This research examined the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana to understand the frames and representations used by the local newspapers to promote the policy. The study also examined the major themes that were embedded in the NHIS news stories and the extent to which they promoted official perspectives. Again, it investigated the culture and ideology that guided media professionals in the representation of the NHIS.
Framing analysis was used as a major theoretical tool for the study, particularly news frame. The inquiry also explored the relationship between framing and ideology as connected concepts that are rarely interrogated in media studies, especially, in the construction of new stories. It was also guided by the social constructivism theory that conceptualizes news making as a direct reflection of the social realities of individuals and groups. All these theories became interconnected during the construction news stories on the NHIS.
The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods for the data collection and analysis. Four major local newspapers with the highest circulation, including the Daily Graphic, the Ghanaian Times, Chronicle and the Daily Guide, were selected for the study. In, addition, interviews were conducted with media professionals , composed of three journalists and three public relations officials, to complement the analyses of the stories from the newspapers.
The major findings of this research showed that: 1) news stories were dominantly framed around the core issues of NHIS implying that newspapers showed a more responsible coverage of the health policy; however, most of the news stories were not accorded the front page prominence normally given to many other social issues; 2) while the media embarked on a sustained effort to present the NHIS as a mainstream event, they, nevertheless, relied heavily on government sources for information supporting the assertion that, the media see official rhetoric as the most important input for news making; it also implied that newspapers in Ghana still give government officials and politicians larger voice on public discourse; 3) finally, the research showed that the responsible coverage accorded the NHIS can be attributed to new positive attitudes that are emerging in newsrooms toward health reporting.