Centre-periphery circulation patterns in Ghana’s print media landscape: exploring the underlying determinants

What is it about?

After 202 years (1822‒2024) of its inception in the then Gold Coast, now Ghana, and witnessing an unprecedented upsurge in publication since 1992, the circulation of print media appears unevenly distributed between the centre (capital) and the peripheries. Since there are not enough studies that explore the circulation of print media under Ghana’s fourth republic to show its circulation patterns, this article analyses print distribution figures and views sourced from newspaper firms to examine the situation within the participatory communication and the political economy of the media frameworks. It uncovers that a few newspaper firms have regional offices but do not print in those locations. They function only as bulk distribution and administrative centres that gather news to feed their headquarters in the capital. Ghana’s print industry operates a centre-periphery production and distribution framework. Furthermore, the study unveils that four factors contribute to newspaper concentration in urban centres, namely ownership tendencies, revenue motives, skilled labour availability and seat of government, and urban media credibility. Thus, Ghana experiences wide rural‒urban print disparities which retard timely information sourcing, consensus building and participatory development communication. The findings from the study have implications for Africa.

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Why is it important?

The study contributes to bridging disparities in accessing information and brings out the significance of maintaining print as a strategic component of information.