THE CHANGING ROLE OF CHRISTIAN NEWSPAPERS IN GHANA: A CASE STUDY OF THE CATHOLIC STANDARD

ABSTRACT

This study content analysed the Catholic Standard from 1938 to 2012. The objective of the study was to determine whether the role of the Catholic Standard has changed through the different types of governance systems over the years. A sample of 480 issues out of a total number of 3,216 issues in the 74 year period of the Catholic Standard were randomly selected and considered for analysis.

The study content analysed headlines of front page, middle page and back page stories, as well as headlines of editorials of the Catholic Standard to determine the kind of stories they signalled. The study looked at four different political periods: the pre-independence period, the immediate post-independence period, the period of unconstitutional regimes and the period since Ghana’s return to constitutional rule in 1992.

The study found that during the pre-colonial era, publications from the Catholic Standard dealt mainly with religious stories but also took note of some secular events in the country. In the post-independence period, the study found that in addition to the religious stories were more secular stories that touched on the political, social and economic issues in the country and on the international front. During the period of unconstitutional regimes, the standard after a brief moment of silence on the political happenings in the country made use of features and editorial columns to condemn the brutalities that were taking place in the country. The period of constitutional regimes saw the Catholic Standard touched more on political issues and civic education than in the three previous regimes.

The study recommends that publishers of the Catholic Standard should remain focused on its objectives. The study recommends also that future studies should examine the views of readers in relation to the changing roles of the Catholic Standard as well as the impact of daily newspapers the content of the Catholic Standard.