EXAMINING NEWS FRAMING DEVICES AND SALIENCE IN NEWS DOCUMENTARIES ON INADEQUATE ACCESS TO POTABLE WATER IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN NORTHERN AND SAVANNAH REGIONS OF GHANA

Abstract

News framing devices seem unpopular in the measurement of salience in studies on news reportage of drinking water issues. Also, regions in Northern Ghana still struggle to have access to potable water although state agencies, international governmental agencies, international non-governmental agencies, UN agencies, and local non-governmental agencies have made efforts to solve this problem. Thus, this study examines how news framing devices make selected aspects salient in TV3 News and Joy News documentaries on inadequate access to potable water in rural communities in Northern and Savannah Regions of Ghana. The first objective was, to identify selected news framing devices that signal salience in Joy News and TV3 news documentaries on inadequate access to potable water. Then, to identify selected aspects that characterise Joy News and TV3 news documentaries on inadequate access to potable water. Finally, to examine how the selected news framing devices make the selected aspects salient in Joy News and TV3 news documentaries on inadequate access to potable water. The study was guided by views on News Frame Theory as espoused in Entman (1993). The study employed a Qualitative Research Methodology that took on an Interpretivist Approach of collecting and analysing 16 criterion-sampled news documentaries. The units of analysis were the news framing devices and selected aspects in the news documentaries. The study employed a News Framing Analysis Approach which took on List of Frames Approach and conceptualisation of scenes of images defined by the constructivist and hermeneutic paradigms. The study found that the news framing devices in the news documentaries are kicker, headlines, lead, scene of images, statistics, sources affiliation, selection of quotes, pull quotes and concluding statements. The study further revealed that the selected aspects that characterise the news documentary fall under health, education, gender, climate change, human dignity, women’s and girls’ empowerment, water governance, management and security. The study discovered that drinking water issues reported in the media has human development and sustainable development linkages. The study then concludes that news framing devices make selected aspects salient in the news documentaries on inadequate access to potable water. It further concludes that the selected aspects broadly border on larger issues such as health, education, climate change, human dignity, gender roles, women’s and girls’ empowerment, water governance, management and security. These identified issues further border on human development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3,4,5 and 6. The study recommends that current and succeeding governments should show political will to provide the necessary infrastructure to ensure that rural communities in the study regions are provided adequate access potable water.