Content Analysis on Coverage of European Union and European Union Member Countries’ Issues in the Daily Graphic of Ghana in the Years 1998 and 2008

Abstract: The issue of the image of African countries in European media is an age-long one which has resurfaced in recent times. Eyebrows have been raised over the image of African countries in Europe and other Western Media which is always touted to be negative.The question about how the EU is reported in the African media has however been relegated to the background. This study therefore used content analysis to unearth how the EU and its member countries are reported in the African Media particularly in the Daily Graphic, a leading Daily Newspaper in Ghana in two separate years of 1998 and 2008 and whether what is reported reflects colonial ties between EU member countries and their former colonies in Africa. The study which used both quantitative and qualitative methods of research also sought to investigate the power relations between African media and their European counterpart, the sources of the stories were examined to find out whether they are stories written by European media or in-depth analysis of issues written by Ghanaian or African reporters. Special emphasis was placed on issues around trade and aid between Africa and the European Union which comes across as the key issues. The years 1998 and 2008 were selected because it has a ten year interval in which one can assess whether coverage of EU related issues in the paper has improved over the last ten years especially as the EU has grown in membership and scope, deepening its process of integration and acquiring new responsibilities in the world.Findings of the study indicated a strong tie between some EU member countries and their former colonies, (i.e United Kingdom and Ghana).The study also found out that The Daily Graphic simply borrows stories from EU sources and reproduce them with very little or no analysis, comments, or criticisms, of the issues raised that may have implications for the country or Africa’s growth in terms of aid and trade issues. This is a pointer to the fact that European media has been setting the agenda and the Daily Graphic simply follows.The study further revealed the unequal power relations between the EU and for that matter Africa which also reflects in media relations whereby as a result of poor salaries, logistical support and appropriate technology, newspapers in Africa, such as the Daily Graphic are unable to send reporters to the EU headquarters in Brussels to report issues from the African point of view and as such reproduce what has already been reported in the European media by European reporters and sent down through wire services.Again from the study, it is evident that the Daily Graphic does not report regularly on issues on EU- Africa trade and aid. In 1998, aid related issues involving the EU and Africa were only six percent while that of 2008 was 11 percent. Trade related issues involving the EU and Africa recorded nine percent in both years. Also reporters lack of interest in analysis of the issues in feature articles was reflected in 97 percent of news stories in 1998 as against three percent of feature articles in the same year while 2008 recorded a woefully two percent of feature articles as against a whopping 98 percent of news stories.One of the issues that emerged as a surprise was the fact that contrary to expectations, EU related stories not connected to Africa received more coverage than what connects Africa to Europe. This may be an indication that African media gate-keepers are not selecting stories based on the interest of the country or continent but rather still serving their colonial masters under a new colonial empire facilitated by the EU. Theories underpinning colonialism such as Edward Said’s Orientalism, modernization, media and society theories have helped to discuss some of the issues under focus.