Chei, looks like some folks would run over their Grandmother for a title or a few bucks. Wow! Bakary Njie Defends Media Bill, Tells Nams It's a Blessing to Table It Email This Page Print This Page The Independent (Banjul) May 10, 2002 Posted to the web May 10, 2002 Pk Jarju Banjul The Secretary of State for Communication, Information and Technology Bakary Njie has described his task to table the Media Commission Bill before the National Assembly as a great blessing. Going against the groundswell of media outrage over the Bill, Mr. Njie said last week that he was introducing it before the National Assembly with an open and sober mind, heartened by what he called the appropriateness of having a Media Commission bent on improving the standard of journalism in The Gambia. Mr. Njie who was making a debut appearance in the Assembly said as the one responsible for information and communication he felt very proud to be associated with the Bill which according to him is aimed at reviving and setting the standard of Gambian journalism, which in recent years 'has been left to decay and to be disrespected without serious attempt to professionally address it'.He said the low standard of journalism as practised by local journalists gives justified rise to concerns from the government which has deemed it necessary to impose regulations ensuring the protection of innocent people from character-assassinations and intimidation allegedly by a handful of individuals 'who allowed themselves to be used against the principles of their noble profession'. Reacting to comments made by the minority leader and member for Serrekunda Central Halifa Sallah over the implications of the Bill on people's freedom and its negation of democratic principles which should have compelled the government to embark on persuasive measures instead of punitive measures, SOS Njie stated that he was being protective and defensive on behalf of journalists and the citizenry whose protection in respect of the proposed Commission are being ensured by the government. 'Some one because of some personal reasons can just jump and write something just to tarnish the image of innocent people in the society' he asserted. He said despite the establishment of The Gambia Technical Training Institute and TheGambia Telecommunication and Multi Media Institute to teach technical, electronic, civil engineering, telecommunications, computing, information technology etc no single journalism course is being offered to encourage young Gambians to become professional journalists. He posited that as 'everybody in the country is a journalist', there is a great comparison with freedom of the press in other countries. He said in the run-up to last year's presidential elections false information were being spread that it would turn violent, frightening some diplomatic agencies into evacuating their staff. Also reacting to Hamat Bah's prediction that the Media Bill would end up with the same fate as the law on skin bleaching, SOS Njie stated that claimed that the latter law has worked effectively and has raised consciousness and self-discipline among women to such an extent that 'lerral' has been found more appropriate. He assured members of the press that the intention of the Bill is not to engage the press to attract the intervention of the international community but to increase the professionalism of journalists. He said a visit to private media houses would immediately follow on the heels of his recently concluded tour of government institutions. He said the essence is for him to interact and impress upon pressmen and women that the government is a positive partner in the drive to bring Gambian journalism to standard. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~