The unprecedented unofficial meeting between Gambian media chiefs, journalists and the president on Saturday evening at State House, marks an important milestone and a giant step towards strengthening government – media relations.
Unlike the White House Correspondents Dinner, where the attention given to the guest list and entertainers often overshadows the intended purpose of the dinner, the Barrow dinner had very few absentees, and in any case, it was not because they were not invited. There was no celebrity entertainer either – but a subtle kora player with a sonorous voice.
The purpose of the meeting was clear – to cultivate a better and cordial relations between the presidency and the media. In democracies, the role of the journalist is supposed to be to inform the public debate so that the audience can make educated choices while the role of politicians is supposed to be to represent those who elected them, and to ensure that the concerns of that electorate are listened to, considered, and, where appropriate, acted upon.
In such a political system, the journalist should act on behalf of the audience to ensure that politicians do their job. However, on many occasions, as was the case under the Jammeh regime, relations between the two had been difficult, even violent and fatal.
Against this background, it is therefore commendable that media representatives and the man holding the highest office in the land have now found a permanent and annual opportunity to come face to face. Though it came much later since the presidency of Barrow – eight years on – it is still a commendable act about which both sides should be proud, and moulid to maturity.
Interacting with the people who report about his government and himself each day, would help remove the myth surrounding the name and position of the president in the minds of the journalists. That way each time they report about the president, he would not be an abstract thing in their minds but a human being with whom they share things in common. Similarly, the media could use the opportunity to put across its challenges, misgivings and grievances if any, to the president directly in a friendly atmosphere.
The meeting and the encouraging steps taken by Director of Press and Public Relations Amie Bojang-Sissoho and her team to innovatively improve the state of communications at the presidency is a welcoming development which must be worked on to make the presidency easily accessible to all media. The presidency is a national institution and as such its actions and programmes should be public knowledge and therefore accessible to all journalists irrespective of the media. We hope that the first presidential dinner for the media will be the harbinger of a strong bond between the media and government in the interest of the nation.
