Pa Louis Thomasi
It was Jeff Conroy Krutz who once wrote “When the television news begins with the image of the president’s head floating through the clouds like a god crossing the heavens as a swelling chorus singing his praises, what follows is not likely to be hard hitting independent journalism”. Krutz was actually referring to the horrific dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, former president of Zaire, who plundered, raped and ravagedthe resources of his country for his personal benefit and wasstill praised by the media “attributing all material progress and infrastructural development” to his benevolence and “love” for his country.
There is ample evidence across the continent that governments have a great desire to control the media, most especially the independent media. One strategy that has been utilised by such governments is to unfairly distribute tax payers’ money/ public funds to unfairly selected media houses to advance their agenda and programmes and where possible ensure that thegovernment receives “favourable reports” as has happened in The Gambia. Such governments have no intention to fund independent journalism, which is a crucial pillar in enhancing democracy, good governance and the rule of law.
By definition and concept, independent media refers to any media house, radio, television, newspapers, magazines and online publications that are free from government influence or corporate interests. All independent media must first and foremost be servants of the public interest. Make no mistake, the government interest in most circumstances is not the public interest. Governments care more about their political interest and how they can continue to stay in power as opposed to the public interest. Whenever the government interest is in conflict with the public interest, governments have been quick to selfishly sacrifice the public interest.
The recent cancellation of the contract of Sparkling Media as reported in the Standard Newspaper issue of 16 January, 2025 has raised more questions than answers with regard to the process ( if there was any) in which these media houses were selected for this fruitless exercise of “popularising government programmes”. I am convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that there was no criteria outlined for the selection of the media houses. It was simply a “Marche ya ma neh” process. I am also very much convinced that there was no form of audience research conducted by the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services to verify if the favouredmedia houses have the capacity to reach out to their target audience and to deliver accordingly.
Mr. Minister Ismaila Ceesay, when have you discovered that Sparkling Media does not have the capacity to deliver? How did you identify Sparkling Media as an institution that has the capacity to deliver and gave them a contract and an advance payment to “popularise government programmes”? Is it incompetence or short-sightedness? What has changed so far in this fruitless media exercise?
In my own view this whole fruitless exercise is a calculated attempt to cajole a section of the independent media and lurethem into “a blissful romance with government” because no serious government will pay a selected section of the independent media to “popularise its programmes” By paying media houses, journalists and content creators that are ready to toe the line, and isolating critical independent media, Minister Ismaila Cessay, has polluted the media landscape by creating a trend that will negatively affect independent journalism in The Gambia. Your actions are tantamount to “state capture of the media. I would like to put it to you that propaganda and public relations have no place in journalism. You should have looked for public relations companies or propaganda outfits or even the fake opinion poll institutions to carry out your bidding.The “popularisation of government programmes” if genuine and devoid of any form of political manipulation should be a collective responsibility of both the state and independent media and you do not need to pay for the media to report on government projects and programmes that are based on the public interest. There is something called development journalism.
Mr. Minister are you aware that the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) is still under your purview? The last time I checked, GRTS (even though it had seen better days) with their human and material resources and the fact that it is a state media still has more potential in “popularising government’s programmes” than all the selected media houses put together. I stand to be corrected. Mr. Minister, are you aware that in terms of timeliness, affordability, outreach and the ability to cut across language barriers, that the radio is still the most effective medium of mass communication in The Gambia and Africa at large? Do you know that GRTS covers the entire country? Give GRTS the forty million Dalasis of the public fund that you have wasted and they would do a better job than your selected media houses. You do not need a political science hypothesis to know that. But maybe you did not have the opportunity to sit on the chairs of a communications school to understand that “the medium is the message”. Mainstream media that are compromised will erode public trust and thus create a direct negative effect on every message that is disseminated. The lack of public trust in any media house undermines the message.
Noting that there was no transparency in the way the media houses were selected, there is a potential danger that public trust on the independent media will be grossly affected by this fruitless exercise. It would have been fair for the public to know how these media houses were selected in the first place. Am quite sure that the public would like to know why a media house like West Coast Radio was not selected? Mr. Minister,why was Kerr Fatou not selected? Likewise it will also be interesting to know why no community radio station was selected and perhaps most importantly why Home Digital FM in Brikama was not selected given the fact that in terms of demography, Brikama or the West Coast Region is perhaps the most densely population region in the country with Home Digital FM’s potential to reach out to the majority of people living in this region. Proximity to your audience is key to information dissemination.
Minister Ismaila Ceesay, “the principles of rule of law opens the door for greater participation in the political process and greater inclusivity, as it powerfully introduces the idea that people should be equal not only before the law but also in the political system”. Your selection of the “favoured” media houses is a farce, undemocratic and dishonest.
Mr. Minister, public trust is the cornerstone of democratic societies and hence, therefore mainstream media cannot compromise its cardinal responsibilities of holding government accountable, defending the public interest and disseminating unbiased, accurate and timely information that will help the citizenry to make informed decisions.
After this fruitless exercise is done and dusted, I would like to challenge you Mr. Minister, to tell Gambians how effective the selected media houses have been able to create awareness on government’s programmes. Am also sure that the general public will like to know what impact this fruitless exercise has created. The truth is, this entire jamboree is shrouded under a thick political agenda and has no relevance to the majority of the citizenry. Simply put, it is not in the public interest. It is politically driven.
Compromising mainstream media undermines democracy and democracy cannot survive without a free and critical media.The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Voice’s editorial stance.