The press in Ghana has a chequered history and quite relatively young when compared to the rest of the world. The fist Newspaper, the Royal Gold Coast Gazette was launched in 1822 by General Sir Charles MacCarthy to provide information to the British Merchants in the Colony. The Royal Gold Coast Gazette was used to inform and propagate British ideologies in the colony. The media and all that it represents have often had insidious content. People have often used the media to promote their own agenda be it in the area of marketing, finance, governance, entertainment and sports.
The launch of the Accra Herald later changed to the West African Herald by Charles and Edmund Bannerman in 1857 marked the era where African could express their opinion using ink on paper. Ghanaians in a hand writing form expressed their detestation of the British Crown and called for immediate reforms.
The period between 1920s-1930s saw radical and more vociferous media that called for self-rule. Key nationalist figures established news paper to champion their cause until independent was finally granted in 1957. The once liberal media under British colonialism changed under Ghana’s first president due to his nationalistic and political ideologies.
Coup d’états interspersed with civilian rules also had a huge consequence on the press and how it operates until a new constitution in 1992. This chequered history has influence the print media landscape in terms of editorial, scope of operation, its profitability, policies, sustainability, human resource, legal issues and many more.
Against this chequered history is the reason why the Print Media industry struggle for survival against Radio, Television and New Media
The Print media industry today, is not as profitable as it used to be decades ago. It emergence of social media has led to the decline of newspaper readership. Gradually, the print media is become obsolete and may eventually die off in the next century to come.
In an era where information can reach people in their palm, no one has the time to flip through bulky newspaper in search of job recruitments adverts or and information while same can be acquired online on numerous platforms.
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One may argue that the print media industry is not dying out, but changing and as such has migrated digitally. in as much as that may be partly through, the underinvestment in the print industry and the cost on inputs has invariably contributed to this problem.
To conclude, I believe that, the print industry needs to reinvent itself to stay relevant or it may become extinct and make thousands of people jobless. Thus, policy makers, and all stakeholders in the media space needs to come-up with a feasible solution to salvage the situation.
