The dominance of political advertising in the ghanaian media

One of the fundamental tenets of a democratic society is the holding of free and fair elections. The media indeed serves as a vital platform for the communication of information in contemporary society. It is considerably more likely that our votes are cast based on the results of well-targeted and optimized political advertising efforts than it is that we base them merely on how well the platforms of each candidate correspond with our own unique set of views and values. (Quin, 2015). Political advertising is advertising whose chief attention is the marketing of ideas, attitudes, and concerns about public issues, as well as political concepts and political candidates (Glavaš, 2017). It allows candidates to unswervingly send their message to electorates and persuade the political debate. Candidates can increase their name recognition, draw attention to crucial topics, and expose the flaws of their opponents by airing advertisements across a variety of media platforms, which enables them to reach viewers who might not otherwise have been following the race. (Nott, 2020). Notwithstanding of effects on election outcomes, advertising is vital to political communication. It offers the clearest indication of how candidates choose to present themselves to the mass of electorates (Scammell & Langer, 2006). The relevance of political advertising in contemporary times cannot be misjudged. According to Larreguy, Marshall and Snyder (2014), political advertising has momentous potential to influence vote choice by making available information to voters in areas hitherto dominated by, or disposed to domination by, a single party. In the 2016 presidential election in the United States, for example, the public became aware of just how powerful and game-changing political advertising on social media could be (Nott, 2020). Though scholarly works exist in areas of political marketing, social media’s role in political advertising, and works on the dominance of political adverts in the Ghanaian media are scanty. Often, studies tend to explore how the Ghanaian media has contributed to political polarization since media organizations are affiliated with a political party or the other. Also, political advertising can be identified as an important part of political campaigns in Ghana hence the need for scholarly attention. Given this background, this paper will explore the reasons for the dominance of political advertisement in the Ghanaian media. Attention will be on selected television stations in Accra. The objectives that will guide the study include exploring what accounts for the dominance of political adverts on TV and inquiring whether the dominance of political adverts influences voters’ decision-making during an election or not. To accomplish this, the study will employ a mixed method. This includes gathering quantitative and qualitative data from managements of the media organisations via interviewed and questionnaires given to a cross-section of the public to gather quantitative data. The study is expected to find out on what media campaign strategies do political parties use in Ghana and has political advertising has critical effects on the citizens. With the use of the Functional theory of political discourse, thematic and descriptive analysis will be done.