The media freedom space created by your government has culminated into the constant improvement of the country’s position on the annual World Press Freedom Index ranking since 2017. And last year The Gambia was ranked 5th in Africa and 46th in the world. We all want to see that progress continues.
However, such a position can only be maintained if your government continues to maintain its tolerance of media pluralism, which had hitherto been the hallmark of your administration. Relations between the media and the government should be cordial as both are expected to work in the best interest of the nation. We are partners in development and not enemies, and the government has a duty to support the media by advertising and subscribing to newspapers. The government should also accept objective criticisms and refrain from arresting journalists and closing down media houses, which would certainly not augur well for our position on subsequent World Press Freedom Index rankings.
Therefore, Mr President, we expect your administration’s tolerance to free expression not only to continue, but also to make effortsto help the private media to deal with their numerous financial and material challenges. For instance, as it has been happening in many other countries, your government should institute an annual subvention for the media, which would go a long way in helping the private media to sustain and empower themselves to be more professional in their handling of issues under their purview. It would also enhance their financial muscle to train and equip media practitioners to better deal with those issues.
While the approach may be different, there is no doubt that the private media, in all their different shapes and sizes, are united in maintaining the peace and working towards the development of this country. We would therefore expect the government to continue to maintain the congenial environment for the media to operate in peace and harmony. There is no doubt that with such an atmosphere, the media would complement the efforts of your government in making this country a model in the sub-region with regard to government-media relations.
There is absolutely no room for hostility between your administration and the Fourth Estate, especially considering the positive role that the private media played in ending the Jammeh dictatorship. During the Jammeh era, The Gambia was ranking always among the last five countries in Africa. We would therefore like your government to repeal the draconian media laws left behind by the Jammeh regime.
However, while we expect your administration to maintain its tolerance of the media, we also expect the media to also play their part in putting their house in order. The best way to do that would be to ensure that journalists and reporters are well grounded in their professional roles and responsibilities and do not allow any outside interference in the delivery of their work.
While accreditation of journalists used to be handled by the Director of Information and Broadcasting during the First Republic, it is now the responsibility of the heads of the different media institutions to ensure that their staff and reporters are properly identified and issued with identification documents.
However, it is still necessary for another method to be devised for the accreditation of journalists, which can be done in collaboration with the Gambia Press Union, whose role it is also to put in place some minimum standards of who a journalist should be. It is quite unfortunate that there is presently no set criterion for someone to be regarded as a journalist. As such, the field is now wide open for anyone to call themselves journalists, which has the tendency to pollute our noble profession.
Good day!