The Twist and Turns of the Media in Generating and Reporting Evidential Parliamentary Proceedings in Ghana

Abstract

The paper examines why and how the media report evidence on parliamentary proceedings and the challenges they face. Qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews with journalists, Members of Parliament, and Civil Society. With a total of 25 interviews through thematic analysis, the paper found that the desire to make credible stories, resolve controversies on political issues, and draw attention to societal problems for possible redress were the key factors that motivate the media to search for and report issues on parliamentary work. The study identified three potential sources of evidence generation from Parliament: committee sittings, plenary, and parliamentary documents. The findings also showed that the media do not have direct access to committee sittings, which happen to be the “strong room” of Parliament where relevant information and facts could be generated and communicated to inform citizens' decisions. Therefore, the media resort to other periphery information which could be “diluted” Also, the lack of capacity on technical matters tends to constrain the media in effectively reporting on parliamentary work. It is recommended that the Standing Orders of Parliament should be reviewed to allow media access to all committee sittings.