Good News For The Gambian Media - Daily Observer The credit for the very positive news that Government is to repeal the Media Commission Act goes to the dynamic SoS for Information, Communication and Technology, Dr Amadou Scattred Janneh. Since he assumed office, Dr Janneh has consistently tried to mediate between the independent media and government. Thanks to his timely intervention, government climbed down from its hard line position to allow for a three month grace period to allow time for more consultation between the press and government. No doubt this cooling period helped to break the impasse. Now, Gambian democracy has been given a shot in the arm by the decision of government to repeal the draconian Media Act. The Media Act could not have done any good for the advancement of Gambian democracy; it could have only taken us several steps backwards in our democratic process. Press freedom, which is the cornerstone of democracy, was under direct assault by the Media Act, which required journalists and media houses to register with a Commission among several other unnecessary regulations. The Commission also had extensive powers to prosecute journalists. The Gambian private press is indeed very responsible. Our journalists are hardly sensational nor rabble rousing. This is why the Gambia Press Union should be fully equiped to be the watch dog of the media. The Gambia Press Union too deserves commendation for its steadfast stand on the issue. However, it should now task itself to put in in house measures to watch over the conduct of journalists and proprietors. Dr Janneh has managed to extricate our country from a potentially very embarassing situation where the entire private press would have closed shop if the Act was allowed to stay. Dr Janneh has our commendation for his very patriotic effort. This shows that for now we have a secretary of state who is a staunch defender of freedom of speech, which is indeed gratifying. The press should continue to be responsible and patriotic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~