This one I like from Foroyaa Dad. Thanx again for sharing. Sober and intelligent. Haruna. In a message dated 3/4/2010 3:45:40 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Journalists and the Law -Conceptions and Misconceptions The Chief Justice of the Gambia was invited by the Young Journalists Association to preside over the opening of their training programme on media laws. The chief Justice did accept the engagement. It is important to share with the readers what he said to the Journalists. The chief Justice observed that even though "people often say the media is a watchdog organisation or defender of the oppressed, but for him it is a different thing as everybody is against oppression." We would appreciate it if in his next engagement with the Journalists the Chief Justice quotes and explain section 207 subsection 3 of the Constitution of the Gambia to them, which reads: "The Press and other Information Media shall at all times, be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of the Constitution, and the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people of the Gambia." Foroyaa’s interpretation is that the Constitution has underscored the watchdog role of the Press and other Media establishments. They are to monitor how public servants carry out their duty and report on injustice and maladministration so that correctional measures could be taken to rectify shortcomings. This watchdog role of the press is recognized in every society which is genuinely democratic. What Foroyaa teaches journalists is that what they report must be the truth. This truth should also be published in good faith in the public interest. Since Journalists are not necessarily lawyers and the law is not just the Constitution and Acts of parliament but entails landmark decisions which serve as judicial precedence, what young journalists need from legal practitioners most are examples of landmark cases which helps them to understand how their actions could be interpreted in a court of law. The Chief Justice was therefore quite right to add that "If you do not understand the law, then you don’t want to practice journalism as failure to observe the law will lead to its violation" This is precisely why the training of Journalists is being conducted so that those who know will transfer their knowledge to those who are yet to know. The young journalists should be commended for their initiatives so as to boost up their self esteem. The Chief Justice did Counsel the young people as thus: "People who disobey the law cannot be called responsible journalists as responsible journalism cannot accommodate lawlessness and disobeying the law is lawlessness." We would just like to add that the training of Journalist by legal luminaries should also entail the dynamics of the law. It should be clear to people that laws could also be unjust and that there may be legitimate ways for advocating for change or repeal of those laws. In short, laws are not static. They are immutable. They are dynamic and subject to amendments and repeals. Hence, it is part of the education of young journalists to show them what is done to advocate for the repeal of laws which are not reasonably justifiable in a democratic society. Finally, the Chief Justice advised the young Journalists as follow: "Be careful not to engage in actions that will destabilize the society in the name of human rights. The pen is powerful. But don’t use it carelessly; use it to build your society." It is still not clear how raising human rights issues could lead to the destablisation of society. Empirical evidence has shown that in countries where human rights issues are discussed freely an openly and actions taken by authorities to address them, grievances are settled through democratic means and people have little excuse to take the law into their own hands. What empirical evidence tends to show is that it is impunity which leads to the destabilization of society. Just imagine how people would have felt in secret if no media house could write about the disappearance of Chief Manneh, Kanyiba Kanyi etc; the death of Deyda Hydara, the shooting of Ousman Sillah. Speculations would have been rife. For example, very recently, an on line media published that Harouna Jammeh, a detainee, has been Killed. Harouna however is still in detention and many people who have been detained at mile two have seen him and he is still not taken to court or released after years of detention. Publishing such matters which may facilitate his release could only add to sanitization of the society not its defilement. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: _http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html_ (http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html) To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: _http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l_ (http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l) To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask]) ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤