Laye, Thanx for sharing the other perspective of Dr. Cue's entire lecture. I'm surprised you regard The Point's editorial to be half-full and this one to be half-empty. The way I see it, the half-empty is the other half-full part of the whole. Cue treated the topic "The role of the Journalist in a DEMOCRACY", with due-diligent independence of thought, intellectual honesty, and wise counsel. I appreciated it very much. The aim is to return the craft of Journalism to its heralded position in society and blunt the edges of these and those extremes that endanger the lives and safety of JOURNALISTS. Reading Cue from the far-side, he is sharing that within a DEMOCRATIC system, JOURNALISTS are not confronted with threats to their lives and safety in the normal conduct of their craft. That however, when confronted with a system that is incompatible with DEMOCRACY, due-diligence and a sharper reliance on the journalistic code of ethics and conduct will render the incompatibilities more benign. Without spending too much time analyzing Cue's lecture for value Laye, consider that Journalism is a work-product of DEMOCRACY and is therefore incompatible with Dictatorship and Tyranny. It will not therefore survive without the inherent structural adjustment tools of DEMOCRACY. That is to say that DEMOCRACY has its own structural adjustment tools (what my friend Anderson will call mid-course corrections). Democracy cannot accommodate extreme activism (to be diplomatic) outside of its natural contours. I encourage you to combine the two halves and see if you can yield the whole Laye. Thanx again for sharing value-lecture. Haruna. -----Original Message----- From: Laye Jallow <[log in to unmask]> To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tue, Jul 26, 2011 2:55 pm Subject: [G_L] Observer's Take On Eduardo Cue's Message I see the glass half full, they see the glass half empty: Chei waaye! You would think Eduardo was addressing a different gathering from the one reported on by The Point. No wonder it took them close to two weeks to come up with their version of what the good journalist Eduardo said -:)! I didn't see any direct quotations- hmmm that tells of som'n smelly about his one here estorey. ================= The Daily Observer (Banjul) Gambia: 'The Role of Journalists is to Point Out Issues in Society And Not to Address Them' Bekai Njie and Amadou Jallow 26 July 2011 Dr Eduardo Cue, a US journalist based in France has indicated that the role of a journalist is to point out what is wrong in a society and identify them for the authorities concerned to intervene and make them right. Dr Cue, who has 35 years experience in journalism and has been to 29 African countries as a professional journalist. He was speaking at a press conference at the beginning of a two-week intensive training for journalists by the US embassy at the American Corner at Comium Building, along Kairaba Avenue. The training brought together journalists from both print and electronic media outlets across the country. The US journalist, who was speaking on the topic 'The role of journalists in democracy', arrived in the country at the invitation of the US embassy as instructor at the said training. He dwelled on the significant roles needed to be played by journalists in the execution of their duties. He explained that the journalists need to do as much as possible to maintain what he called the power of balance, meaning a journalist need to have the ability in his/her work to differentiate what is true from what is not true. While highlighting the problems facing the Western media particularly in the United States, Dr Cue indicated that journalists are now becoming obsessed with entertainment, talking about issues that have no relevance and ignoring the important issues of the past. He further acknowledged that the Western media are mainly controlled by their owners and not by their governments, and that their main aim is only to make a lot of money, thus using their power against public information. He added that every single major television is owned by public corporation in the United States including CNN. Commenting on the importance of being independent minded in journalism, Dr Cue said one of the good qualities of a journalist is to be intellectually honest, so as to contribute meaningfully to a democratic state. He added that the role of the press is not to sing the song of anyone but to try as much as possible to speak the truth and make a partial truth that allows us construct the truth. According to him, the availability of an advanced high-technology, has created an opportunity for everyone now to claim to become a journalist, citing those self-proclaimed individuals who fail to recognize the tedious work involved in the process of constructing a news article. Dr Cue went on to explain that the key function of a journalist is to give people the required information of divergent truth for them to make decisions and also to create a forum for public discussion. He therefore acknowledged the fact that journalism is a noble profession that requires tremendous sacrifice and high risk. Ethics of journalism While speaking on the ethics of journalism, the US journalist who had once worked for CNN, indicated that ethics are very relevant and require so many characters for a responsible journalist. These characters, he said, include: honesty, integrity, fairness, respect and care for others, among others. He said it is an obligation to protect the role of the press in the society, the image of the press, protect the public by giving fair and balance reports and increase the professional character of journalists, as well as protecting them from violating moral values and culture. He concluded by saying that ethics could serve as good guidelines for young journalists; thus help in building a nation of democracy. Copyright © 2011 The Daily Observer. All rights reserved. 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