Despite widespread condemnation of assaults on journalists in Ghana and elsewhere in the past, there is increasing evidence of brutality against journalists. When perpetrators of such assaults go unpunished, it fosters a culture of impunity. The article throws searchlight on incidences of assaults on journalists and the ambivalent attitude of the public and/or state agencies towards media freedom. Incidences of assaults and intimidations of journalists in Ghana were reviewed to ignite renewed discourse on the issue, and inform measures on the safety and protection and general development of media. Theoretically, the article is framed along lines of thoughts on concepts of narrative in which there is ‘struggle over narrative’. Major lines of narratives on assaults against journalists are expressed by state functionaries, citizens and the media in competing fashions. Each narrative has ‘competing truth’, which arguably carries for each entity a force of the true and rightful position on the safety of journalists. The article concludes that persistent advocacy by Ghana Journalists Association and media partners can make a difference in influencing positive steps on assaults on journalists.

中文翻译：

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加纳充满活力和安全的媒体环境：现实还是海市蜃楼？

尽管过去在加纳和其他地方普遍谴责袭击记者的行为，但越来越多的证据表明对记者的暴行。当此类袭击的肇事者逍遥法外时，就会滋生有罪不罚的文化。这篇文章对袭击记者的事件以及公众和/或国家机构对媒体自由的矛盾态度进行了探照。对加纳袭击和恐吓记者的事件进行了审查，以重新引发对该问题的讨论，并为有关安全和保护以及媒体总体发展的措施提供信息。从理论上讲，这篇文章是按照关于叙事概念的思想构架的，其中存在“对叙事的斗争”。关于袭击记者的主要叙述线由国家工作人员表达，公民和媒体以相互竞争的方式。每个叙述都有“相互竞争的真相”，可以说，它为每个实体带来了对记者安全的真实和正当立场的力量。文章的结论是，加纳记者协会和媒体合作伙伴的持续倡导可以在影响对袭击记者的积极措施方面发挥作用。