The Ghana News Agency (GNA) was established in 1957 following Ghana’s independence. It was the first news agency to appear in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Media assets
News agency: Ghana News Agency
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
GNA is a state-owned company whose board of directors is appointed by the National Media Commission (NMC), the country’s regulator controlled by the government, in consultation with the President. The NMC also appoints the General Manager of GNA in consultation with the President.
Source of funding and budget
GNA is predominantly government-funded. In 2019, the company was allocated approximately GHS 4.42m (US$ 860,000) from the state budget, which was almost its entire income. In 2020, GNA operated with a total budget of GHS 7.24m (US$ 1.2m), some GHS 6.23m (US$ 1m) of that coming from a government subsidy, according to a government report. In 2023, GNA received a total of GHS 11.2m (US$ 983,000) from the government, according to an official budget report.
Editorial independence
GNA is known to be editorially controlled by the government through the National Media Commission, which appoints the agency’s management. An ad hoc content analysis also identified a strong bias in the content published by GNA, with most of the articles promoting the government and its activities.
No domestic statute or independent oversight, or assessment mechanism to validate GNA’s editorial independence has been identified.
July 2024