By Zainab Jobarteh
Freedom House and partners has launched a five-week ethical reporting training for journalists. The training, on the theme: ‘Strengthening ethical reporting for journalists’, is expected to start on 19th May 2020, targeting a total of 20 journalists from different media houses.
This project is funded by the US Government through the United States for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Freedom House and the American Bar Association.
During the launching of the programme at the NAQAA’s complex in Kanifing, emba Kandeh of Freedom House said the project has two broad objectives: one is to strengthen the justice sector institutions in The Gambia, by working with the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary and two, is to work with CSOs and the media to that they are able to engage effectively in holding public officials to account.
With the country’s five-year transition from a brutal dictatorship to democracy, Kandeh said it is remarkable how the media landscape has changed.
“The number of TV and radio stations that have emerged are numerous and there are countless online platforms. This goes to show how the media has transformed positively over the years,’’ he stated.
He however noted that development comes with challenges, and in this case, one of the challenges is with ethical reporting; effective reporting of national and development issues, effective reporting on issues around public corruption and human rights.
“Hate speech, misinformation and false news are not always perpetrated by journalists, but amplified by them, sometimes, unknowingly. All of this paint a picture of the need for ethical training, a need for raising awareness around issues of ethical reporting,’’ he said.
Bai Emil Touray, Executive Director of the Media Council of The Gambia, described the training as ground breaking and historic “because most of the trainings that are conducted are usually related to health, environment or other issues, while completely ignoring ethical journalism’’.
Mr. Touray believes that the distrust that the public has on journalists is as a result of unethical reporting by some practitioners.
‘’Some of these ethical gaps are usually committed by journalists who we think ought to know better; people who have spent several years in journalism. We must change this trend if we want people to take us seriously,’’ he advised.
Muhammed S. Bah, President of The Gambia Press Union emphasized the need for every journalist to report ethically and effectively as journalism and media work play a huge role in the progress
