Mass Media Usage by Indigenous Traditional Priests And Priestesses in Ghana

ABSTRACT 

Over the last two decade, there has been a remarkable rise in the use of the mass media by all religious groups in Ghana. This is large, due to the recent liberalization of the Ghanaian media. Focusing on these developments, this study has examined the usage of the media by traditional priests and priestesses in Ghana. The study examines the influence that the appropriation of modern media technologies has brought on the current face of the indigenous religion in Ghana. The most popular among the media used by the traditional priests and priestesses in Ghana are television, radio, internet and social media. This study has particularly highlighted how the traditional priests and priestesses in Ghana have employed the use of the mass media to advertise and promote the African traditional religion in Ghana. In discussing the issues at stake, the study employed the phenomenological and qualitative approaches in the analysis of the issues that emerged from the study. The study also relied on interviews that basically focused on three selected traditional priests for the study. The theory of mediatization was employed as a framework to guide the analysis of the study. In highlighting the development and the effects on the use of the media on religion in general, the study has discussed the influence of new media technologies on African indigenous religious practitioners. Some of the impact and/or influence discussed centered on advertisement, the role of mediation, economics of brand names as well as the transnational networks emanating from the use of the media. Some of the findings made in the study show that not all traditional priests and priestesses undergo the normal or stipulated time of three years in the training of traditional priesthood as espoused by some scholars. The study also found out that, not all the people displaying themselves in the media can be properly designated or categorized as traditional priests. The study found out that the use of the media by traditional priests and priestesses in Ghana are purposely to make themselves relevant by responding to modernity and at the same time, promoting the African traditional religion. The study recommends the need to introduce courses in religion and media especially within the study of African Traditional Religion at the Universities to see how the indigenous traditional religion is responding to modernity through the appropriation of modern media technologies.