Covering the environment in the Ghanaian media

This paper examines the coverage of environmental issues in the Ghanaian media, specifically in the two widely-circulated national newspapers, People's Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times. The Graphic now circulates on the average 100,000 copies a day while the Times prints and distributes about 60,000. Coverage of environmental news for the month of June 1990 was examined in detail. June was selected because it is an active month for Environmental activities. The writer also studied the two newspapers in September 1990 for comparative studies. The study revealed that there seems to be a general concern with environmental hazards, but their importance relative to other issues is yet to be grasped. There is not much publicity given to the impact of population growth and soil erosion on the environment. Reporters have neither special interest nor special skill in reporting on the environment. Most of the features are contributed by UN agencies or foreign news agencies.