𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐭: 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐨𝐮𝐫 democracy

Panelists on our talk shows must exercise caution to safeguard our democracy and freedom of speech. Media houses—such as EYE Africa TV Online (Sunu Reew), KERR FATOU (The Grand Bantaba), and The Fatu Network (Giss Giss)—that create these platforms should be held accountable for the statements made by their panelists, whom they invite or employ to challenge guests effectively.

Many of these panelists require training in communication and media ethics. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐦, 𝐃𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 belongs on a talk-show panel. I frequently see panelists with zero knowledge of their invited guest’s background or the topic under discussion, yet they still muster the audacity to voice opinions that make them look foolish and undermine the show’s credibility.

In my view, most panelists are simply eager to appear on camera, which is why they show up—but they add no substantial contribution. Imagine inviting the Minister of Finance to discuss the budget and the economy alongside such panelists. What insightful questions could they possibly ask? What do they truly understand about budgets, their impact on the economy, or the livelihoods of ordinary people? At best, their question on the economy might be: “𝑳𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒙 𝒅𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝒃𝒊 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒓?” (𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆?) A trained panelist might ask the Finance Minister: “𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒙𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚 18%. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆?” Next, picture inviting the Minister of Justice to address 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.

These panelists must conduct thorough research on the discussion topic and align it with current realities and public perceptions. Their contributions should be 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆—𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓. Media houses face tight deadlines and limited talent pools, but that’s no excuse for putting unprepared voices on air. While not every panelist needs a degree, basic preparation and respect for facts must be non-negotiable because lack of preparation poisons political discourse.

One might argue that an 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝒊𝒔 “𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒓 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆,” but in public discourse watched by people from all walks of life, opinions must be 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕. Take for instance when voicing opinions about the president or holding him accountable, panelists should treat him with the 𝐮𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦. Ridiculing him—calling him “𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕” 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆—is neither free speech nor true accountability. It’s simply 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥!

Moving forward, to protect our democracy and freedom of speech, I urge media houses to vet and re-evaluate their panelists or recruit new ones who are knowledgeable about the topics at hand. This will ensure discussions are truly educative and drive meaningful social impact.

I remain in the service of the Nation, for the Gambia ever true.

Dr. Benjamin Kofi Kujabi