By Saffiatou Colley
The Media Council of The Gambia (MCG) and the Gambia Press Union (GPU) on Monday, August 26, 2024 began a nationwide media outreach to raise awareness of the role of the MCG as an independent regulator and to promote ethical reporting practices among journalists and media houses.
The activity forms part of a two-year project “Strengthening Public Access to Information and Media Professionalism in The Gambia” supported by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).
As part of the activity, sixty-three (63) outreach engagements are to be held with various media houses including print, online, television, and radio (private and community radio stations) in all the seven administrative regions of The Gambia.
The tour, launched at The Fatu Network, a leading online news platform, in the Kanifing Municipality, is aimed at educating journalists and media houses about the role of the Media Council as an independent regulator; promote ethical reporting practices and professionalism among journalists and media houses in line with ethical journalism standards; and to lay the groundwork for continuous engagement with journalists and media houses on the application of the Cherno Jallow Charter of Ethics for Journalists – Gambia’s industrywide code of conduct.
Mr. Baboucarr Cham, Chairperson of MGC, said the “Media Council’s main objective is to promote and uphold the highest professional standards of Journalism in The Gambia.”
“The MCG is a body responsible for mediating adjudicating complaints from members of the public about breaches of journalism ethics thereby serving as a regulatory framework for the Gambian media industry to enhance professionalism and mitigate conflict that might arise between the media and its stakeholders and as well to restore public trust in the media,” Cham said.
Information, education, and communication materials such as brochures about the mandate of the MCG and copies of the Cherno Jallow Charter will be distributed to all media houses visited to equip journalists with invaluable reference material for ethical reporting in The Gambia.
In its efforts to raise journalism standards, especially the teaching and learning of journalism, the MCG is currently working on a Standardised Curriculum for use in all journalism training schools in The Gambia.
On Monday, Serra Odiko, a Programme Officer at the MCG, said the development of a standardized curriculum for journalism studies will help in ensuring quality and professional journalism in The Gambia.
The Media Council of The Gambia was established in December 2018 with the support of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) with the objective of promoting and upholding the highest professional standards for journalism.
It has since been serving as an independent self-regulatory mechanism for addressing public complaints against the conduct of journalists. Its mandate includes regulating editorial content across all media platforms by monitoring compliance with, and implementing the industrywide code of conduct that establishes ethical standards for journalism in The Gambia.
The Council is governed by an 11-member Governing Council, comprising representatives from the government, media, civil society, private sector, women rights activists and differently able groups. The Governing Council has a dual role of exercising oversight over the MCG secretariat which is headed by an Executive Secretary and serving as an Appeal Panel while the Ethics Panel presides over public complaints with respect to violations of media ethics.
After the outreach, 75 journalists from various media houses will be trained on ethical reporting and on the role of the Media Council.
