Gainako Newspaper

..A Call for Higher Ethical Standards
..........– Gainako Welcomes the Challenges
.......................................Demba Baldeh Seattle, WA ................April 21st, 2008
..........“The higher the standard the better the product”
The recent article titled “When Journalism is the Enemy” written by Cherno Baba Jallow and
published on Gainako on April 10, 2008 and rejoined by several other readers has no doubt
awakened us about some fundamental principles of journalism as a profession. The general
consensus from the readership either for or against the issue of higher standard of news quality in
our online newspapers across the board is loud and clear: Gambian online newspapers, as echoed
by our respective readers, need some serious revamping if we are to continue to gain the respect
and support of our consumers.

It is an undeniable fact that the reason we continue to invest our resources and energy in reporting the daily news and
informing the public is simply because we have consumers who visit our various sites daily to get their dose of news. It is
equally a fact that these consumers are in a better position to judge the quality and substance of the news and reports we
supply daily.

Similarly, the satisfaction and/or frustrations of our general readership on the impact of the news and reports we carry on
about our country – The Gambia, must be something we treat with exceptional seriousness anytime we sit on that keyboard
to put out a report. The stakes are always high anytime our people and nation becomes the subject of discussion. This is all
the more true because we, the people, form the bedrock of our nation. We should individually be great ambassadors of our
great country anywhere and in anything we are engaged. It is therefore the duty of every good citizen to carry forward that
great name of The Gambia, “The smiling Coast of Africa”.

The media both at home and in the Diaspora has a fundamental role to play in reshaping our society and advancing the rule
of law and human rights in our young “democracy”. Unfortunately, the current regime has shown little or no appreciation for
the role of the media in the socio-economic development of our people. The environment is not conducive for a sustainable
free press. As a result, newspapers at home and other young aspiring journalists had to find alternative ways to continue to
educate our people with what is going on in our nation ruled by a government which, to put it nicely, has a close door
policy. This restrictive policy had to force media practitioners to find other means to bring news and opinion to the
community. This led to the birth of the current online newspapers and blogs.

The emergence of these online newspapers has undoubtedly brought enormous opportunities for the advancement of
democracy and press freedom in our nation. In this era of the information gateway where anyone at any time or anywhere
can access information, it is crucial that the information that they access is of quality and carries with it a positive and
uplifting message. The online newspapers have thousands if not millions of readers daily that not only rely on us for the daily
news, but also count on us to give them educational materials that make a difference in their lives or the lives of their
children.

In dispensing that noble duty, we must exercise diligence, maturity and most importantly, an absolute professionalism
guided by principles of decency and uncompromising fairness and balance. We must also realize how the personal and
social costs of the information we provide affect the daily lives of others and our nation. The power of print media and
online publicity carries with it a powerful image that may go a long way towards impacting society.

Our daily task as practicing journalists or administrators of media outlets as others put it may seem to us as volunteerism
that we choose to engage in at our own expense. However, since we have self -appointed ourselves to be the watch dogs
of public officials and government, it is important that we also conduct ourselves professionally and submit ourselves for
periodic public scrutiny. Besides, when we take up the task of exposing a regime that strives to suppress its people in the
name of patriotism or development, we must try to be credible at all times.

It is a fundamental part of our duties to train and educate ourselves continuously in our profession with an aim to grow and
make ourselves better reporters or editors and to keep pace with intellectual challenges that may arise in disseminating vital
information to our readership. Today’s media consumers are certainly far-more sophisticated than we may think. They are
not only willing to consume the product and give a blind eye, but are also determined to see to it that what they are fed is
of quality and important information.

In passing, we must put ourselves in the shoes of others anytime we are ready to sign off to something for publicity. We
must also remember that we cannot be our own judges on the quality of news we put out every day. It is therefore essential
that we have people within our society who are brave and willing to call it as they see fit. No single one of us has a
monopoly of knowledge over what constitutes journalism, nor should we put our egos ahead of this noble profession.
There is no need for any undue sensitivity and overly reaction to anything as fundamental as a call for higher standards.

Finally, we at Gainako seek to see the issues differently. We welcome Cherno Baba and others’ clarion calls for higher
standards and ethical journalism as an important challenge for us to continue to learn and grow as young aspiring
professionals. We also wish to reaffirm that in order for us to win the moral battle against a suppressive regime, we must
not resort to the same tactics the regime employs to silence its critics.

At the same time, we also wish to call on those seasoned journalists and other interested Gambians to step up to the plate
and take up the challenge and redirect the face of Gambian journalism. We believe that a vacuum of responsible journalism
has existed in the Gambian media far too long. As a result, where seasoned members of the media fraternity are reluctant to
rejoin the fight for our common good, precedence is bound to take a not so desirable shape and direction. It is therefore
our collective responsibility to see to it that the bar is raised high at all times. Together, our moral convictions and desire for
decency far supersede anything else.

We leave you with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “I cannot be what I ought to be until you are what you
ought to be.”

Demba Baldeh

.........EIGHT YEARS AFTER
GAMBIAN STUDENT MASSACRE
.....NO JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF APRIL 10/11TH 2000
...............................By Demba Baldeh, Editor & Political Commentator........April 11th, 2008

April 10, & 11th, 2008 marks Eight years after Gambia woke up to the darkest day in our
history, when innocent students exercising their right to be heard were massacred in broad
day light. What had appeared to be a diplomatic effort from the leadership of the then Gambia
Student Union (GAMSU), led by Mr. Omar Joof to speak to law enforcement authorities
about the death of one innocent student Ebrima Barry in the hands of Fire Marshals in Brikama
soon turned horrendous.

The student leadership simply wanted to speak to the then Inspector general of police Ebou Njie and Army commander
Bubacarr Jatta about the incident and reported rape of one Binta Manneh a student at Brikamaba junior school by military
officers during an interschool athletics' competition in Bakau. After repeated efforts by the mature student leadership, they
were thrown out from one office to another in humiliation and were openly threatened and were told they can do
anything they wanted and face the consequences of their actions. Being fully conscious of their civic rights as students and
citizens, the leadership mobilized efforts to call on a nationwide peaceful student demonstration to draw the attention of the
authorities to what they called a torturous treatment of innocent students which led to the death of Ebrima Barry.

The student demonstration which ironically had received media coverage a previous day by the Gambia Radio and
Television Station (GRTS) in an announcement to all students to turn out and exercise their rights was well received across
the country. The students armed with nothing except with their usual school uniforms got to the streets in large numbers to
show their grievances against the authorities.

No sooner than the students got to the streets did chaos erupted among nervous Gambian authorities especially at a time
when the President Yahya Jammeh was out of the country on a visit to Cuba. The Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy, then
interior secretary Ousman Badjie, and Amy commander Babucarr Jatta were the top authorities responsible in keeping
order in the nation. The kind of leadership judgment these people showed lead to the outcome of the innocent
demonstration.

The innocent students unaware of the enemy they faced continue to demonstrate from corner to corner. All of a sudden a
traditional student demonstration which was not new in the history of the Gambia turned deadly when army officers
unspeakably started firing at students in open range. One Omar Barrow and eight (8) other innocent students were
massacred by their own Gambian brothers in uniform. Fourteen (14) students in all were massacred within two days of the
demonstration.

The question that surrounds these heinous crimes of genocide against innocent students and their families is that, who
ordered the killing of these innocent students? Who was responsible for giving final orders for law enforcement to deal with
the crisis that were unfolding? Did the then Army Commander Babucarr Jatta gave the orders to massacre our brothers
and sisters? Did Isatou Njie Saidy or Ousman Badjie then interior secretary take orders from Jammeh to kill and
maim our students on those faithful days? Did the leadership in fact feared for their plight and let junior officers of the army
act irresponsibly to protect the government? Who was responsible for what? We ask these questions in mourning our
students because we feel until justice is done and rendered to all the victims of these dark days, the wounds created by
taking the lives of these innocent students will forever remain unhealed. The families that were devastated and their
lives shattered for losing young lives will never forgive until justice is rendered.

The questions also go further to establish not only moral responsibility on the side of the leadership, but also one that will
highlight a list of witnesses in a court of law that is must certainly to come one day. It is now clear that many of those who
were in command during those horrible days are no longer in Office. Most of them are no longer bound by the Jammeh
Government which was ultimately responsible for protecting innocent lives. At the same time those leaders like Babucarr
Jatta, Ousman Badjie and some others have and will always carry with them the moral obligation of failing to protect
those innocent students. They may now choose to live in darkness with the ghost of those killed and maimed or come out
and disclose to the public who was responsible for ordering the killing and maiming of our students.

The responsibility for launching full investigation into the killings no matter how long it takes ultimately lies in the hands of the
President Yahya Jammeh. Mr. President what happened to the promise you gave when you step off the plane at the airport
that you were going to leave no stone unturned to investigate what happened to our innocent students? Did you in fact
found out that the command was from your very loyalists and therefore you decided to be silent about the whole thing?
Does that relief you of the duty to hold your people who carelessly handled a situation that could have simply been
addressed if the authorities had exercised good judgment?

Mr. President, do you realize that you have the moral responsibility as the leader of the nation to make sure that crimes like
these should never go uninvestigated? What happened to your pledge of justice and speedy investigations this crime that
marks yet another dark side of your Presidency? Or was this another attempt for you to create high expectations only to
falter victims of heinous crimes during your administration?

Mr. President no matter how long it takes to heal the wounds left by the human catastrophe, you owe it to the innocent
victims of this crime and their families to heal their wounds by making sure the families at the very least are compensated for
a lost that is irreplaceable. You should go on your Television Station as you call it and openly apologize to the parents of
April 10 & 11's victims. You should additionally promise to financially sponsor the survivors of the crime who are forever
maimed by your security forces.

Additionally Mr. President, your faith as you proclaimed to be devout of so openly in the outside should lead you to realize
that your leadership responsibility makes it obligatory for you to reach out and reconcile this silence but disturbing unsolved
crime. Ignoring yet another crime as it never happened in your watch tantamount to gross negligence and disgraceful failure
on the side of your leadership.

In case you did not realize Mr. Jammeh, the death of these innocent students is different from any other crime that may
have been committed under your watch. These are school children whose protection is the solemn duty of any responsible
government. These are the greatest assets and future of our nation and we believe you pride yourself honestly or falsely in
helping this vulnerable class of our citizens. It therefore remains your duty to see that these wounds arehealed and innocent
citizens are protected at all times. We know your response to this call is probably very laughable from your opponents'
point of view even though we are dealing with a very serious issue here. However, we see it different as no matter how
many crimes have been committed and the perpetrators go Scot-free, no matter how negligent your government has shown
in addressing such crimes, it still remains your responsibility to make things right. Some day when this chapter of our
nation's history is closed, we will be able to stand and point out to our appeals to your conscience to do the right
thing. History will eventually be the judge and will record accordingly the failure of the Government and citizens to address
such issues in our society. Regardless of the lack of confidence in your ability to address such issues, we still expect you to
do the right thing.

To our innocent victims' families, though your love ones have departed this world so prematurely, we want you know that
they did not die in vain. The course to which they gave up their innocent lives – freedom of speech and the right to be heard
is a worthy cause. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the civil rights icon was assassinated in 1968, many thought his
struggle was a lost cause. History of course has proven that his course has far reaching implications than ever realized. It
is in the same vein that we mourn our lost students today knowing fully well that their dreams for freedom will one day be
justified.

Finally in remembering our students, we once again call on all Gambians who were eye witnesses to this massacre to come
out and tell the world what they know about the tragedy. The security forces some of whom are no longer in uniform
should be brave enough to assist the media to fully document the facts surrounding the killings. We also call on all
Gambians in the Diaspora to answer to the calls of Omar Joof, Ebrima Dibba, and others to support the April 10 & 11th
victims' foundation to assist the survivors and families of the victims.

In closing we say to the ones that lost their lives, we remember you today and forever. We shall continue to stand up for
the course that you so bravely gave up your young lives. We pray for your forgiveness in eternity. We hope history will one
day give a true recount of your heroic struggle for justice. May your souls rest in perfect peace!!!!

Amen!!

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