Greetings Yero,

 

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you and Demba (belatedly) on Gainako's 7th anniversary. You, Demba and the rest of the editorial team, deserve commendation for maintaining Gainako these seven long years. It has been seven years of fruitful and selfless service. I/we wish you a very happy anniversary with many more years to follow.

 

On a different subject, I have some historic audio tapes on the July 1994 coup and the transition period (1994-1996) that I intend to send to Gainako for your radio listeners. I have already promised Demba - copies of these rare tapes, in a previous private email. These tapes include many BBC programmes on the Gambia featuring me, Halifa Sallah, Pap Cheyassin Secka, Zaya Yeebo etc. Panel discussions on the Gambia, conducted by the BBC Focus on Africa programme, featuring the same people. They also include several live (on air) interviews the legendary BBC's Robin White had had with me; the first press conference of Ousainou Darboe in Banjul - announcing the formation of the UDP. Darboe was assisted in this press conference, which I covered, by the late Sidia Sanyang, Ebou Manneh and others. I had an extensive interview with the eloquent Sidia Sanyang (deceased) afterwards, where he outlined the raison d'être for forming a new party. (Sidia Sanyang had an unsurpassed command of both oral and written English). There is also an interview Barnaby Phillips, formerly of the BBC and now with Aljazeera, had had with Sidia Sanyang and Ousainou Darboe when they sought refuge at the Senegalese High Commission in Pipeline, a day after the September 2006 Presidential Election in The Gambia. Will definitely find time to copy some of these tapes for Gainako.

 

Regards,

Ebrima

 

A very happy Arsenal Fan tonight

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From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:17:15 -0500
Subject: Re: [>-<] Alagie Yorro Jallow publishes a book on the Gambian media

Dr. Ceesay,
 
Thanks for sharing. Congrats to name-sake for the publication of his first book on matters Gambia, his scholarstic achievement and for his subsequent employment as a lecturer. I look forward to the many reviews and probably doing "snail" touches on these books for reference.
 
It is good to see many Gambians writing books now-a-days. We are moving from the oral account of things to written narations. It is a welcomed development.
 
Best of luck in all the positive endeavors bro Alagi!!
 
Yero.
 

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From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:41:28 +0000
Subject: [>-<] Alagie Yorro Jallow publishes a book on the Gambian media

 

Dear All,

(The boom in Gambian Studies continues)

 

Alagie Yorro Jallow, co-founder and former managing editor of the banned Independent newspaper in The Gambia, has just published a highly recommended book on the Gambian Media, which will be officially released (available for sale) on 26^th October 2013. The book cover, meanwhile, is attached here, for your information; and the price of the paperback edition is £19 dollars per copy. Appropriately titled Delayed Democracy: How the Press Collapsed in The Gambia, the book has 250 pages and is by published by Author House, USA (www.authorhouse.com)

 

The study is scholarly, extremely well-researched, theoretically sound and clearly structured, with endnotes, bibliographic references and acknowledgements. And although it is a scholarly text, it is, all the same, easy to read and written with clarity. It is a very compelling and well-written account of how the Yahya Jammeh regime has, since 1994, continuously targeted freedom of expression and opinion in The Gambia, and passed draconian laws that have been used to stifle journalists, human rights defenders and government critics.

 

The book analyses the effect of President Yahya Jammeh’s takeover of the Gambia from a historical, political, and socio-economic context. It offers a useful and comprehensive contribution to the legal and political debate about freedom of expression—or more accurately stated, the lack thereof—in The Gambia. The study also proposes a theoretical framework specifically applicable to The Gambia, because the author maintains that the relationship between The Gambia and the media is in some ways unique. But there is a good balance between the theoretical material and empirical evidence, and this makes the study particularly refreshing. This is, by far, the best, most up-to-date, study available today on the state of the Gambian media since 1994. It certainly fills (or closes) a major gap in the literature on mass communication and the press in Africa generally.

 

At the end of the book, the author offers useful suggestions for reforming the media in The Gambia. The author indicates that, above all else, lasting change in The Gambia can likely only be successful if the political climate in The Gambia shifts rather dramatically, or if the Jammeh regime shows signs of sensitivity to international political pressure. The author urges the government to repeal laws that inhibit freedom of expression, and ensure that both law and practice are in line with the standards enshrined in the human rights treaties to which the Gambia is a party to.

 

Alagie Yorro Jallow has written an excellent and relevant study that provides a well-documented insight into the deteriorating freedom of expression in The Gambia, as well as offer some helpful/useful suggestions for effecting changes that could bring about improved human rights in the Gambia. The study will also prove a valuable source of reference for students, researchers and policymakers.

 

The author, Alagi Yorro Jallow, is currently a lecturer in Media Studies and Communications at the Department of General Management, Martin de Tours School of Management and Economics, at the Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand.

 

Regards,

Ebrima

 

PS: See the table of contents

 

 

Contents

 

Dedication .......................................................................................... vii

 

Acknowledgments ................................................................................ ix

 

Abstract ................................................................................................ xi

 

Preface ..................................................................................................xv

 

Foreword .............................................................................................xix

 

Introduction .......................................................................................... 1

 

Brief History of The Gambia ................................................................. 5

 

A Sketch of Politics in The Gambia ....................................................... 8

 

The Fourth Estate ............................................................................... 10

 

The Role of Journalists ........................................................................ 12

 

The Concept of Press Freedom ............................................................ 13

 

Overview of the African Press .............................................................. 17

 

Early Development of the Press in The Gambia .................................. 20

 

Pre-Independence Newspapers: 1883-1965 ......................................... 21

 

The Various Pre-Independence Newspapers .................................. 22

 

Other Publications ........................................................................ 26

 

Circulation Information ................................................................ 26

 

Post-Independence Newspapers: 1965-2013 ....................................... 26

 

Policies Governing the Establishment of Newspapers in The Gambia ....... 27

 

Broadcasting in The Gambia ............................................................... 29

 

Radio Broadcasting in The Gambia ............................................... 29

 

Telegraph Station Act, 1913 .......................................................... 31

 

Brief Overview of Current Media Outlets ........................................... 33

 

The Gambian Constitutions and Press Freedom .................................. 34

 

National Media Commission Act ........................................................ 42

 

Lawsuit against the National Media Commission Act ................... 44

 

Defendants’ Response ................................................................... 50

 

Initial Supreme Court’s Rulings .................................................... 55

 

Reaction to the Supreme Court’s Rulings ...................................... 57

 

Additional Acts Suppressing the Media................................................ 58

 

The Press under the “Civilian Government”: 1997-2013 .................... 60

 

Further Actions against Members of the Press ...................................... 67

 

Libel ............................................................................................. 67

 

Sedition ........................................................................................ 68

 

Censorship .................................................................................... 68

 

The Impact of Press Freedom on Processes of Democratization ........... 70

 

Theoretical Framework of Limits on Press Freedom ...................... 71

 

Techniques of Suppression: Subverting Freedom of Expression ...........................72

 

Theoretical Framework on Press Freedom and Government Relations ............................73

 

Hegemony as a Model of the Press-Government Relationship .................................... 75

 

Hegemonic Elements in Yahya Jammeh ........................................ 77

 

E-Democracy: Using Information and Communication Technologies in the Democratic Processes ....................... 86

 

The Status of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in The Gambia Today .................................... 87

 

Suggested Objectives of the Media ...................................................... 89

 

General Objectives ........................................................................ 89

 

Specific Objectives ........................................................................ 90

 

Challenges in the Media Sector ..................................................... 91

 

Recommended Reform to Media in The Gambia .......................... 91

 

The Internet and Political Repression ............................................ 93

 

Conclusion .......................................................................................

 

Bibliography………………………………………………………..

 

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