Why Journalism is getting poorer and poorer in today’s Sierra Leone
FEBRUARY 22, 2019LEAVE A COMMENT
By KABS KANU
Today, everybody is Editor -In -Chief. Thanks to the lax standards for ownership of print newspapers and the ease the internet has provided for anybody whatsoever to set up a newspaper, journalists are born overnight and they start calling themselves Editors -In-Chief from the word go.
That is why Journalism is very poor in Sierra Leone . When you have ignorant people taking control of a delicate and sensitive profession like journalism, where they do not belong, expect a shipwreck.
One wishes that the IMC will set standards , such as, before anybody becomes Editor, he must have been serving as journalist for at least 5 years and must have undergone top-flight training and served under their superiors for long.
Whether it is journalism , whether it is carpentry, whether it is teaching, whether it is masonry, whether it is pastoring the people of God, it is very risky to pitchfork unlearned, untrained, ignorant and self-serving people to the top without the necessary training in pedagogical knowledge and character.
Whatever their calling or professed knowledge, People must be fully trained first, demonstrate themselves character -wise first and pass the tests of hardship and tribulations before you lift them up. This is because journalism is a turbulent profession. It is like preaching the word of God. It is not a job for charlatans who think they know when they are not in the true sense of professional journalism. How can somebody call him Editor-In-Chief today without first knowing the trade and developing the much-needed endurance to persecutions and bitter attacks .
This is is the reason that journalism standards are going down, down, down in Sierra Leone. Not only are the print newspapers run by people who have no business in the newsrooms, but even many of the internet media do not measure up to standards because of the quality and calibre of the men calling themselves editors.
Everyday reality in Sierra Leone is reflected only in very few newspapers like SIERRA EXPRESS, AWARENESS TIMES , THE NATIONALIST, WE YONE , STANDARD TIMES , NIGHTWATCH, THE NEW PEOPLE, COCORIOKO and a few others.
Since the SLPP Government came to power last April, the political atmosphere has become very combustive with the nation on the edge , with rampant human rights abuses , mass illegal dismissals of workers in ministries, agencies and departments and their replacement with Mendes by a very tribalistic President . Additionally, the new government has spent its time hounding opposition politicians with no attempt to deal with bread-and-butter issues , as a result of which the whole nation is crying of hard times with food shortages and escalation of prices . Yet this is not reflected by many print and online newspapers. Even the incorrigible wretch parading as BBC Correspondent is denying the world an accurate picture of what is really going on in Sierra Leone. Imagine, Sierra Leone is facing an acute shortage of bread , the second staple food of the people, after bread, but Umaru Fofana has not seen it fit to report it to the BBC —Something he could have definitely done if it had happened during the APC era.
If the media cannot reflect what is going on in a country, who will ?
Today, everybody is Editor-In -Chief . We have to change this trajectory in our nation’s journalism.
The IMC Chairman , Mr. George Khoryama, is a very experienced journalist. I may not agree with his opinions or appreciate his attacks on me , but the fact remains that he is a very experienced journalist. I had known him from Liberia since the 1970s. I am sure that, based on his training and experience , he will give thought to my suggestions in this article.
If journalism must improve in Sierra Leone , we must begin by setting rigid standards for those who want to open or head newspapers . If they have not received the required education , training and experience, however much they think about themselves, they cannot become Editors .
But then, even if they have received training and experience, will they live up to expectations ?
I think it is also a question of ethics and integrity and once this situation prevails , journalism in Sierra Leone will continue to get poorer and poorer.
Source Cocorioko
