The Case for More Investigative Reportage in Ghana

The media in Ghana has often been praised for engendering a culture of accountability and good governance through the exercise of its fundamental responsibility of keeping the government on its toes and making it accountable to the people. The I992 Constitution of Ghana practically places the media among the most essential organs of State which are the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. As the fourth estate of the realm the Media is clothed with powers which if well exercised would help enrich and deepen the culture of democratic governance in Ghana.
However the media in Ghana is plagued by a myriad of challenges. For the purpose of this forum i will like to discuss one of these challenges and that is the lack of capacity of our media to do investigative stories.
This scenario is not peculiar to Ghana alone. Indeed it is a global phenomenon. All over the world media houses are struggling to finance investigative reporting and are having to depend on support from foundations to fund investigations. The Pascal Decroos Fund has inspired the growth of several funds that are at present supporting investigations across the world. SCOOP, PAIR, FAIR are a few of these interventions that are doing well in Eastern Europe and Africa respectively. The Ghanaian media has a lot of potential to grow as evidenced in the work of Anas Aremeyaw Anas of the Crusading Guide who over the years has been able to churn out quality exposes that has forced the authorities in the country to sit up. After the discovery of oil in commercial quantities investigative journalists are expected to develop capacity to police this industry and make the oild find a blessing and not a curse.