Abstract:
Conflict has remained a shackle that deters the progress of countries, especially
developing nations and the media have a role to play in de-escalating conflict
situations. The study examines the coverage of conflict by the media, specifically the
print media, the frames and tones used to report issues of conflict and the reasons for
the publication of such stories in line with the challenges of journalists and editors.
Newspaper content analysis and interviews are methods used to collect data for the
study. Premised on structural conflict, framing and gatekeeping theories, the contents
of the Ghanaian Times, a state-owned newspaper, published from January 2016 to
December, 2020 were analysed, and 179 conflict-related stories were identified. The
analysis of these stories established that the media in Ghana, particularly newspapers
give little attention to the promotion of peace journalism when reporting conflictrelated
issues. Four frames-consequence, responsibility, solution and conflict
emerged from the data analysed. The newspaper from the data dominantly used
neutral tone in reporting conflict related issues. Journalists and editors argued that
sources of conflict news, media ideology, resources and logistics, personal values of
journalists and the safety and security of journalists are the challenges during their
reportage on issues of conflict. The study recommends, therefore, that the media,
especially the print media pay more attention to and report issues of conflict with the
use of peace journalism due to the devastating effect of conflict, especially in a
country surrounded by nations experiencing terrorism and other forms of violence.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of Communication and Media Studies,
Faculty of Foreign Languages Education and Communication, submitted
to the School of Graduate Studies in partial Fulfilment
of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Development Communication)
in the University of Education, Winneba
