Culled From The Point

Wednesday, November 28, 2001


The Observer Must Assume Its Responsibility

To say that other media houses and practitioners are unethical and it would
let sleeping dogs lie undisturbed would not absolve The Daily Observer. Let
The Observer Be ETHICAL and EXPOSE the unethical practices of the media
people they are accusing.

Since The Observer made a barrage of accusations against media houses and
practitioners, we owe it to our readers to clear our name thus we have no
other alternative but to defend ourselves, as this paper was not exempted.
But what is the issue at hand? The Observer in its Monday edition through
its Private Eye (we wonder whether anyone at The Observer knows what this
means in US ruling circles) column complained that some media houses and
practitioners call it a government owned paper. (see page 3). We go straight
to our view on this issue echoed over and over in this column for Observer
people to digest. The paper belongs to Amadou Samba. If he wants the paper
to support the Jammeh regime to which in fact he belongs, no one would be
able to hold it against him for it is his inalienable right.

Before him, Rupert did that with the SUN and the Mirror. As we repeatedly
told Observer staff (who come into contact with us) The Observer has not got
the courage it attributes to Dibba (in its editorial) to own up to its
popular inclination: Supporting the Jammeh Regime. The paper might not be a
government paper but it supports Jammeh as plain as anyone can see.

For our part, we can shout on the top of our voices that we have no business
with APRC, UDP, PDOIS, NRP, PPP, NCP, GPP or any other party for that matter
other than our professional interest. WE are independent vis a vis all of
them and we didn’t vote in the last election in furtherance of the
neutrality displayed during our coverage; the IEC can attest to this. So,
definitely, the Observer should be courageous now more than ever to admit
that it supports the Jammeh regime. As we told the famous Observer 10 with
our brother Paschal, they would either have to accept their fate or reject
it as it had happened in Britain. In two separate editorials we emphasised
that editorial lines do not belong to employees.

Now, the accusation of jealousy was a blanket one without limitation and we
must respond. If we at The Point were Jealous, we would not have bailed out
The Daily Observer for Nine Months leading to the permanent damage of our
printer. Had we not bailed out The Observer then, we wonder what would have
been its fate today as they did not have D30,000 to buy a new printer. What
does this mean? This means that by providing a printer free of charge to The
Observer, we not only sustained the paper’s existence but also the
employment of the people working at the Observer for almost a year. It also
means that had we not bailed it out, Amadou would not have bought the paper
for that happened some 14 months after their problems.

With our printer damaged, The Observer ended up at the GPU using a printer
that WE SECURED for the GPU during our tenure as head of that organisation.
And since 1995, The Point had been printing The Daily Observer without
asking a butut. And we have been doing it for all the others. Jealousy? We
do not think so. Now, The Observer charged that we have not contributed
anything in national development, but the above amply gives an example of
the wide range contributions we do not need to mention here. Our message is
Be Ethical, and don’t hide under the guise of unity. “You member the canda
en the beef thing?” DH –ME



Culled From The Daily Observer

The Observer Attacks Media Houses

Adama’s Private Eye When the pot calls the kettle black


Private Eye has been reliably informed that certain media houses and
practitioners are in the habit of referring to The Gambia Daily as the
Jammeh Daily and The Daily Observer as a government owned newspaper. Private
Eye would like to make it abundantly clear that The Observer is an
independent, privately owned media institution which represents all shades
of opinion and discharges its national obligations without fear or favour,
affection or ill will. These same media saints or critics are in fact worse
off when it comes to honesty of purpose and genuine contribution towards
national development as well as fraternising the Gambian communit







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