MMDCEs Failed To Project Government Policies Well In Northern Region — Research

A research conducted by the Media Intelligence Solutions Limited (MIS), a media research and consultancy firm in Tamale has revealed that, despite the several development policies and interventions initiated by the NPP government, the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs ) in the Northern Region failed to project them to the people.

According to the MIS research findings, most of the MMDCEs though have been initiating a number of interventions in their respective districts did not involve the media in their activities and recorded low media publicity.

A release signed by the lead content analyst Mohammed Fugu on Monday, December 2, 2019 revealed that most of the MMDCEs who were covered by the media did not talk about the policies and programmes implemented by the government or said little about them.

The release noted that, "Using its Media Content Analytical (MCA) tools, MIS analysed all the MMDCEs stories covered by the various media platforms on the government’s policies and programmes such as the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), One District One Factory (1D1F), Free Senior High School (FSHS), One Village One Dam (1V1D), Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ) among others from January, 2017 to June, 2019."

MIS indicated that the need for the research became necessary due to the roles and responsibilities of the MMDCES in implementing the policies of the government.

"The research became necessary because of the fact that, MMDCEs are in the fore front of development at the local levels and also considering the importance of the media in promoting development and projecting the government's interventions," the statement noted.

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For immediate release
MEDIA SCORECARD ON PERFORMANCE OF MMDCES IN NORTHERN REGION IN PROMOTING THE VARIOUS GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS.

(JANUARY, 2017 – JUNE, 2019)
The Media Intelligence Solutions Limited (MIS), a media research and consultancy firm conducted a media research on how the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the Northern Region use the media to project the government’s flagship policies.

The research became necessary because of the fact that, MMDCEs are in the fore front of development at the local levels and also considering the importance of the media in promoting development and projecting the government’s interventions.

Using its Media Content Analytical (MCA) tools, MIS analysed all the MMDCEs stories covered by the various media platforms on the government’s policies and programmes such as the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), One District One Factory (1D1F), Free Senior High School (FSHS), One Village One Dam (1V1D), Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ) among others from January, 2017 to June, 2019.

The research also analysed how the media projected the region in their reportage within the period under review.

About 121 news stories from the various media platforms were analysed, using the Media Content Analytical tool to analyze the stories paragraph by paragraph and allowed the stories to be grouped using the coding scheme.

Findings of the research revealed that most MMDCEs though have been initiating a number of interventions in their respective districts, they did not involve the media in their activities or recorded less publicity by the media.

It was also observed that most of the MMDCEs who were covered by the media did not talk about the policies and programmes implemented by the government or said little about them.

The research reveals that, the MCE for Savelugu, Hajia Ayishetu Seidu made tremendous efforts in projecting the policies, scoring the higher point of 59 percent.

Even as she focused on other areas such as health, education, security, she projected the gov’t policies better as covered by the media.

She scored 20% in projecting 1D1F, 1V1D 11 %, PFJ 6%, FSHS 7%, PERD 7%, NABCO 7%, YEA 7%, as captured by the media in their reportage.

The DCE for Zabzugu had a general score of 12 % with 33% in projecting 1D1F and scoring zero percent in the rest of the policies. Even though he might have talked about other gov’t policies, the media did not capture them in their reportage as analysed by MIS.

However, six DCEs had a general score of less than 10%. They include; Nanumba North DCE 8%, Nanumba South DCE 6%, Mion DCE 6%, Yendi MCE 4%, Sagnarigu MCE 2%, Gushegu MCE 2%, while Kumbungu, Tolon, Karaga, Saboba, Kpandai, Tatale/Sangule, Nanton and Tamale Metro MCEs scored zero.

In addition to the MMDCEs findings, the research also looked at how the media portrayed the region in their reportage within the period under review. The region’s visibility in the media contributes immensely to its reputation and development. out of 121 news reviewed within the period, NR recorded 25% negative projection, 66% positive and 9% neutral by the Ghanaian Media.

TERMS USED
Others: news reported by the media on MMDCEs which did not talk about government policies.

Neutral: news reported by the media which were neither negative nor positive

signed
Mohammed Fugu
Lead Content Analyst
Jonas Biawurbi
Content Analyst