ModernGhana is an online media portal that has been in operation since 2005. The site covers news, politics, business, sports, entertainment and opinions. It is owned by Modern Ghana Media Communication Ltd., a privately owned Ghanaian company. The news portal has brought news stories and information to Ghanaians and other international audiences who currently make up its following online. The website provides the reading audience with a radio and social networking platform in Ghana and beyond. ModernGhana has risen to become a preferred destination for Ghanaians in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, South Africa and other countries.

History

Modernghana.com was officially launched on August 3, 2005 in Amsterdam by Bright Owusu, a young Ghanaian who saw the need to bring news closer to Ghanaians in the diaspora. It initially started as a

news aggregator In computing, a news aggregator, also termed a feed aggregator, feed reader, news reader, RSS reader or simply an aggregator, is client software or a web application that aggregates syndicated web content such as online newspapers, blogs, ...

and later evolved to a producer of original content. The news platform is also the first ever Ghanaian website that aggregated all Ghanaian local radio stations online. The site started innovations that became the standard for upcoming Ghanaian news websites. It has evolved over the years to include video content (ModernGhana TV) that covers a wide range of topics including interviews with the news makers, public and private organizations, business enterprises, topical political issues, personalities in the entertainment and lifestyle industry and voice pops on both social and national issues of

News values News values are "criteria that influence the selection and presentation of events as published news." These values help explain what makes something "newsworthy." News values are not universal and can vary between different cultures. Among the m ...

Legal cases

ModernGhana editor Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri was arrested together with Emmanuel Britwum, a reporter, by Ghana's National Security operatives on Thursday June 27, 2019 in what was described as a secret operation. The news outlet's offices were raided during the arrest and working equipment including laptops, mobile phones and a tablet were seized. They arrested were detained for days and interrogated on an

opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...

the website published that was authored by one Constance Kwabeng about the National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah. The National Security Secretariat accused the arrested staff of ModernGhana of

Cybercrime A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing th ...

but Mr. Abugri on his release said he was physically assaulted and his privacy violated by the forceful seizure of some of his electronic gadgets. Passwords to his personal gadgets were forcefully taken from him by the National Security personnel and accessed without his consent. Ajarfor and his reporter were put before court but the State subsequently withdrew the charges proffered against them. Emmanuel Ajarfor later sued the National Security Coordinator,

Joshua Kyeremeh Joshua Kyeremeh (died 18 January 2021) was a Ghanaian politician and administrator and security expert. He was a member of the New Patriotic Party and was National security coordinator for the President of Ghana. Education and career A product of ...

; the Inspector General of Police,

David Asante-Apeatu David Asante-Apeatu (born 14 August 1959) is a Ghanaian forensic specialist and police officer. As of February 2017, he was the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Ghana Police Service. He is the 28th person to hold the position and the 22 ...

; and the Attorney General,

Gloria Akuffo Gloria Akuffo (born 31 December 1954) is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician who serves as the Attorney General of Ghana and Minister for Justice, since 2017. She is a former Deputy Attorney General and Aviation Minister. Early life and education ...

for violating his

Human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. Ajarfor's lawyers sought him

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

. To date, Ajarfor's two

cellphones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...

, tablet and laptop are still with the National Security. As at March 2021 the case was still in court.

References

Internet properties established in 2005 2005 establishments in Ghana News agencies based in Ghana Ghanaian news websites {{ghana-media-stub