By Sirrah Touray
The Gambia Press Union has launched an aggressive safety drive for journalists covering protests and elections, with 20 reporters undergoing a three-day intensive training on physical and digital protection in Banjul. The training targets frontline journalists from newspapers, online platforms, radio, television, and community stations who cover politics, elections, public protests, investigations, human rights, and the environment.
The workshop is funded by IFEX, the global network defending and promoting freedom of expression, under a 12-month national project within a wider global safety program.
Digital safety trainer Madeline, from a social change hub specialising in ICT for development and education, said the training is designed to harden journalists against targeted attacks. It covers securing devices, protecting digital footprints, and locking down communication channels like email and social media. Sessions address privacy settings, methods to curb online abuse, and tactics to avoid spreading misinformation and disinformation.
“The goal is simple: make journalists’ online spaces as safe as their physical ones while they do their jobs,” she said.
GPU Secretary General Modou Joof said the project is a direct response to repeated attacks on media workers. “Physical assaults have come mainly from police and political party militants, and cases rarely reach court,” he said. “This initiative aims to break that cycle of impunity by forcing better engagement with security forces and political parties while building legal and institutional protection for journalists.”
The project has seven core activities. Alongside the current safety training, the union will hold separate high-level engagements with political party leaders and activists, police prosecutors, state prosecutors, and security commanders. A pre-deployment meeting with police officers assigned to election duty will ensure they facilitate, not obstruct, media work before, during, and after the polls. A similar meeting was held ahead of the 2021 elections.
To enforce accountability, the Press Union has appointed a safety monitor to track and document every press freedom violation nationwide. A legal support program is now active, giving journalists immediate access to lawyers for advice and representation when they face arrest, detention, charges, or physical attack.
The project sets a firm inclusion benchmark: 50 percent women participants and active involvement of persons with disabilities. By December 2026, trained journalists are expected to manage risk, stress, abuse, and psychological trauma with tested skills for both field and online environments.
This training brings the total number of journalists trained on safety by the Press Union to 124. Previous sessions covered 30 journalists in September, 33 women journalists in October, 21 journalists in hazardous environment awareness last week, and 20 journalists in another hazardous environment course run by the Media Academy for Journalism.
The Press Union said the capacity push is non-negotiable as The Gambia heads toward elections. With protests, rallies, and high-stakes political coverage ahead, threats to journalists are escalating both online and on the ground.
The three-day workshop continues with hands-on drills on risk assessment, secure communication, crowd safety, and protecting sources while reporting from hostile environments.
