The
Gambia Press Union (GPU) has hailed the media for what it called
“professionalism and sacrifice in the fight to defeat the coronavirus
pandemic,” as humanity faces war across all nations.
Below
reads the message from the Union:
Dear
Media Manager,
Hats
off to you and your journalists and other media workers. The GPU is immensely
impressed by your professionalism and sacrifice in the fight to defeat the
coronavirus pandemic. War is upon humanity. Our nation is not spared. Our
people need us more than ever before. We must stand our guard.
We
recognise that doing so places us journalists at great risk of losing our
lives.
Journalists and media workers are not immune
to the coronavirus. Already, more than a dozen journalists have been infected.
Earlier this week, one of us, Zororo Makamba, a 30-year-old Zimbabwean
journalists died after contracting the infection. He was in fact the first to
die from the virus in that country. We mourn his death and offer prayers for
those infected to recover.
As
journalists and media owners, we owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to stay
safe and sound in carrying out our functions. Besides, the people need us alive
and well to report stories, not to be the story. No story is worth the life of
a journalist. It is important that we equip ourselves and our journalists with
at least the basic safety kits such as masks, hand sanitizers, disinfectant
wipes and the like to clean their equipment such as cameras, tape recorders and
microphones after use each time.
Reporters
must not also be forced to go to the field if they don’t want to go or if they
don’t feel like it.
Media
houses should endeavour to also monitor the daily well-being of their
journalists by checking their temperatures or regularly speaking to them about
their health.
The
GPU remains at your service. We’ve developed a media advisory, adapted from
some resources materials provided to us by our partners. The advisory provides
guidance and guidelines to media houses and journalists, from how to keep safe
to how to report stories around the pandemic. We encourage you to share it with
your journalists and other media workers and implement it.
Additionally,
we urge you to consider implementing measures aimed at improving the working
conditions of journalists, including providing bonuses and health insurance. It
is crucial that staff and freelance workers are at all times fully paid
regularly and on time to take care of any unforeseeable matter or risk that may
arise as they cover the pandemic.
It
is, primarily, your responsibility as employers to disinfect your premises and
put in place adequate safety.
New
Allotment Area, Fajara P. O. Box 1440, Banjul, The Gambia Email:
pressuniongambia@gmail.com Website: www.gambiapressunion.org Tel: +220 373 0077
or +220 7189376 or 4498215
25th
March, 2020 procedures.
Further,
you should provide your reporters with policy guidance and adequate information
and more importantly, disinfectants and protective gears.
The
times we are in challenge us as professionals to up our game. The credibility
and integrity of our profession has been put on the line by the coronavirus
pandemic. There is the issue of misinformation but also the adequacy of our
efforts is being questioned and our capacity to sink to the bottom of the
preparedness is being doubted. The time is never more appropriate to lay claim
to our rightful place in society. In this regard, we urge you to put in place
improved editorial routines to improve the media coverage of the pandemic. The
information we provide or that we do not provide is what is making the greatest
difference between who lives and who dies from the virus.
May
I reiterate that the GPU remains at your service. We have, on your behalf, been
engaging the government and other partners with a view to improving the
environment for journalists and other media workers. We are open to suggestions
from you on how to better serve our constituency.
Yours,
Saikou Jammeh
Secretary General Gambia Press Union
