Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies

PhD Research

Cultural specifics and complexities in news production: An analysis of Radio Ghana’s coverage of HIV/AIDS news.

This project will be carried out within the broad framework of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. It is a news production study of the communication of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Ghana by national radio. It will deliver depth insights into the ways in which culture and controls shape and inflect the public communication of health messages in a developing part of the world. It will contribute to the development of conceptual frameworks for understanding factors that shape and motivate HIV/AIDS news selection and coverage in Ghana and its implication for planning.

This project is based on the assumption that communication of HIV/AIDS messages on national radio in Ghana is not systematic and spurious.

A key question here is when, what and how does Radio Ghana determine the newsworthiness of HIV/AIDS story for broadcast?

My objectives are (a) to explore journalistic values that shape the selection of scientific information vis-à-vis HIV/AIDS message construction (b) to examine the public communication of health messages and education practice through radio in Ghana.

It will draw on my journalistic practice and theory combined with broader medical and sociological approaches to the study of (a) science communication and (b) the media, in order to examine the production, context and reception of HIV/AIDS coverage in Ghana.

The approach in data analysis in my study involves the use of content analysis, ethnography/participant observation and interviews.

In the short-term it is hoped the outcome of this study will provide an understanding of factors which influence the production of news in the wider context. In the long term, it will serve as a basis upon which news are covered and produced in the African context and a platform for future studies.

Supervisors: Prof. Simon Cottle, Prof. Jenny Kitzinger and Dr. Tammy Boyce.

Research Interests

Population and Health Communications