Media practitioners and the phenomenon of cash for coverage (soli) in Ghana

Abstract

Some journalists in Ghana expect their sources to pay or reward them for covering a programme especially when they are invited by the organiser(s) of the programme. Similarly, PR practitioners are cited as being among the top three sources that perpetuate brown envelope journalism (Soli) in their dealings with journalists. The practice, thus, appears to have become a norm among event organisers (often PR practitioners) and journalists (reporters) without recourse to the ethical implications of the practice. This study investigates the factors media practitioners in Ghana consider when they are confronted with the phenomenon of Soli. The study adopted the quantitative research approach and the survey design to investigate this phenomenon. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Social Responsibility Theory (SRT) guided the study. Findings of the study were tested against the Pearson moment correlation coefficient and the Durbin-Watson regression model through SPSS version 20.0. The results of the study, among others, showed that there is a significant association between salary levels of journalists and journalists‘ inclination to accepting Soli. Ghanaian Journalists‘ knowledge of the GJA code of conduct was also found to be significant and positively related to journalists‘ acceptance of Soli. There was a significant relationship between PR practitioners‘ knowledge of IPR (Ghana) code of ethics and payment of Soli by PR practitioners. The study also found a significant relationship between PR practitioners desire to obtain positive media coverage and payment of Soli by PR practitioners.