By Landing Colley
Minister of Information has counter critics of government media bill released last week that seeks to regulatory country’s media.
Dozens of people including media practitioners and activists took on social media to express their concern about the new media bill.
Ebrima Sillah who spoke to west coast radio coffee time on Tuesday in Parish said: “regulation has always been the business of the government. When it comes to the registration of journalist, we said that is the main aim of the Gambia Press Union (GPU).”
We need government agencies that should supervise government in those types of activities and how we should go about them that is the proposed of this bill, he added.
He said registration of journalists is Gambia Press Union’s mandate ‘but when it comes to policy initiative and also bring innovative policies that is always the main of the government.’
According to him, in all democratic you invite the critical stakeholders and also the formula and the process, and now ‘what we are saying in this bill is that we have progressive policy and law in the Gambia regarding the media.’
Mr Sillah said government should not compete with Gambia Press Union in selecting members of want to be journalists ‘but trade union should determine who should be a member and how they should practice.’
He frowned at operation of politically-owned media houses because ‘if politicians are running away from that…to the point they are advocating for having their own media platform that why is important that this democratic principle are understood.’
They have independent authority government and if they have a problem who should be on this committee, and how selection is done, he said.