The Role of the Mass Media in Ghana’s Democracy

The media’s job is to entertain, inform, and educate society on what is going on around the world. The media entertains society by reporting stories that amuse people. The educational function of the media is about allowing society to know their legal rights. The informational aspect of the media does not need to be explained; it is self-explanatory. Within the last three decades, the media’s role has changed dramatically. The media went from using telegraphs, post offices, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television to using cell phones and tablets. In the modern era, which is also sometimes referred to as the information age, global networking and global communication have shaped modern societies. The majority of

Ever since the 17th century, the newspaper has been produced and blown out of proportion, known as mass media. George A. Krimsky shines his own opinion in his essay, “The Role of the Media in a Democracy.” Krimsky provides many examples, reasoning, and rhetoric devices to expand his argument even more, his argument being that; the press should send out straight facts, let people interpret them, and allow the free press to hold the government accountable.

Should the media play a role in American democracy? The media has a big role in informing people about what is going on in the world. I believe that the media shouldn’t play a role in American democracy. The media has the power to influence voters and candidates, but that is dangerous. If the media were to still play a role in American democracy, it would be a limited one.

The media is an amazing invention that can be a very good tool during times of distress. There are issues with media sometimes but overall, it can be useful in the right hands. Throughout history, the media has been used wisely to enrich the knowledge of the public and to show what can be done in order to help their fellow man.

Media is not a novel presence, but its influences are ever evolving and increasing exponentially. Whether through print or television each type of media is vitally important for a politician. Politicians must focus on the message that is to be conveyed and be aware of the influence each media type has. Print ads, radio shows, television interviews, magazine articles and debates all have a degree of effectiveness on a voting demographic. Mastering the media effects on the people that are to be influenced is the key to successful communication of ideas and a successful political career.

The media is a source of information that all U.S. citizens have access to. Either they have a cell phone, a computer, or a television, everyone can get information from the media. Mass media have been considered a powerful agent of political socialization, affecting political attitudes and behaviors of voters and non-voters. Newspaper and television news use significantly predicted internal

Media was just as ever-changing as the society it was taking place within. During this time, media was just beginning to become a nationwide phenomenon. In May of 1874, the “Imperial Press Law” decreed that there would be freedom of the press. This opened the door not only for more forms of media to be readily available, but also for media to now be interwoven with politics. Newspapers

The media influences how people experience social life. Media such as newspaper, television and film, are important sources of information, education and entertainment. It can be used to learn more about the world and the people in it. In this regard it can be said that the media represent, interpret and endorse aspects of social experience (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2005). The media are also implicated in social regulation, or in other terms, the government of society. The media are implicated in government and politics in an obvious way because modern systems of democracy are conducted through the media. But the media have a bigger role to play in government by structuring how society is controlled and maintained.

Media has quite the power to change and influence politics and the way that American politics are run. Any kind of media or the information that they provide us is supposed to make it easier for people to understand how political decisions are made and know how government works. But in this period of time, the media is often used to exploit false rumors and obscure the true form of conflict or political issues from people.

The freedom and openness of media plays a central role in politics and it is often portrayed as a fourth branch of government in democratic systems, such as the United States (Choi, James, 2006). Ideally, the role of the media, in a democratic state, is to provide a voice for the marginalized in society. Therefore a failure to insure press freedom is a failure of democracy. Taking this into account, it is evident that negative portrayal of African Americans in the media leads to oppressive behaviour in the political system, and this is directly correlated to the status of United States as a democratic country. Press freedom, within a state, leads to enlightened understanding of political policies and effective participation of all in the electoral

The République de Côte d'Ivoire, also known as the Ivory Coast, is a country in West Africa bordering Liberia and Guinea to the west, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The location now known as the Ivory Coast was made a protectorate of France during the era of imperialism by a treaty in the 1840's, and became a French colony in 1893. The country gained its independence in 1960, at which point it was led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny until 1993. During these years, the country was closely tied with its' West African neighbors economically and politically, but also maintained trade with the Western world, furthering the nations economic development.

Throughout the years, the form of media being disturbed has been progressing. Going from only having newspaper in the 1605 to where it was only local rather than broad, to when radios were invented in 1900s, where almost every house hold had radio to tune in on broadcasts from radio stations. However, after the televisions where disturbed to every house in America more and more people were able to keep up with the political world and news. Growth of cable television has expanded throughout the years going from few channels to couple hundred depending on the provider. The role of the media is to scrutinize the actions of the government officials, in other words be the watchdog by informing its citizens of what is happening around the country

When the White House felt a retraction was not enough because so much harm had already been done, the media got extremely upset with the White House, due to the pressure they were putting on the publication (52-53). Begala agrees with Hewitt that the media has a bias, but argues that it is a liberal bias. He cites the media's obsession with the Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal and how, "Even when Clinton was leaving office, he was hounded and pounded by the press" (199). He argues the news coverage was unfair, brutal and unethical in the way both Bill and Hillary Clinton were treated during the scandal (200). Begala also says Al Gore was treated very poorly by the press during the election, by being misquoted. Gore made major contributions during the early phases of the internet and made a comment on CNN saying he "took the initiative in creating the Internet." Begala argues this was blown out of proportion and more than a thousand articles have been written quoting Gore saying he said he "invented the internet" (202). The people's perception that certain publications are bias can have a negative affect on journalists as a whole. While the public demands that the press question politicians, Robinson says there is public discontent when bad news is reported due to the publics distrust in news and a "kill the messenger syndrome." At times, the public will assume all media is the same and when one publication is guilty of inaccurate or bias

Media plays a big role in society these days. Whether it be letting society know what is going on the in the world today or something as simple as updates on current life on social media. The media's role in society not only delivers information of the world but also brings people together through common interests or general talks. In Brian Knappenberger's documentary: Nobody Speak: Trials of Free Press it is seen how media effect lives and how there is a much stronger meaning to what media stands for in society and why media needs to take its stand when it comes to people who want to devour them.

Thousands of our nation's men and women were fighting for their country, yet the media limited the amount of information that they chose to pass on to the public. Each day the media is faced with the choice of making decisions of what news to pass on, when that news could make a significant difference in someone's life, or in the fate of our nation.