Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, has urged media firms in Ghana to embrace syndication as a method of increasing their market potential and financial sustainability.
According to him, the media environment has opened up, resulting in the emergence of hundreds of media companies, many of which are not financially sustainable. Smaller media firms pooling their market shares to establish a broader footprint for programming, according to the former broadcast journalist, may demand considerable income with which they can better pay their journalists.
"As more and more media houses open, the fact is that the commercial market for media operations is not growing as quickly." What this implies is that more and more of these media outlets are being shut down.
So, right away, one of the things I want to encourage you to do is look into ways to syndicate the radio station with other likeminded stations in the region or across the country in order to tap into their market potential and grow the station's listenership and make it financially viable," he added.
On Monday, May 30, 2022, he spoke at the launch of Oil City Radio, a new radio station in Takoradi, Western Region.
The poor economic situation of media companies and journalists is the most significant factor to Ghana's low rating in the new framework for assessing press freedom according to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2022 World Press Freedom Index.
Economic issues, according to the research, have a significant impact on media work in Ghana. A number of media firms are commercially unviable due to low wages for journalists and a lack of financial sustainability on the part of some.
To address the issue, the Minister suggested that media companies consider syndication of programs and revenues across multiple platforms in order to ensure the financial viability of some struggling media companies and, as a result, the freedom of journalists to do their jobs without financial incentives.
The newly launched radio station will be used to educate and inform residents of Kwesimintsim, Apremodo, Anaji, and Airport Ridge, among other villages, about the regional administration's development strategy and project economic potential in these locations.