Oppong Nkrumah urges media houses in Ghana to merge for sustainability
Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister for Information
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Ghana’s Minister of Information, has pleaded with media companies to think about mergers and acquisitions in order to withstand the economic storms facing the sector.
According to Mr. Oppong Nkrumah, mergers and acquisitions are the best course of action for resolving the issue of media outlets becoming too numerous in Ghana and hurting media organizations’ profitability.
“I am of the view that the current expansive network of media houses is good for our democracy, but on the flip side, a lot of media owners are complaining that it is not economically viable.
Therefore, we think that there is the need to consider mergers and acquisitions to cut cost of operations and maximize revenue for sustainability,”
“We are all in this industry, and we know how journalists are paid,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.
BACKGROUND
According to the survey, there were over 700 radio stations and over 200 television channels in the nation, indicating a saturation of media sources.
The statement said that while the proliferation of media outlets may be interpreted as an indication of a more liberalized media landscape, their ownership was concentrated among politicians, businesspeople, and religious organizations. It also discovered that a major portion of the system’s excesses, including false information and fake news, were caused by media outlets controlled by those groups of individuals.
The low profitability of media companies and the inadequate compensation of media employees have also been attributed to the oversaturation of the media environment.
