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Based on UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators (MDI), this report provides a detailed analysis of various aspects of the media landscape in Ghana during the research period 2017-2021, focused on:

• the state of the legal, regulatory and policy framework conducive to freedom of expression,
• the degree of media pluralism and diversity,
• the capability of the media to serve as a platform for democratic discourse,
• the availability of professional capacity building and supporting institutions,
• the infrastructural capacity to support an independent pluralist media.

Ghana has made tremendous progress regarding freedom of expression and access to information since the inception of the Fourth Republic. Looking back to a firmly rooted history of democratic practice, the country has a vibrant and free media environment regulated by an independent body and supported by a strong civil society sector. The constitution includes legal protection for journalists against censorship and violence. However, the report expresses concern over a growing sense of insecurity among journalists regarding their safety, an increasing media concentration and commercial imperatives that may pose a threat to media freedoms and pluralism in Ghana.

Media practitioners, government officials, media stakeholders, civil society organizations and researchers are invited to implement the context-specific recommendations that the report formulates in order to improve the state of the media in Ghana.

A survey in 2020 found that 65% of Ghanaians said media should be free to publish without government interference, while just 30% believed that the government should have the right to prevent publication of contents with which it disagrees.