Family Planning, Abortion, and HIV in Ghanaian Print Media: A 15-Month Content Analysis of a National Ghanaian Newspaper

Abstract

This study assessed coverage of Reproductive Health (RH) issues—family planning (FP), abortion, and HIV—in the Ghanaian Daily Graphic newspaper. Using the composite week sampling technique, the researcher analyzed the contents of 62 editions of the paper. Prominence was measured using various
attributes, and differences in mean coverage over time were assessed using analysis of variance. This review shows that coverage of RH issues was extraordinarily poor, less than 1 percent each for FP, abortion, and HIV. RH news that was covered was given little prominence. These findings support the popular impression that the Daily Graphic does not give priority to reproductive health issues in its coverage. RH advocates need to develop innovative means of integrating RH content into existing media outlets. (Afr J
Reprod Health 2010; 14[4]: 83-89).