By Isaac Massaquoi
We are closing the year 2022 on the theme of Media Poverty. It’s not a poverty of ideas, professionalism and ambition but a near complete lack of money and other resources needed to deliver high quality journalism. The kind of journalism that would conform to what all journalists acknowledge as the cardinal principles of the trade – Public Service, Objectivity, Autonomy and Ethics.
I will not dwell much on objectivity as understood by many colleagues in the media. I can understand why journalists pay so much attention to this unachievable ideal. They need something with which to repel attacks of bias and unfair journalistic tactics. I believe holding on slavishly to Objectivity in the way some colleagues do severely limits the journalist from moving beyond official accounts churned out by statutory bodies and many Public Relations operatives roaming the corridors of media houses today. We have to end this professional hypocrisy. I believe with some reasonable amount of high quality training and professional experience, the journalist should be allowed to cut through the spin, half-truths and outright lies individuals and institutions try to push through established media channels in real time these days. I expect some counter attacks here so let me now move on to the journalist with his Public Service responsibility.
This year I found time to attend the annual Presidential Media cocktail at Country Lodge Hotel. The last time I attended the event the president made jokes out of newspaper headlines and editorials including those that were scathing of his administration. He departed from that tradition this year and went into detail about his Media Scorecard. It was easy to understand the change of approach. In a few months from now the president will put his Scorecard in all sectors before the whole country so he wasn’t going to allow this opportunity to get the media side out of the way.
I believe that as far as the media sector is concerned President Bio delivered comprehensively and in a substantial way. He actually exceeded expectations. He may not have solved all the problems but even critical international Media Rights organizations have recognized his bold initiatives. This was not lost on the President of SLAJ Ahmed Sahid Nasralla in his statement at the cocktail party.
The most fundamental change that has happened in the media, and which we seem to be taking for granted because we now have it: is FREEDOM! The freedom to practice our profession, which we did not have pre-2020. I have even forgotten when last, I and my Executive visited the CID or the Police to secure the release of journalists detained under the obnoxious criminal libel law for doing their work. That is the freedom I am talking about...I am not aware of any journalist who is in jail in Sierra Leone for what they publish or broadcast or tweet. That is the freedom I am talking about.
MEDIA POVERTY
The Media Reform Coordinating Group, MRCG run by Dr. Francis Sowa has said a lot about the alarming rate of poverty in the media and crucially, there exists a direct link between that poverty and quality of journalism we consume daily including the ethical issues around the collection, processing and distribution of the news. We know that some radio stations especially those based in remote communities can barely stay on air for five hours a day or pay unbelievably low stipends to their core staff. In the first quarter of 2023 politicians would move in and compromise the community outlook of their programming relatively easily.
Media Poverty is worse with newspapers. The last time I had cause to expand on what MRCG means by Media Poverty to an international organization, they could understand why there are so many newspapers on the stands in such a condition. We then went into a long discussion about the political economy of the Sierra Leone media. I don’t want to go down that route in this piece but as we move into 2023, this is what newspapers face and for the records, I don’t believe political party newspapers should continue to exist with all the technological advancement opening up many new ways of reaching both the base and the critical swing voters in a modern democracy but with these lines, Nasralla absolutely captures the state of play in the print media:
The print media, especially, is literally dying. Even newspapers supporting the government are on the brink of collapse. Even the party newspaper, Unity, is on the brink for lack of support; not to talk of the opposition paper We Yone…The government has to devise a method of supporting the media. Other sectors are getting indirect support…The truth is some form of help must come from the government. If that is not forthcoming, a good many of the newspapers will close down.
INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR PUBLIC INTEREST MEDIA
There is hope on the horizon that in 2023 some money will flow into the media from this fund. The government of Sierra Leone is also committed to putting some money into the basket. Already there are structures in place to manage the budget and coordinate the activities envisaged under this thing. I am a member of the Technical Working Group and in 2023 we will be faced with the challenge of clearly defining the Public Interest. The industry will also have to agree on how to access the money and clinically deliver what is required otherwise the international funds in particular will dry up after we exhaust the first tranche.
The IMC Code of Practice requires every media organization, especially radio stations using a spectrum, a vital national resource belonging to all the people of Sierra Leone, to do at least 10 hours of Public Interest programs a week on themes under the Fundamental Principles of State Policy. Such programming should never be allowed to be part of any application for money from the IFPIM project.
I would encourage independent producers in particular to take advantage of this fund to tackle issues like climate change and transnational crimes like drug trafficking and people smuggling. Radio stations that spend disproportionate hours of their broadcast time on entertainment and reality shows would find it difficult convincing the IFPIM Governing Board to release money to them in the name of Public Interest. 2023 should be a time for good thinking and innovative program making.
ELECTION 2023
With specific reference to the media’s role in the election the president said this:
As journalists, your rights to freedom of expression and to provide information bring with them the duty to provide voters with objective, instructive and constructive information. In the months ahead and during the elections, I encourage you all to be professional by ensuring that your work is accurate, verified, balanced, neutral and respectful of human dignity. You must also avoid inflammatory reporting which may threaten the peace and stability of our nation.
I don’t want to add a single line to what he said because he adequately captured the essence of what we know as Public Service responsibility. Very international money will start flowing around the media with individuals and organizations training journalists on how to cover elections and conflict-sensitive reporting. I did quite a few of these in my six years at the IMC. Looking back now, I feel that those exercises, hurriedly done in the last few weeks to elections, achieved very little. The challenges facing the media in 2023, apart from the fact that journalists are no longer looking over their shoulder for that 4pm Friday visitor from Slater Terrace after writing a hard-hitting piece are not dissimilar to what existed in 2012 and the early part of 2018.
THE NEW CODE OF PRACTICE
In 2023 the new Media Code of Practice will clear parliament and become operational. I have read it and I know it’s really tough. Apparently, State House wanted to offer some anti-repeal MPs from all sides of the something to hang on to as that anachronistic relic called Criminal and Seditious libel laws were being expunged. The fines prescribed in the new code are so high that after just two infractions many newspapers will disappear. Media institutions would have to be very careful in the first quarter of 2023 because the IMC would either come under a lot of pressure to act or they would like to demonstrate their new strength by striking the first few offenders particularly hard. Rather strangely, the IMC has decided to significantly increase the annual license fees for all types of media, piling more pressure on a struggling industry.
The IMC’s job is going to be one mighty challenge. Media regulation is not the most popular job in the world but somebody has to do it in the interest of society.
President Bio was proud to note that he has “signed the Global Pledge on Media Freedom and joined a partnership of countries not only to advocate for the safety of journalists and media workers but also to hold to account those who harm journalists and restrict them from performing their duties. Sierra Leone became the 5th country in Africa to join the Media Freedom Coalition because Journalism is what we need to make our democracy work”.
So far, there is nothing much to complain about in Sierra Leone, insofar as keeping this pledge is concerned. I will just end by saying that I hope no cracks appear in that resolve as we move toward the election next year. The right to free expression is also the right to make mistakes. I mean mistakes. It’s easy for the IMC to differentiate between a journalistic mistake and a deliberate falsehood.
So there is some turbulence ahead in 2023 but even with that in mind, we should find time to have some good food and drinks with friends and family at Christmas and sing Auld Lang Syne into 2023.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (23/12/22)
