Ghana’s drop on Press Freedom Index due to new methodology - Jefferson Sackey

Ghana dropped 30 places in latest Press Freedom Index

The report scored Ghana 67.43

This placed Ghana at the 60th position

Jefferson Sackey, a Deputy Communications Director, at the Office of the President, has blamed Ghana’s poor performance in the latest Press Freedom Index on the new methodology employed by the researchers for this year’s ranking.

Speaking

Read full articleon The Asaase Breakfast Show, Wednesday, May 11, the former journalist also indicated that, the introduction of an economic yardstick greatly affected Ghana’s performance.

“We should first of all bear in mind that the context of this year’s report is extremely different from all the contexts that we have had over the years, and also remember that we have been hovering around a 4% difference from 2006, 2016 thereabouts … In the last report, we were at 30.

“Now if you introduce a new context, it changes the dynamics, and that is basically what we are seeing. If you look at the context that is being introduced this time, the economic context, you and I know as a practising media … you should tell me whether the media in Ghana really do pay good salaries or wages,” Jefferson Sackey explained.

He added, “It is not happening. And so, when you have these kinds of things in place, it changes the dynamics, it changes everything…The media economically are not doing well. So the big question we need to ask ourselves [is]: how can we as a nation resolve this particular problem?”

Ghana dropped 30 places in the latest Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), which monitors happenings within the media in 180 countries.

The report scored Ghana 67.43, placing it in 60th position, a sharp decline from its 30th place last year.

The latest ranking is the lowest Ghana has ever had in the past 17 years after placing 66th in 2005.