The Chargé d’Affaires of the US embassy has said in Freetown that all governments have a commitment to uphold freedom of speech which she described as a "fundamental freedom". Kathleen Fitz-Gibbon said "restrictions on journalists are restrictions on all of us in a democracy. Journalists and other members of the media must be able to investigate, research, publish, and disseminate news, information, and opinions freely. They need to be able to do so without intimidation or fear and threat of physical harm".
The diplomat said, "when journalists are victims of crimes, we all are victims, and governments must be responsible for investigating those crimes to bring the perpetrators to justice. When the press is censored or self-censors due to intimidation, then society suffers".
She said in her interaction with government officials, "I have found that we all agree that a responsible and free press is a pathway to development, good governance, and the protection of human rights. However, the challenge appears to be resisting the temptation of using the media to settle personal and political scores".
Ms. Fitz-Gibbon who was speaking at the British Council to introduce a keynote address by visiting America Journalist, Kevin Smith, on the role of the free press in a democracy said because of her country's commitment to free speech, "the Embassy has sent at least ten local reporters to the United States on various academic and professional exchange programs and we have supported two television teams to travel to the United States to produce informative news programs on the environment and women's rights".
She said "through these efforts, the Embassy has enabled participants to engage in mutual learning and cultural exchange, meet their American media counterparts, and conduct interviews that demonstrate the depth and history of the relationship between the people of the United States and Sierra Leone".
The charge d'affaires said with more than 60 registered newspapers and nearly every community having a radio station, Sierra Leoneans have a wide range of media outlets to share various viewpoints but that "journalists must take their roles seriously and help further constructive public debate over national issues. Journalists must continue to respect and uphold ethics and high standards of journalism in carrying out their duties as the Fourth Estate".
She continued, "they must be fair, accurate, and objective in newsgathering and reporting. Citizens rely on the media for up-to-date and reliable information and for providing them an arena for healthy and robust public debate. People need to trust what they read, hear, and see in the media. They do not need gossip, rumor, hearsay, conspiracy theories, and paid-for exchanges of allegations between political rivals".
Full speech of speech
Role of the press in a Democracy
Some four years ago, when I was the national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, the largest and oldest journalism group in the U.S. I would get calls from the media asking me about the future of journalism.
WHO IS A JOURNALIST?
And inevitably they’d come around to the question of “Who is a journalist?” I must have been asked this question 100 times in my year as president. It was a difficult question to answer because on one hand I had to play the press freedom side of the equation. On the other side, I needed to be vigilant about my ethical background.
You see, in the U.S. the rights of a free press are embedded in nothing short of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights to our national Constitution. As a journalist who strongly defends the rights of a free press, it wouldn’t be advisable for me to say things that would undermine those 200+ year old rights.
In the U.S. anyone who wants to be a journalist, gets to be. There are no educational requirements, no certificates, or licenses. That’s because the press is very adamant, that the moment we start letting the government tell us who gets to be a part of our profession, they will be invited, inclined to start telling us other things, like what stories we can run and what to say. It’s a perceived slippery slope and we want to avoid it. So, we often stand down on this issue for the sake of freedom of the press. I understand that, and often care to support that.
On the other hand, I’ve spent my adult life working very hard to protect and improve journalism. And, while I see resisting defining a journalist as a protection of journalism, for the reasons I’ve mentioned, I also have a hard time seeing how everyone who wants to be a journalist and gets to be a journalist, as improving our craft, our profession. Also, as someone who has spent the past 23 years advocating for the highest ethical standards of the profession, letting anyone and everyone into the tent, starts to make things a bit mucky when it comes to upholding standards. Not everyone is of like mind when it comes to standards if they believe in them at all.
So, when they’d ask me, I’d say something like “I balance my check book once a month, does that make me a banker?” or “I bandaged a cut, am I a doctor?”
You see, there can be and will be a dictionary definition of a journalist and it “a person engaged in journalism”: a writer or editor for a news medium; a writer who aims at a mass audience.” I might add something even more broad, “someone who gathers and disseminates information for mass audiences.”
So, under that dictionary definition, we can add a lot of people. Wikileaks’ Julian Assange or anyone who gets his hands on information and has a means to distribute it to the people. Is he a journalist, simply by virtue of getting and sending info? Some people who want to argue basic semantics, will say yes.
But, those of us who have been journalists for most of our lives, know there is much more to being a journalist than simply taking information and distributing it. There are legal issues to consider, and certainly ethical ones. There is more to simply releasing information. It’s putting it in context and providing perspective and analysis that is both accurate and fair.
I can tell you that in my experience in American journalism, there are more and more people who have access to publishing means because of technology who want to share voices, opinions and information. But, they lack fundamental skills in basic journalism. They are not professional journalists. But, in our country, because we don’t want to toss them into the ocean, or under the bus, so to speak, we defend them because we fear that not doing so, will lead to a loss of rights, forfeited to the government, never to return.
In our country, we like to say, a journalist is someone who does journalism. I say that’s selling out the real value of what it is to be a journalist. Again, if I take care of my child’s cuts and scrapes, should I be allowed to say I’m a doctor? If I police a neighborhood as a citizen, am I allowed to say I’m a police officer? Or that if I bake bread in my home, I am a professional baker and can sell my wares? I think that insults those people who are professionals, are trained and proficient in certain skills. It’s telling them that anyone can do your job just as well and have your title.
The problem is most people are smart enough to know the difference in someone who can bake at home and someone who owns a bake shop, or a knows what it takes to be a police officer or doctor, or banker, or fisherman.
When the public is thirsting for information, they are not likely to see the difference between a professionally trained journalist and someone who is just writing without concern for accuracy or fairness or ethics or legal concerns.
WHAT IS JOURNALISM?
So, then you ask, what then is journalism? Should those of us to respect and protect and work to improve our craft and profession answer it with a simple dictionary definition. For the legal fights, maybe we are forced to, but I would tell you that in 33 years as a journalist, journalism to me is “Journalism is a method of inquiry and literary style that aims to provide a service to the public by the dissemination and analysis of news and other information. Journalistic integrity is a cornerstone of journalism and based on the principles of truth, disclosure, and editorial independence. Journalism is about accuracy, fairness, a commitment to democracy that calls for us to serve the public interest above all else.
And I think that last part is crucial.
I often tell journalists in America who call or email me for ethical advice, “You have to make a decision, are you in this to serve the public’s interest, or are you in it to serve someone else’s? Because if you think being a journalist is about serving your political interests or those of your friends always, or your business interests; if you think a journalist should be more concerned about what makes them look good, or will make them look bad; if you are being paid to say or not say things, if you are more worried about advertisers and political bosses and military folks than your are about telling the truth to the public and doing it in a responsible and fair and honest way, then you are not truly being a journalist.
Because, your job is to the populace and promoting information for a democracy and not securing and protecting special interests. That is not journalism at its finest, at its ethical best, at committed to its core values.
WHAT TO DO IN SIERRA LEONE?
And this is why this is so important to commit to this -- In a fledlging democracy such as the one here in Sierra Leone, a free and vibrant press may be the greatest investment that can be made in assuring that democracy continues and transforms into what the people want.
It’s been said by political scientists around the globe that a robust press and an education system should be considered two of the greatst contributors to a successful democracy. In both cases, it’s about knowledge, because it is very true, no matter the country, no matter the culture, no matter the time in history, knowledge is power. And, in the hands of the people, it can accomplish great things. Education behests knowledge and it allows for the economy and industry to grow and flourish. Knowledge to the people from the press about public affairs allows for it to be insightful and helps people make informed decisions about their lives, their money, their families, their politics, work, and their nation.
The media has always been a pillar in democracy because it allows for the transfer of power from the people to the lawmakers who should act in the interest of their constituents. And, then is serves as a watchdog on those in power to make sure they remain loyal and committed to the interests of the people, just like journalists. And, when that falters, it is the role of the press to be there to accurately and fairly inform the people of their government and its actions so the people can feel connected and hold those responsible.
Without the press, there is no information, no knowledge base and there is no populace voice. When dictators want to control the minds of the people, to keep them submissive, the first order of business is to quiet the press and make the press into a voice of the government with no dissention. Control the message and you control the minds and the people. A robust press cannot and should not be controlled and it speaks for the people and watches those in power. That is the way democracy flourishes. The founders of the United States knew this more than 200 years ago. It is still true today.
THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
In Sierra Leone, the press and the government must regain and maintain the public trust. That can only be done in this fashion:
First, you must be void of any interests but the one to the public good. No conflicts of interest, no strings or burdens to hold you down. No voices in your ears telling you want to write or what not to. You must stand up for integrity.
In journalism, the only thing you have to sell is your reputation, your character, your integrity. If you don’t have that, if people can’t pick up a newspaper or hear your voice on the radio, see you on TV and believe in your, trust your reporting and know you are accurate and fair, if they can’t believe in you, then you have no value in this profession. At the end of the day, people what to be informed accurately and honestly. If they can’t believe you, they have no use for you. The profession is better off without you.
In Sierra Leone, like the United States, the public trust is sacred. It is not to be entered into lightly or treated half-heartedly. Few people do what we do. Although those numbers continue to grow in ranks thanks to more and more people becoming journalists, few people are still doing it the right way. Few people respect the sanctity or value the purpose.
What you must understand is that it is your duty and your duty alone to conduct yourself in a manner ethically and professionally to make sure you deliver on this trust. If you do not behave ethically or responsibly and you do not regulate yourself, people in power will move in to fill this void and it will not be to your liking. It never is. They will make laws to govern your behavior and your principles because they do not trust you to do what is right and good and responsible. You must prove them wrong. You must show them that journalism can and will be there to help the democratic way.
This is a battle we are fighting in the United States. The battle to regain our ethics. Some people will tell you that ethics is getting better. I don’t believe that. I believe it’s getting worse, brought on my the onslaught of non-journalists who are setting lower standards, by technology that is making it easier and faster to report.
In the U.S. verification of information is dominating much of the ethics talk. Really? After all this time, we must still remind journalists that verifying information is a cornerstone of accuracy and truth?
The other large issue deals with conflicts of interest. Again, another area where we shouldn’t have to be telling professional journalists.
I’ve talked a lot about press responsibilities. But this is not a one-way street.
The government must take responsibility for the conditions which exist. The government has a role to foster the press by not interfering with its right to report and offer fair criticism.
That means no journalists going to jail. That is unacceptable in a democracy.
In the end, the free press, the democratic governance are beholding to the people of Sierra Leone. Any other commitment pales in comparison.
(C) Politico 29/05/14
