberalism, emphasizing the centrality of the press to the democratic process and the obligation of the journalist to act as a watchdog in the public interest” (Hasty xii). Ghanaians and Americans are unabashedly surrounded by media dominated by politics, so when politics seems confusing or disparaging, that gives way for the public to desire distraction. Thus, media in both countries also pump out entertainment news and lately, since the publication of Hasty’s book, social media has been a source for increasingly shared fake news. “At press events and social occasions, or just running errands around town, we talked at length about local politics and the role of journalism in Ghana’s emergent democracy. With his cosmopolitan commitment to free speech and human rights, he [editor-in-chief of Ghana’s the Independent] believed that journalists should inform and educate the public on important issues of the day, acting as independent ‘watchdogs’ in the public interest. He criticized other newspapers for their blatantly partisan editorial policies: the widespread use of flashy and misleading headlines, unbalanced coverage of political parties, and editorializing on the front page” (Hasty xxxv). Over time, it has become harder for journalists to capture their audience’s attention, despite the value of their news. “Combining the ‘formal’ genres of mass media with ‘informal’ modes of social communication, news discourse is embedded in a complex circuit of social knowledge that combines a diversity of sources and audiences, all engaged in exchanges of official information, unofficial leaks, scholarly analysis, popular commentary, rumors, and jokes. The daily drama of national news stimulates the flow of information through this circuit, continually conjuring political imagination and compelling popular fascination”” (Hasty xxiii). Americans as a whole tend to be more techno-centric, receiving the majority of their news online or mobile as newspapers and magazine suffer. Americans have begun giving their attention to quick, television news or informational videos promoted on social media. Investigative departments have been cut, fact-checkers fired, and swaths of trained reported bought out. While in Ghana, newspapers are still popular and radio is often thought of as bigger than television. “Newspapers form the nexus of this news discourse in Ghana. The most provocative and influential news stories circulating through mass media and into the public sphere are produced by the state and private press. While newsworthy events are also covered by radio and television, newspapers constitute the very terms of local news discourse: identifying the main characters, the important local news, and recurring themes-subsuming all in an ongoing narrative frame of national news” (Hasty xxiv). A hierarchy within the media industry still exists as a regulating force, and investigative news has grown more popular. However, today’s struggles bring about complications and greater complexity to conversations regarding the press and political culture. America has since elected a Donald Trump as president, a man who has undermined the media when their reporting inconveniences or displeases him, as well as shared fake news when it has benefitted him. Ghana is in the midst of a presidential election as well, and while traveling in Ghana I have heard that it has become difficult to get young people engaged in politics nor social institutions because many are doubtful that those in power will actually keep their promises and bring change. Therefore, it is now more important than ever for journalists to step up and hold fast to their duty as thorough and honest reporters, Hasty touches on this concept in her book, but our ever-changing world and social systems bring about nuance. “While Public Agenda is popular among a certain set of young urban professionals in Accra, popular political discourse remains riveted on the reputations of national bigmen. As indicated earlier, the press is not merely engaged in constructing the stylized imaginary of the nation-state; rather, it is committed to performing that imaginary in its everyday practices. State officials and state journalists are mutually committed to an economy of identities through flows of information and money. While ‘official-says’ journalism does little to define a journalist’s public reputation, steady supplies of information and money from the state encourage journalists to subordinate their own reputations to the project of constructing the state through the reputations of state officials. Cooperating in this process, journalists are recognized and recognize themselves according to a personal and private reputation that gives them continual access to the spaces and personalities of state news. Moreover, at the highest levels, the state uses surveillance and control the private identities of Castle journalists, insinuating social intimacy, integration, and obligation to the state” (Hasty 131-132). Although investigative reporting is seen as incredibly dangerous in Ghana and pesky in America, the desire for journalists to serve as ‘watchdogs’ holding institutions accountable has not wavered amongst reporters in both countries, despite the skewed efforts of a subset of state-affiliated journalists whose conflicts of interests affect their reporting.