Mr Saidy

You have been very defensive of late. We on the ground, including yourself,
know that GRTS and indeed all public institutions are cowering with fright
at the prospect of offendding President Jammeh. We all know that Mr Jammeh
thinks that GRTS is his personal property. I think that your attempt at
comparing the Gambian scenario to what obtains in the UK and US is quite out
of place.
Clearly, the kind of coverage given Jammeh's so-called Meet the People Tour,
his Pilgriumage to mecca or indeed and of his visits and tour clearly has no
parallel in Eurpoe or America. He isd given A to Z coverage and the rambling
footage is rammed down our throats for days and weeks on end.
You also make reference to the fact that in the US, all major media houses
have a permanent representative at the White House. Is this the same
arrangement in The Gambia?
The reality is, Mr Saidy, that in today's public service Gambia, it's either
pro-Jammeh or out. Deep in your heart in the middle of the nights, you know
this is the stark reality. So try to argue your case, but don't pretend,
like Jammeh obviously does, that nothing at all is wrong in The Gambia or
with GRTS. Let us be realistic.
Pa Small


>From: TOMBONG SAIDY <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Fair Media Access
>Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 09:40:27 -0500
>
>GRTS is owned by all Gambians and does not belong to President, Tombong
>Saidy or any particular Gambian for that matter. It is the Public
>Broadcasting institution of The Gambia, similar to the PBS in the US or BBC
>in the UK.
>
>GRTS is not bias against any individual or group of individuals. People
>often accuse us of all sorts of things, but one need to understand that
>GRTS
>is the public media and should therefore behave responsibly.
>
>One mistake that most people make is to fail to differentiate between Yahya
>Jammeh as the elected President of The Gambia and Yahya Jammeh as the
>Leader
>of the APRC. We cover the Executive, The President, and not the APRC. APRC
>is the ruling party, just as the Republican Party in the US is now the
>ruling party.
>
>GRTS would cover all activities of the President whether it is Jammeh or
>any
>other president. Those of you in the US, how many times have you seen Dole
>on television after his defeat? Those in the UK, how many of you even
>remember the name of the opponent of Prime Minister Tony Blair during the
>last elections? The point is, the President of The Gambia should be
>adequately covered by the media, GRTS in particularly. When President
>Jammeh
>goes to the Supermarket, it is news worthy. When any opposition leader goes
>to the Supermarket, it is not news worthy. It is as simple as that. All
>branches of Government are being covered and we will cover the Secretaries
>of State as well. Some official activities of the Secretaries of States are
>also covered adequately.
>
>When the Budget is delivered to the National Assembly for example, we make
>sure that we have the reactions of the opposition members and we carry it
>live without editing it or even attempting to edit it. We do the same
>whenever the President addresses the National Assembly (State Opening of
>the
>National Assembly, equivalent to the State of The Union Address by the US
>President).
>
>When President Jammeh travels, GRTS would cover him adequately. The
>constitution requires the President to make at least one annual tour of
>country, Meet the People Tour and GRTS would cover the tour and broadcast
>it
>for all Gambians with access to radio and television to see or hear. When
>it
>is time for campaign, like this up coming by-elections, all candidates and
>political parties will be given equal airtime. We have already met with the
>IEC on this and our internal guidelines would be publicised soon. Check
>CNN,
>CBS, ABC or any American Media House and see for your self how much
>coverage
>the President has on weekly basis. All major media houses in the US have a
>permanent representative at the White House and they cover the daily
>activities of the President. I do not see any thing wrong with GRTS doing
>it. The Presidency is the nerve centre of the country and has to be covered
>and we will continue covering the President's activities without apologies.
>
>We do cover political rallies of both the ruling party and opposition
>parties. We have a policy whereby organisations, institutions, Departments
>etc should give us at least one week notice for their activities,
>especially
>those being held in the provinces. For the Greater Banjul area, if we have
>48 to 72 hours, we normally try and cover. And this applies to all
>political
>parties as well. As a matter of we did cover more than 90% of the requests
>from the political parties. We request for an advance notices so that we
>can
>plan properly. We have limited resources, both manpower and material. All
>political parties have to do is to inform us in advance and we will do our
>very best to cover them.
>
>Karamba, you do not have to wait a new government to lobby for GRTS to be
>independent. GRTS is already independent and the bill will be presented to
>the National Assembly this year to formalise it. We have been independent
>from GAMTEL since January 1st 2001 and now we have our own Board of
>Directors and we are expected to sustain our self financially. Government
>is
>contributing D2.5 million per annum, and GRTS is expected to generate D6
>million and the Parastatals will be contributing as well and their
>contribution will be turn in to equity when GRTS becomes profitable.
>
>As far as GRTS Management is concerned, all Gambians are equal and would be
>treated the same. Be rest assured that the coming elections would be
>covered
>adequately and all candidates and political parties would be given equal
>access to GRTS. There is an unfair advantage that incumbents enjoy in every
>country, the US included. These are realities we have to accept.
>
>PEACE
>
>Tombong
>
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