Press Coverage of the Polytechnics in 1998 and 2002 A Content Analysis of the Daily Graphic

The study examined the coverage of polytechnic in 1998 and 2002 by two state-owned and two privately-owned newspapers against the backdrop of frosty relationship that had historically existed between government and particularly the privately-owned media in Ghana. Coverage was defined as number and slant of news stories, editorials and pictorial representation of government. The findings generally supported literature and theories which suggest that the state-owned newspapers would normally support the political establishment and that they are always inclined towards “order ” and are hardly disruptive of the status quo. There were a number of so-called social commentators and even some government officials who were ignorant of the new policy that had created the Polytechnics as tertiary institutions and therefore their opinion pieces and statements attributed to them tendered to be pedestrian and negative to the Polytechnics. The media are generally acknowledged as having the resources to at least influence what the mass of people consider as being the main issues at a particular period in time. The Agenda setting theory propounded by Maxwell McCombs and Donald L. Shaw (1973) suggests that the media do wield a powerful influence on what is put out there in the public domain for discussion. The theory posits that the media are not always successful a