The majority of Ghanaians continue to endorse the media’s role as a watchdog over government actions, even as confidence in press freedom and media trust declines, according to new data released by Afrobarometer to mark World Press Freedom Day 2025.

The survey, conducted by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), revealed that 82 per cent of respondents believe the media should “constantly investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption.”

However, public perceptions of media independence have become increasingly uncertain, with 32 per cent of citizens now saying the press is “not very free” or “not at all” free – a sharp increase from 19 per cent in 2019.

“Most Ghanaians say the media should play an active role in reporting on government mistakes and corruption,” Afrobarometer noted in the report. “But at the same time, fewer citizens see the media as free and trustworthy.”

Two-thirds of respondents (67 per cent) still see Ghana’s media as either “somewhat” or “completely” free. Yet this reflects a growing sense of unease about political interference, especially when compared to earlier years.

Trust in news sources has also waned. Only 41 per cent of Ghanaians say they trust news from both privately owned and state-owned media “somewhat” or “a lot,” marking declines of 7 and 3 percentage points, respectively, since 2022. Even more striking is the drop in trust for social media as a news source, now standing at just 26 per cent – down 12 percentage points in two years.

Despite concerns about media credibility and independence, the public does not widely perceive a rise in direct threats against journalists. 

Fewer than one-third of citizens reported an increase in threats or attacks against media personnel by political party supporters (32 per cent), ordinary citizens (28 per cent), or security forces (26 per cent) in the last two years.

The findings are based on face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 2,400 adult Ghanaians conducted in August 2024. The data carries a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.

Afrobarometer, a pan-African research network, has been tracking public opinion on governance and democratic values across the continent since 1999. This latest release forms part of its Round 10 survey series, which began in January 2024 across several African countries.