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Letter From Birmingham: Joining The Fray
Friday, 07 October 2011 21:57
(Column) - Over the past days and week, there have been an interesting debate on the pages of this very paper on
whether online Gambian newspapers should register with the Attorney General’s chambers in Banjul. What made the debate more interesting is that the fact the whole laughable idea was suggested and supported not by the government but by a group of home-based reporters, who believed that it will among other things enhance a cordial relationship with the Jammeh regime.
I found some of the comments very amusing and wonder whether some of the home based reporters are really aware of their social functions as the eyes and ears of the Gambian people. Our role as journalists is not to please or win favours and recognition from our political representatives, but rather to promote freedom, defend democracy, protect the public interest, foster unity and understanding in our community among others.
This was a role so many brave Gambian journalists like Edward Francis Small, Dixon Colley, Deyda Hydara and others took seriously and never abdicated even in the face of persecutions.
It is worth reminding these journalists that although almost all online papers can be accessed in the Gambia, their managing editors and hosts are abroad were they are legally registered. Despite not being in the Gambia, online papers can be sued by anyone or group for defamation in the countries where they are registered- well am not sure about the US.
The proliferation of many Gambian online papers is as a result of the restrictive media laws in our country. Jammeh and his regime have underestimated the intelligence of the Gambia people and had thought that by enacting draconian legislations, they would be able to control the flow of information thereby keeping the people in passive subjugation.
However with the coming of the internet and other communication gadgets like 3G phones, the way news is gathered and reported in the Gambia has changed. Gambians are now more digitally connected than ever and events happening even in the remotest part of the country can now be easily reported in the online media and accessed by anyone with access to the internet or mobile phone.
Online papers are now the most trusted source of information for the Gambian people. They give a voice to all Gambians who are being denied the right to freely express themselves as enshrined in our Gambian constitution. And as the editors are not based in the Gambia, online papers can publish critical articles against Jammeh and his government which local media houses dare not publish due to fear of persecution.
For example, when I was working in the Gambia, I sent any story deemed critical by my paper to AllGambian newspapers where they were happily published.
There is nothing the Jammeh regime can do about the online papers. And the more restrictive laws his government enact into law, the more vocal the Gambian people will get.
RIP Steve Jobs
I wish to join the rest of the world in paying tribute to Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder, who died this Thursday at the age of 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer
Mr Jobs was a genius who as rightly described by Apple “was a source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives and made the world immeasurably better.”
Steve will be dearly missed by anyone who has had the opportunity to own any of the gadgets he invented. Rest in peace Steve.
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He will be sorely missed, but his legacy lives on.
Information is power.
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