A team of Gambian journalists including Publishers Association, Community Radio’s Association and Network of Freelance Journalists led by Gambia Press Union handed a position paper to the Minister of Information and Communication that calls for safety of journalists.
The paper also invites a call to action by the government to provide proactive and reactive means to safeguard the safety of journalists, combat impunity for crimes against journalists. As a recent study shows, journalists – including those in The Gambia – are more likely to be murdered than killed in the war. The government has the primary responsibility to prevent any such from happening
Speaking at the meeting on Monday, Ebrima Sillah information Minister, said government has already put in place money to help journalists amid this critical condition.
He said because of the outbreak of coronavirus consideration might be given to media organizations not to pay their tax. “Newspapers in this country are bigger to one another and therefore privilege will be given to the media houses with larger staff and freelancers.”
Sheriff Bojang, President Gambia Press Union said: “we want everything to be clear because this issue deals with money and we (GPU) wouldn’t want to take any blame whereas there are faults. We would want the government to look at ongoing cause particularly the manhandling of reporters by the security officers.
“The systematic press briefing with the president is almost dying and this is where journalists would be accorded the chance by engaging government officials in limiting themselves with fake and false news.”
Pap Saine, a member of the Publishers Association, lamented that newspapers in the country are ‘almost dying due to lack of adverts.’ He disclosed that “many African leaders are helping their people in all the ways they could except for The Gambia. We are hustling every day to get adverts and the responses we always received are the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Network of Freelance member, Ousman A. Marong said: “Imaging a freelance who is not a staff in his/her media institution and is paid D100 per story, what would that individual do for him/herself at the end of the month. Freelancers are not staff and are entirely dependent on their numbers of stories published. These are people in the frontlines risking their lives to go after stories.”