News of the day...

Dear Friends:

Thought I’d shoot along some news of the day from bustling Freetown. Perhaps “shoot” is an inappropriate word… "send" along some news from Freetown… that’s better.

Yesterday, I had a very interesting and insightful experience. The Independent Media Commission (IMC) hosted a press conference for local journalists and media owners. It was billed as “a dialogue between media stakeholders regarding the state of the media industry in Sierra Leone.”

Approximately 50 local reporters from radio, newspaper and television crammed into the small conference room of the IMC in Kissy House on Siaka Stevens Street (Stevens was the former President of Sierra Leone). The room was brutally hot and the conversation was rather heated.

The Independent Media Commission was first established in 2001 immediately following the civil war. (It took them four years to assemble and publish their “media code of practice”) They’ve worked very hard to establish this code of conduct and rules of practise for the media industry… and for the most part the journalists and publishers abide by their guidelines. Otherwise, the IMC has the legislative right to fine or even close a media outlet. So, most folks take it very seriously… and they’re quite closely connected to the government and the Ministry of Information, which has its inherent challenges, as I’m sure you can imagine.

The Chair of the IMC, a very powerful and articulate woman named Mrs. Bernadette Cole, opened the meeting with cautionary words… “My dear colleagues, it is an understatement to say that the peace we currently enjoy is rather fragile. A provocative statement, a message of hate or an insinuation of religious, tribal or ethnic animosity could whip up tension which could lead to complete breakdown of law and order. …it behoves the media sector to refrain from fanning the flames of divisiveness and discord among political parties and other groups in the society. The IMC therefore implores all journalists to be circumspect in the running of their media institutions and do all in their power to maintain our hard earned peace.”

In a local paper, the Standard Times, an article by Edetaen Ojo, also talked about the media industry in post-conflict countries. He says, “…the first signs of an emerging or spreading conflict have frequently manifested in the form of restrictions on media freedom and freedom of expression. These restrictions were either blatant and stringent or they were in the form of more subtle controls on the media, suppression of freedom of expression or the development of conflict-inciting media outlets.” He goes on to make the point that freedom of expression in the media industry is key to maintaining peace.

Obviously, Mr. Ojo’s opinion differs from that of the IMC. And, for the most part, I too see the restrictions, requests and threats from the IMC as a form of media self-censorship. The request from the IMC to not “fan the flames” and the threat of fines or worse, will limit the press in their role as watchdog, educator and protector of human rights. Is there a difference between “fanning the flames of divisiveness and discord” and straight, truthful, accurate reporting? I think so but that’s only my perception. And, when it comes to emerging countries, developing media industries, insecure governments or societies on the brink of peace, that line becomes very fine…

It’s sure a strange and interesting media environment. I should add that there are probably a dozen or so active newspapers on the streets of Freetown. Some are good while others are… less good. Radio stations outnumber newspapers mainly due to the subscription cost and a very low rate of literacy among potential readers. The radio stations share a very fragmented audience with vividly divided loyalties… a great number of niche radio stations, in other words, cater to small audiences. But, the newspapers that are produced here are a very influential form of education and action.

Other stories I’m following include a case where the publisher of Awareness Times, Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, has fled the area due to an ongoing police investigation. She wrote a story last week about how the government tried to fool a local community, the East Kailahun district, with a scheduled state visit from the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Koroma. Blyden was tipped off that this visit would be from an imposter – an alleged “friend” of President Koroma, and not the real First Lady. (there were a lot of wink-winks and nudges about that term, of course) Police have targeted Blyden’s businesses, arrested her managers and harassed her customers while Blyden lays in hiding. The police have asked Blyden’s lawyers, and issued press releases, asking for her surrender to a local station but she’s yet to appear.

Of course, Blyden’s choice of headline for her story last week was rather scandalous, “President’s Concubine Revealed as Imposter”, which I’m sure raised some eyebrows and apparently achieved its desired impact… Presidential intervention. She should have known… but this is a technique that most of the papers here use regularly… scandalous headlines, yellow journalism and the “enquiring minds” approach to news. Other headlines from yesterday’s papers include… “Koroma Vexed, Ministers Worried,” “Girl 12, Raped,” and “Local Courts are Criminal”.

All the news that’s fit to print… or blog about…

From your roving friend,
Stephen