How New Technologies Are Affecting News Gathering, Production And Delivery, A Case of Ghana Television

ABSTRACT 

There are many studies in Europe, Asia and America on how technology has impacted the media. These studies look at a wide range of new approaches adopted by newspapers, radio and television production and transmission across the world. This study examined how technology has affected newsgathering, production and delivery at Ghana’s state television, GTV. Everett Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory was used to assess the rate of diffusion of new technologies in the GTV newsroom. The case study interviewed 13 staff of various departments who contribute to newsgathering processing and delivery. Results from the interviews show marked changes in all three processes of news gathering, production and delivery as well as the degree of success of the diffusion of new technologies in the GTV newsroom. The study found that news gathering has migrated from using tapes that record 30 to 60 minutes footages, to the use of memory cards that record many hours of an event or process, (depending on memory size) to tell a story. News processing has also shifted from cutting and joining tapes to downloading footages from cards to computers to determine which shots best tell a story. Delivery is done using new technologies that allow access on multiple platforms from analogue television sets, through digital sets to online streaming of television content. Furthermore, GTV’s introduction of new technologies has improved the processes of news gathering, production and delivery. The study recommends a comparative study of GTV and a private free-to-air television station to help determine the rate of technology adoption by private television stations.