Andy Ofori-Birikorang

Andy Ofori-Birikorang is a Lecturer and Head of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. Courses he teaches include, Research Methods in Communication, Communication Theories, and Development Communication. He holds a PhD in Media Arts and Studies, and an MA in International Affairs both from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. He had his undergraduate (B.A Social Sciences) studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. He is also the founder and CEO of Center for Media and Development Communication-CMDC. Andy Ofori-Birikorang has provided media and development communication consultancy services for the University of Education, Winneba, UNESCO, and the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

Abstract

Soccer and television viewing in public places: Popular culture, identity construction and gender politics inside Ghana’s metropolis This study engages a post-colonial millennial public sphere activity: viewing of soccer on television in public places and the performances that characterize, promote and sustain audience viewership within such spaces. The study contends that while viewing of television in public places is not a new phenomenon, the live telecast of attractive European Leagues, especially the English Premier League, in several places in Africa, made possible through new media technology and its ancillary satellite and pay-tv programs and anchored on popular culture, newer constitution of quilted audiences transcendental of class, gender and demography have provided novel spaces for popular culture performances. Using theories on popular culture, identity construction and gender politics, and through series of in-depth interviews and participant observation through the viewing of several of the European and English Premier League games, the study argues that aside these arenas emergence as by-products of capitalist spectacle, audiences preference for these public locations for television viewing is de-territorializing discourses on popular culture, gender politics, and identity construction.