Open AccessThe Quantification of Child Labour by Ghana’s Mass Media: A Missed Opportunity?
Author(s) -
Kalaria Okali,
Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah,
James Sumberg
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
afrikaspectrum/africa spectrum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1868-6869
pISSN - 0002-0397
DOI - 10.1177/00020397221096166
Subject(s) - jargon , mass media , child labour , sociology , political science , law , work (physics) , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , linguistics
This article describes how the mass media in Ghana use quantitative information to communicate the prevalence of child labour. During the period 2000–2020, stories about child labour frequently appeared in Ghana’s mass media. Within nearly 30 per cent of the stories, at least one numerical quantification is used. Quantifications appear to be constructed primarily to dazzle readers. The large numbers and the weight of the technical jargon used would appear to significantly reduce the potential to inform. We ask why successive governments have not used the mass media tools at their disposal to more effectively address the complex policy problem of child labour.