Article Sidebar

Download
View Full Article XML S.I.S
Statistic
Read Counter : 81 Download : 48

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Main Article Content

Abstract

This study examines the coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic by two prominent Ghanaian news platforms, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and Joy Online News, from January 2020 to December 2021. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach and Framing Theory, the research analyzes how each platform framed the pandemic and its associated issues. Both platforms highlighted key topics such as public health, economic impacts, government responses, and transparency, but they employed distinct framing strategies. Joy Online focused heavily on emotional engagement, particularly in highlighting government unaccountability and advocating for greater transparency. This approach resonated emotionally with audiences, emphasizing the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic and government shortcomings. In contrast, the GNA adopted a more neutral, factual reporting style, emphasizing reliable, data-driven coverage of public health and governmental actions, with less emotional appeal. The findings suggest that while both platforms shared common themes, their framing approaches influenced how audiences perceived the government’s handling of the crisis and shaped their emotional and behavioral reactions. The study concludes with recommendations for balanced reporting, collaboration with experts, and measures to combat misinformation, emphasizing the need for transparent, empathetic communication in times of crisis.

Keywords

COVID 19 Media Framing Framing Strategies Ghana News Agency (GNA) Joy News Online.

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Azagsiba Agana, T., Adadi Akapule, S., & Naaikuu, L. (2025). COVID-19 in Ghana: A Comparative Study of Media Coverage by Ghana News Agency and Joy online news. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies and Innovative Research, 13(2), 48–69. https://doi.org/10.53075/Ijmsirq/098735476575
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX

References

  1. Abdul, R. and Dzormeku, D. (2020). Media framing of health crises: Insights from African perspectives. African Journal of Communication Studies, 8(2), 45-62.
  2. Abubakar, I., Abubakar, S. B. and Abubakar, A. (2020). Media framing and COVID-19: An exploratory case study of selected Nigerian newspapers. African Journalism Studies, 41(3), 287–304.
  3. Ackah, W. and Adongo, J. (2020). Media coverage of COVID-19 in Ghana: A content analysis of online news portals. Journal of African Media Studies, 12(3), 305-320.
  4. AHCJ. (2002. B). Covering the Quality of Health Care—A Resource Guide for Journalists. Available online at http://www.ahcj.umn.edu/qualityguide/. URL. Accessed March 18, 2003.
  5. Baxter, P. and Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design Implementation for Novice Researchers. The Quarterly Report, 13(4), 544-559
  6. BBC News. (2021). Ghana country profile. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13334260 on May 5 2023. URL
  7. BBC. Coronavirus: ‘We Are at War’ – Macron. 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/av.51917380/coronavirus-we-are-at-war-macron. Accessed 5 May 2020. ULR.
  8. BMJ Global Health (2021). Ghana’s COVID-19 response: the Black
  9. Star can do even better. Retrieved from: https://gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/6/3/e005569.full.pdf. URL
  10. Boateng, R., Boateng, D. and Quagraine, G. O. (2021). Media framing of COVID-19 and public response in Ghana. African Journalism Studies, 42(1), 86–102.
  11. Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, And Evaluating Quantitative Research (4th Ed.) Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education.
  12. Dadzie, P. S. and Ansong, A. (2018). Journalism in Ghana: History, development and practice. African. Journalism Studies, 39(2), 1-16.
  13. Datar portal. (2025). Digital 2025: Ghana. Retrieved from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2025-ghana
  14. Dewulf, A. and Bouwen, R. (2012). Issue Framing in Conversations for Change: Discursive. Publishing in U.K
  15. Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43(4), 51-58.
  16. Ferri, F., Grifoni, P., Guzzo, T. and Bartolucci, F. (2020). COVID-19 outbreak perception in Italian Twitter users: A semantic topic analysis. Heliyon, 6(9), e04709.
  17. Ghana Health Service Report (22022 ). Covid-19 Ghana's Outbreak Response Management Updates. Retrieved from : https://www.ghs.gov.gh/covid19/. URL
  18. Ghana National Media Policy, (2000). National Media Commission. Retrieved on September 2014 from www.ict.gov.gh/NMC-MEDIA-POLICY.pdf. URL
  19. Ghanaian Broadcasting Company Limited. (n.d.). Joy News. Retrieved from https://www.multimediaghana.com/about.php on September, 2024. URL
  20. Ghanaian Times Newspaper (2021). Ghana’s stand on COVID-19 cases over health and economic growth. Retrieved from:,https://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/ghanas-stand-on-covid-19-cases-over-health-and-economic-growth/. on September, 2024.URL
  21. Ghanaian Times Newspaper (2021). Tourism, hospitality industry loses $171m due to COVID-19… Tourism Ministry. Retrieved from: https://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/tourism-hospitality-industry-loses-171m-due-to-covid-19-tourism-ministry, on September 2024.
  22. Glik, D. C. (2007). Risk communication for public health emergencies. Annual Review of Public Health, 28, 33–54.
  23. Global Media Kit. (2025). Television and media consumption in Ghana: Statistics and trends. Retrieved from https://globalmediakit.com/adbuzz/adbuzz-detail/4aa2c0af-4834-43ee-a28a-1e0d235cc8ce
  24. Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. London: Harper and Row.
  25. Government of Ghana (2018). Media houses. Available online at: http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/mediacenter/media-houses (accessed September 15, 2020). URL
  26. Gupta, R., et al. (2021). Understanding the impact of media framing on public perceptions and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Health Communication, 25(6), 456-467.
  27. Gyapong, J. Q., Aboagye, D. A., and Adams, V. M. (2022). Public health response to COVID-19 in Ghana: A narrative review. International Journal of Infectious Diseases: Reporting, 22(1), 102022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9294683/ URL
  28. Hagos, A., Tufa, K., and Mulugeta, Y. (2021). Media coverage of COVID-19 in Africa: A systematic review. Journal of African Media Studies, 13(1), 45-62.
  29. Hannah-Clark S (2020). New York ICU Nurse: Battling Coronavirus Feels “Like A War”. CNN; 2020. Available from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-04-0920/h_4fddd31b95a10f710027e2ea40c0dcf1 . Accessed 5 May 2020. URL
  30. Howard J. and Holcombe M. (2020). New York’s Coronavirus Outbreak Came from Europe and other Parts of US, Research Suggests. CNN; 2020. Available from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-04-09-20/h_4395efe19a979b64efb925e4da99fbf2. Accessed 5 May 2020. URL
  31. Humanities and Social Science Communication (2021). News media coverage of COVID-19 public health and policy information. Retrieved from : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00900-z). URL
  32. Iyengar, S. (1991). Is anyone responsible? How television frames political issues. University of Chicago Press.
  33. Jiang S. (2020). Chinese Government after US Criticism: Accusations Won’t Get Rid of the Virus. Beijing: CNN; 2020. Available from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-04-09-20/h_41f9608bbba25df8dfa06480b7a3ff47. Accessed 5 May 2020 URL.
  34. Lee, S. and Lee, A. (2020). Framing COVID-19: A comparative analysis of media framing strategies during the pandemic. International Journal of Communication, 14, 3485-3505.
  35. Loftsdottir, K. and Jensen, S. Q. (2020). Media and the coronavirus pandemic: Strategies of re-mediation. Social Anthropology, 28(2), 250–253.
  36. McCombs M and Shaw D. (1972.) The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly 36(2):176–187
  37. Media Foundation for West Africa Report (2020). The Media and COVID-19 in Ghana. Retrieved from: https://www.mfwa.org/issues-in-focus/the-media-and-covid-19-in-ghana-march-june/. URL
  38. Media Governance and Public Sphere (2021). Misconceptions, Misinformation and Politics of COVID-19 on social media: A Multi-Level Analysis in Ghana. Retrieved from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2021.613794/full URL
  39. Ministry of Health (2021). Antigen Testing Guidelines for COVID-19 in Ghana In., vol. 1st edition. Accra Ghana. Ministry of Health Technical Coordination Directorate; 2021.
  40. Ministry of Health (2020). COVID-19 Case Management Manual. In. Accra Ghana Ministry of Health, Ghana Health service and World Health Organization; 2020.
  41. Ministry of Health: Ghana Covid-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project & Additional Financing. Environmental And Social Management Framework (Esmf). In. Accra Ghana: Ministry of Health; 2020.
  42. Nampewo, Z., Mike, J. H., & Wolff, J. (2022). Respecting, protecting and fulfilling the human right to health. International Journal for Equity in Health, 21(1), 36.
  43. National Centre for Biotechnology information (2020). Epidemiological profile of SARS-CoV-2 among selected regions in Ghana: A cross-sectional retrospective study. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33301533/
  44. National Media Policy. (2000). National Media Commission. Retrieved August 27, 2015 from www.ict.gov.gh/NMC-MEDIA POLICY.pdf URL.
  45. National Communications Authority. (2024). Five-year strategic plan 2024-2028. Retrieved from https://nca.org.gh
  46. NCA, (2015). NCA Guidelines for The Establishment and Operation of Community Radio. Open Society Initiative for West Africa, (2010).
  47. Neuendorf KA. (2016). The Content Analysis Guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2016.
  48. Nwakpu E. S., Ezemma V. C., Ogbodo J. N. (2020). Nigeria media framing of coronavirus pandemic and audience response. Health Promotion Perspectives. 2020;10(3): In press. Google Scholar. URL
  49. Owusu, K., and Sowah, A. (2020). Government messaging and media narratives during health crises in Africa: A comparative analysis. African Journal of Media Studies, 12(3), 145-162.
  50. Reese, S. D., Gandy Jr, O. H. and Grant, A. E. (2001). Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world. Routledge.
  51. Republic of Ghana (2020). Imposition of Restrictions Act 2020. Ghana, Accra.
  52. Schram G. N. (1993). Toward a Response to the American Crisis. Front Royal, Va: Christendom Press; 1993.
  53. Schuman M. (2002). Journalists as change agents in medicine and health care. Journal of the American Medical Association 287:776–777. [PubMed]
  54. Semetko, H. A. and Valkenburg, P. M. (2000). Framing European politics: A content analysis of press and television news. Journal of Communication, 50(2), 93-109.
  55. Severin, W. J. and Tankard, J. W. (2001). Communication Theories: Origins, Methods, And Uses in The Mass Media. Fifth Edition, Addison Wesley Longman, New York
  56. Shleifer, A. and Treisman, D. (1997). Who owns the media? [Working Paper No. WPS1833]. World Bank, Policy Research Department.
  57. Smith, A. and Johnson, B. (2020). Comparative analysis of global media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for public understanding and behavior. Journal of Communication
  58. Takuva, S., Machingura, F., Makuvaza, S. and Shambira, G. (2021). Perceptions of COVID-19 in Zimbabwe: A thematic discourse analysis of media coverage. African Journalism Studies.
  59. Tangcharoensathien et al. (2020). Framework for managing the COVID-19 infodemic: Methods and results of an online, crowdsourced WHO technical consultation. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(6), e19659.
  60. Van der Meer, T. G. and Jin, Y. (2020). Reporting on COVID-19 in Chinese newspapers: Media framing of the Wuhan lockdown. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 97(1), 220–238.
  61. Wallack L, Dorfman L. (2000). Putting policy into health communication: The role of media advocacy, pp. 389–401. In Rice R, editor; Atkin C, editor. (Eds.). Public Communication Campaigns, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  62. WHO COVID-19 Dashboard (2022). Global Overview of COVID 19. Retrieved from: https://covid19.who.int/region/afro/country/gh URL.
  63. Wikipedia. (2024, April 13). Joy FM (Ghana). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_FM_%28Ghana%29 URL.
  64. WHO (2020). Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). WHO; 2020. outbreak situation; 2020a. Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019. Accessed 5 May 2020 URL.
  65. Zarocostas, J. (2020). How to fight an infodemic. The Lancet, 395(10225), 676.

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.