Media of Ghana

The media of Ghana, now one of the most free in Africa, has previously undergone a series of government overthrows by military leaders and periods of severe restriction. Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana guarantees freedom of the press and independence of the media, while Chapter 2 prohibts censorship. Reporters Without Borders classify the environment as being 31st out of 173, with 1st being most free. The media in the Gold Coast first emerged in the nineteenth century with the publication of The Gold Coast Gazette and Commercial Intelligencer in 1822. The paper had several functions: to provide information for civil servants and European merchants; and to help promote literacy rates and rural development amongst the local population - whilst encouraging unity with the colonial British government. In the mid nineteenth century, a diverse number of African owned papers appeared which were largely unrestricted by the colonial government. This led to a surge of anti-colonial press, which in part, led to the independence of Ghana.