AGENDA SETTING IN FOOTBALL COMMUNICATION WITHIN TAMALE, NORTHERN REGION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GHANAIAN SPORTS MEDIA.

Abstract

This study examined how sports media in Tamale, Northern Ghana, set the agenda for football communication and how such agenda-setting practices shape public attention to men’s and women’s football. The study was motivated by persistent concerns about the limited visibility of women’s football within sports media discourse and the lack of context-specific evidence on how media coverage patterns reproduce gender inequality in football communication. Guided by an interpretivist paradigm and a phenomenological qualitative design, the study explored the meanings, experiences, and social influences that shape media decisions in football reporting. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 13 participants, comprising sports journalists, footballers, coaches, and football administrators, because they possessed direct knowledge and practical experience relevant to the study. Data were collected through semi-structured key informant interviews and supported with a qualitative review of selected sports programmes, radio discussions, and football-related online and social media content. The data were analysed thematically through an iterative process of coding, categorisation, and interpretation of recurrent patterns. The findings revealed a clear imbalance in football coverage, with men’s football receiving more frequent, prominent, and detailed attention, while women’s football was often marginalised, treated as secondary, or framed as less newsworthy. Participants attributed this imbalance to editorial priorities, perceived audience interest, commercial pressures, professional routines, and entrenched gendered norms within football culture. The study concludes that sports media agenda-setting in Tamale reinforces inequalities in football communication and weakens the visibility, legitimacy, and development of women’s football. It recommends deliberate gender sensitive editorial practices and stronger stakeholder commitment to promote more equitable football coverage.