From: suntou touray <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tue, Jul 5, 2011 7:06 am
Subject: [G_L] Bai Emil Touray speaks: Foroyaa man distance himself from politics
Friday, 01 July 2011 16:36
The newly elected president of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), Emil Touray, has said that he wants to be seen as a journalist and not as a member of PDOIS or any other political party. Speaking to Sanna Camara in a Bantaba exclusive , Mr Touray said: “All members of the press union have rights to affiliate themselves with political parties of their choice. The important thing is I could be a member of the UDP or APRC. I am a member of the Gambia Press Union and I am a journalist… I am not a PDOIS spokesperson. I am not a mouthpiece of Foroyaa and I am not a mouthpiece of PDOIS… I have never been seen wearing anything bearing a political party inscription. In fact, if you go by records, be it Foroyaa, Observer or Citizen FM, I don’t think I cover political parties more than five or six times since I became a journalist. I have always concentrated on covering judicial, economic and environmental matters more than political matters. I enjoy listening to political debates and current affairs but I am not a politician.”Mr Touray made these remarks while fending off questions that he is a PDOIS member and that being the new GPU president, PDOIS/Foroyaa are maintaining a stranglehold of the GPU and will attempt to micromanage the affairs of the union.
“I do not know what [these] fears are. Is there anything to substantiate as a fact that GPU under the leadership of Ndey Tapha Sosseh was controlled by PDOIS? And Ndey Tapha and Madi Ceesay all belong to political parties. Hardly will you see anybody in the GPU not belonging to a political party. So were Madi or Ndey controlled by the PDOIS or the UDP? These are the questions that people should ask. So why would I be controlled by the PDOIS and not the APRC or the UDP? Why?” he chided.
Mr Touray said under his stewardship, he will strive “to make the environment of free expression in The Gambia conducive for media practictioners”. Read his full interview reproduce by JollofNews courtesy of Standard Newspaper.
How did you start journalism?
I started contributing articles and poems on newspapers when I was going to school. If you go to Observer and Foroyaa archives, you will see that I was contributing poems and letters way back. I had enormous interest in journalism and in writing. I continued to nurse this passion after school while working as an unqualified teacher. In 1999, I started practising journalism though I became an active journalist a year later when I became a trainee at the Foroyaa newspaper. I was attached to some journalists and I accompanied them whenever they go out for coverage and when we returned, I would write my story which was then compared to that of the experienced journalist’s. Subsequently, I began interviewing people as an assignment from editors and they started publishing my stories. In one instance, I was asked to interview Baboucarr Gaye of Citizen FM. The interview was published and he contacted me, wanting me to work for him. That is how I started working as a freelance journalist for him. This was around November 2000. I learnt a lot working with him. He emphasised accuracy and factuality of news content prior to broadcasting. He contributed a lot to the development of those of who, like Musa Saidykhan and myself, worked under him.
Why did you then choose to work for Foroyaa instead of The Point or Daily Observer?
For me, working for Foroyaa is just like working for The Point or Daily Observer. So I don’t see why that would be an issue. You have to recall that after I left Citizen FM, I worked with the Observer at a time when it was very difficult to be a staff there. I met several people at the Observer who had been there for two, three and four years working as freelance journalists. Observer at the time had 40 freelance journalists. At Citizen FM, we were about seven to nine staff reporters. Within two weeks of joining them [Observer], editor Paschal Eze and Pa Kalifa Sanyang were very much impressed with my performance and decided they are going to make me a staff reporter. I was staffed along with Pa Ousman Darboe and Ebrima ‘Chief’ Manneh. These two editors, along with Hassoum Ceesay, contributed to my professional development, .
You work for Foroyaa, are you a member of PDOIS?
Ah! Let me put it this way, I am a journalist. I want to be seen as a journalist and not as a member of the APRC, PDOIS or UDP.
Alright, but my question is: Are you a member of PDOIS
All members of the press union have rights to affiliate themselves with political parties of their choice. The important thing is I could be a member of the UDP or APRC. In fact, what makes you think that I am a member of the PDOIS? Is it because I am affiliated with the GPU that is why you are asking me that question?
Are you a member of the PDOIS?
What I am saying is that I am a member of the Gambia Press Union and I am a journalist.
Critics say the Foroyaa is a de facto mouthpiece of the PDOIS and by default, Foroyaa journalists are opposition journalists who only propagate the policies and the agenda of the PDOIS?
I am not here to serve as a mouthpiece of Foroyaa because I am not Foroyaa spokesperson. I am not PDOIS spokesperson…
You are a member of the editorial team of Foroyaa…
I am not a mouthpiece of Foroyaa and I am not a mouthpiece of PDOIS. I want you to understand that I resigned from the Observer at a time when it was very difficult to have a job. I resigned because there was too much management interference in our work and we [‘The Observer 8’] agreed the best thing for us was to resign. We resigned not because we are opposed to somebody or someone’s policies, but because we wanted to remain professionals. We resigned because the management [under Buba Baldeh] indicated to us that they would not allow the views of opposition parties to be published in the paper. And if the Foroyaa publishers make it known to us that they will not want the views of any political party to be published on the paper, I will resign. I am not saying that there are no journalists at Foroyaa who are affiliated with PDOIS, but it is not an issue there. When I joined Foroyaa, I was not asked which political party I belonged to, neither was I asked same question when I joined Observer, Citizen FM or The Entrepreneur magazine. I am not aware if any instance where the publishers of Foroyaa indicated to me or anybody that the views of APRC, UDP or NRP will not be published in the Foroyaa.
They may not have said so, but from your tri-weekly editorial contents, people can assess your work and say that you are PDOIS biased through and through.
You would agree with me that… er, nobody will attest as a fact that I have been seen wearing anything bearing a political party inscription. In fact, if you go by records, be it Foroyaa, Observer or Citizen FM, I don’t think I cover political parties more than five or six times since I became a journalist. I have always concentrated on covering judicial, economic and environmental matters more than political matters. I enjoy listening to political debates and current affairs but I am not a politician.
You have been working with the big wigs of the PDOIS for almost a decade. In your assessment, why don’t they, generally, win elections in The Gambia?
Wow! You are now asking me a political question. I have the right to freedom of expression and I can express myself on any matter but I think the best people to answer this question are the PDOIS candidates. And I don’t think if you go to Attorney General’s Chambers, you will see any connection between the PDOIS and the Foroyaa. I work with Foroyaa and not PDOIS, so I am not in a better position to answer this question.
How many times have you been arrested, Mr Touray?
I have been arrested only once.
What would you consider the single most traumatising experience of your life?
That would be precisely difficult to tell. I have traumatic experiences in life and one of them would be when I was kept incommunicado. [During that time] one of the things that was always on my mind was my grandmother. She is very old and I always thought about her and I knew how much she loves me. That affected me so much because I did not want a situation when she will suffer an ailment or anything else because of my incarceration. That brought some bitterness to my life while I was in jail. But eventually, I was freed. I love my grandmother and I love my parents too, but my grandmother was my headache there. My parents and my wife could cope but she may not. She is one of the oldest, if not the oldest in Old Jeshwang – over a hundred years.
People say the PDOIS has a stranglehold of the GPU.
As far as I know, the GPU under the leadership of Ndey Tapha Sosseh has not been controlled by the PDOIS or the UDP. I don’t know why people have to say that.
In last weekend’s congress which saw you elected to lead the GPU for the next three years, critics say Foroyaa registered as voters, all kinds of people including auxillary and ancillary staff, thereby giving it an undue numerical advantage and effectively ensuring your victory?
You would agree with me that several years back, when Madi Ceesay was elected - the records are here - most people who were GPU members present at that gathering were from The Independent newspaper, followed by Foroyaa. So following the demise of The Independent newspaper, Foroyaa continued to have more members in the GPU. So there was no point in time when a journalist from a particular media house applied for GPU membership and was denied. If you have one, you can tell me. If Foroyaa members come to register as GPU members, they will be admitted. Furthermore, I don’t see GPU members as people from Foroyaa or Observer or wherever you call them. I just see them as GPU members.
There are fears that your bosses at the Foroyaa will try to micromanage the GPU using you as a front?
I do not know what those fears are. Is there anything to substantiate as a fact that GPU under the leadership of Ndey Tapha Sosseh was controlled by PDOIS? And Ndey Tapha and Madi Ceesay all belong to political parties. Hardly will you see anybody in the GPU not belonging to a political party. So were Madi or Ndey controlled by the PDOIS or the UDP? These are the questions that people should ask. So why would I be controlled by the PDOIS and not the APRC or the UDP? Why?
What is your relationship with Ndey Tapha Sosseh?
Ndey Tapha was my colleague and still my colleague at the GPU. And we worked together for a while.
‘Colleagues’, so why did you stand up against her for the GPU presidency?
(Silent for about ten seconds) You are asking something that is very interesting to me. Are you saying it is illegitimate [sic] on my part to contest against Ney Tapha Sosseh? Is that what you are saying?
The question is, why did you go to elections with your ‘colleague’ Ndey Tapha Sosseh?
Ndey Tapha has a right to contest for the presidency just like I have the right to contest for the presidency. In fact, I don’t think people should ask these questions.
Why not?
The fact of the matter is, people should be delighted that the two of us are merely exercising our democratic rights. We are not enemies. In fact, why don’t ask why I ran against Nfamara Jawneh?
Everyone regarded Ndey Tapha more than your colleague, more like your sister and she was the incumbent?
Are you insinuating that nobody should contest against an incumbent? I was merely exercising my democratic rights. And you will agree with me that some journalists had five or six primaries in my absence – when I was in South Africa, Dakar and Germany. Even though I have never… No journalist in The Gambia or the GPU will tell you I ever approached him or her to canvass support for me or express interest in the GPU presidency. That never happened. Shortly after my trip from Dakar where I applied for a South African visa, one of the members of the Young Journalists Association, Momodou Edrisa Njie, called me and told me they held a series of primaries in my absence and throughout, I had been unanimously agreed upon to serve as GPU president. He said this was because they had confidence in me and they didn’t want me to disappoint them. Even though I was not prepared for the task, I had to run so as not to betray the trust of these people. I wanted to give up and this is largely owing to the fact that the camp that wanted me to contest for presidency is the same camp that wanted Ndey to run for president. So later, when Ndey expressed interest, there was confusion in the camp.
Claims surfaced during the congress that Ms Sosseh had all along expressed interest in going for a second term and that you concealed that information from the GPU membership?
In fact, that brought misunderstanding because some people, I don’t know for whatever reasons, were spreading this information. I don’t know if the objective was to smear my character and as a result people who were close to me for several years would feel I had been dishonest to them. Because of that, they went on the rampage, I was chastised and I came under a barrage of criticisms. After a while, I could not understand what was going on. Later I got the information that … when we were on the high table; people kept on attacking us, especially those that you will not consider to be doing so. It wasn’t scrutiny but a verbal assault; it was highly subjective for that matter. And I was astonished as to why same people who wanted me to run will turn around and mount this onslaught. Later, I discovered that there was this information that I was concealing information that Ndey wanted to run for a second term. It was on the second day of congress and I felt really disturbed. I saw no reason why people should concoct stories with a view to casting aspersions on me. Because of that, I had to take a laptop to the congress on the third day with a view to clarifying the misinformation that was going on and I used the laptop to open the email message I got from Ndey. So I showed it to some of the people who confronted me with the issue and the messaged received happened to be dated the 23rd June - a few days to congress.
Under your stewardship, what are you going to bring to the GPU?
I want to serve the members of the GPU. And not only that, I also want to make the environment of free expression in The Gambia conducive.
What is the state of the Gambian journalism today?
The state of Gambian journalism today leaves much to be desired. This is owing to the fact that a good number of journalists have fled this country and the young ones that are coming up are not that experienced. This also has a negative impact on the quality of stories we write. And I think we need to work to see how we can develop the capacity of these young people.
Wouldn’t you agree that there is relative press freedom in The Gambia today?
I think press freedom in The Gambia leaves much to be desired. As journalists, we don’t want to work under a climate where whenever we write we are always thinking about media laws that are likely to land us in jail. So, whenever journalists write, we are always thinking whether the story we are writing is libelous, defamatory, and that affect our work as journalists. If the state removes these barriers by removing these laws such as sedition, false information or laws on official secrets, it will help make our work of serving Gambian public easier and without fear.
Thank you for your time, Mr President.
Courtesy of Standard Newspaper
--
www.suntoumana.blogspot.com
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ 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]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤