WHAT MAKES PHILIP NEVILLE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER JOURNALISTS WE EULOGIZED AT DEATH ?

By Kabs Kanu

Philip Neville was a journalist and so by virtue of his job he stepped on toes . But he was no different from Frank Kposowa, Pius Foray , Siaka Massaquoi, Bunting Davies , Kwawui Roy Stevens, Lans Fofana and those we eulogized at death. I worked with some of these people, mind you, and we all suffered imprisonments at one time of the other . At one time they seemed to be against the system in general but before they died they took sides with the SLPP . The 1990s became a defining period for our journalists.

Objectivity in journalism is an ideal taught in the Journalism classroom but it is not practiced even in advanced democracies like the U. S and Britain. All journalists take sides, one way or the other . In America, CNN and MSNBC support the Democrats and FOX supports the Republicans . THERE IS NO OBJECTIVE JOURNALIST IN THE SAME SENSE THAT THERE IS NO OBJECTIVE HISTORIAN . Human beings are subject to their emotions, preferences and biases.

I am noticing ungodly attempts mainly by SLPP fanatics to defame Philip Neville even at death. We did not see this kind of hostility when those mentioned above died . What makes Neville different from other journalists that lived before and died in Sierra Leone ? Did they all not step on toes ? OR ARE MORE TOES BETTER THAN OTHER TOES ? DOES THE COLOR OF THE SHIRT WORN BY THE TOES STEPPED ON REALLY MATTER ?

No politician or public servant in Sierra Leone is a sacred cow. And it does not matter the language you speak or the region from where you originated . If you are a public servant, you are game for journalists . And it does not matter who attacked or opposed you —whether an APC -leaning or SLPP -supported journalist. If you are a public servant being paid from the national coffers, your service must of necessity and convention be scrutinized by the media.

We seem to bend partisan politics too much out of shape in Sierra Leone . All pro- APC journalists are never good for anything. They are the worst bootlickers and sycophants . But those who worship SLPP politicians like God ( And there are multitudes ) and even describe Maada Bio’s dirty laundry as having delicious aroma are never sycophants or bootlickers . Because they speak a certain language , hail from a certain region and support a green- shirted political party , everything they write is perfect and politically – correct. When they die, they were heroes . They were patriotic citizens . All praise is heaped on them and adherents wish them well in the Land Beyond . But if in life, they leaned more towards APC and made SLPP their quarry , they are the worst characters to have ever lived and at death, they are defamed and wished damnation in Afterlife. This kind of jaded and insane mentality is wrong for our nation. It is responsible for the dangerous tribalism and regionalism that have torn our nation apart , and if not curbed , could lead us to a tribal war.

Philip Neville was a great guy. He did what he had to do as a journalist. He condemned what he thought was wrong and needed to be changed. He condemned those he thought were wrecking the nation. It does not matter if he attacked the SLPP functionaries more. Journalist are not even- handed. They condemn one system more than the other . They are human beings. They are not perfect. Neville also used his paper to go after his enemies. Any journalist who had not done the same before, cast the first stone at Neville’s corpse. Dr. Sama Banya is one man who should never talk about character defamation . When he used to write, defamation was the palm oil with which he ate his cassava leaves.

Please let us leave the young man to rest In peace as we did to the other journalists who passed away . They were all members of a trade whose defining characteristic is stepping on the toes of people. Neville is not different from other journalists. We all have our foibles, shortcomings and biases. We cannot all sing the same song, otherwise it is dictatorship , not democracy. Nor are we duty bound to support every party. God gave everybody the ability of choices.

The woods would have been silent if only one bird sang . The woods would have been boring, uninteresting and unfruitful if all the birds sang the same song.

Philip Neville, the journalist , was an outstanding statesman and patriot. He was s soldier of the pen . It does not matter whether he was APC or SLPP , Westerner or Southessterner . He was a hero. May God grant him eternal bliss in the Land Beyond.