By Mama A. Touray
Journalists have been advised to report within the ethics and code of conduct of The Gambia Press Union amid 2021 electoral cycle to help maintain the longstanding peace and stability of the country.
Advising journalists was the president of the Gambia Press Union, Muhammed S. Bah, speaking against sharing dividing information to the public and described journalists as agent of the public who are oblige to give accurate information.
“I advise all my fellow journalists to make sure that they report accurately by following the ethics of journalism to have a peaceful, transparent and fair election come December 4th 2021,” he told The Voice exclusively.
“Journalists should ensure that whatever information they give to the public is not derogatory and it doesn’t spark violence, or hate speech. And they should also ensure that the information flows down well and ensure that any information given to the public it is something that will not create harm to each other,” he added.
Meanwhile, Alieu Ceesay, a board member of GPU, also talked about roles of journalists especially in this period of election saying “it is very critical that’s why we should be very mindful in the way we report and ensure that our safety comes first.”
He said journalists should be fair and balance in their reporting while urged them to always operate within the journalism ethics during reporting.
“Our role as journalists is to report accurate, balance, and information as many people are not anticipating a peaceful election and as well fact-check stories to make sure that it is accurate and good for consumption,” Omar Wally, a freelance journalist said.
Yankuba Jallow, president of the Young Journalists Association Gambia, also urged journalists to maintain a peaceful electoral reporting by sending accurate information to the public.
“Journalists have ethics that they need to follow as Gambia Press Union is here to fight our rights, we still have collective responsibilities to deliver professionally because Journalists contribute to the advancement of countries and our write ups can also cause confusion and commotion in our various societies and country at large,” he said.