This paper examines how globalization and the media influence young democracies in developing countries. It focuses on interactions between evolving technology, regulation and internationally savvy local entrepreneurs, analyzing their combined effect on media ecologies. Drawing on interviews and history, the author suggests that three things have revived the public sphere in Ghana and created a new cultural elite: the opening of the radio broadcasting industry to competition, the expertise of “glocal” entrepreneurs, and the proliferation of new media, such as mobile phones and the Internet.