The project funded by USAID through the Freedom House seeks to handle ethical dilemmas in the newsroom, identify the basic tenets of journalism ethics and current ethical issues in news gathering, writing, reporting, among others.
The selected 20 young reporters for the project will undergo a 5 week intensive capacity building.
Muhammeh S. Bah, President of The Gambia Press Union in his opening statement said:“The role of journalists in creating positive impact in our society cannot be over emphasised.”
He added that journalists help in rapid awareness creation to the public as well as create platforms for people to state their views and opinions which promote divergent and dissenting views.
Samba Bah, acting Managing Director at Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC) urged participants to take the training seriously to ensure the goals of the training are achieved.
Bai Emil Touray, a representative of The Gambia Media Council said sometimes people commit ethical gaps not because they want to but because they do not know.
He pointed out that, journalism like any profession is guided by principles, adding that through training, journalists’ standard will be improved to achieve fairness and handle conflict with caution.
