BY SAHR IBRAHIM KOMBA (232news.com)
The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) with support from the European Union through International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) launched its media manifesto ahead of the June 24th general elections in Sierra Leone. The event took at the New Brookfield Hotel, Freetown.
The Manifesto titled ‘The Media We Want’ outlined realistic, achievable and time-bound actions and strategies to advance media freedom, media professionalism, viability, gender equality and inclusivity, safety and security of journalists and media literacy in Sierra Leone.
The media manifesto further outlined collective progress Sierra Leone has made to enhance media freedom and media viability over the years – including the historic repeal of Part 5 of the Public Order Act 1965 and the first media viability and investment conference in April 2021 – and to seek commitment for concrete action from political leaders and other stakeholders to priorities media freedom, media development and media viability in the coming years.
Speaking at the event, the Head of the Sierra Leone Country Programme for International IDEA Dr. Idrissa Mamoud Tarawallie stated that: “The mission of International IDEA is to promote and strengthen the values and ethos of democracy and democratic governance globally. The media is a partner in achieving this mission, because public interest media is critical for democratic strengthening as it provides platform for dialogue, debate and holding elected leaders to account”. He emphasized the significant role of the media in promoting democracy and further called on journalists to maintain professionalism in their line of duty.
The President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalist (SLAJ) Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, explained the importance of the media manifesto to the media profession in Sierra Leone. He disclosed that the manifesto is to consolidate the significant gains the media have made in the last five years, and represents the collective vision and aspiration as journalists for the media in the next years. “We want the buy-in of politicians and hope that this document will serve as the framework for all future interventions in the media sector in Sierra Leone’’ he noted
The Ambassador of the European Union to Sierra Leone, Manuel Muller, stated that: “The European Union will continue to stand with the media, to offer opportunities that can further strengthen its capacity, and support media initiatives to protect media freedom and pluralism. And as the work of the Independent Media Commission is paramount in regulating the media landscape and ensuring all registered mass media upheld the highest standards of ethics, integrity and professionalism, the European Union is pleased to be able, through International IDEA, to provide equipment and institutional capacity support for the Commission to capably implement its renewed and strengthened mandate, as enshrined in the IMC Act of 2020. In his statement, the Chairman of the Independent Media Commission, Dr. Victor Massaquoi noted that: “The media manifesto is part of the new political logic and reflects media development, media freedom and media regulation that is not restrictive.”
The development and launch of the SLAJ Media Manifesto 2023 is made possible through the Sierra Leone Democracy Strengthening Programme, funded by the European Union, and implemented by International IDEA. International IDEA is an intergovernmental organisation that advances democracy worldwide, as a universal human aspiration and an enabler of sustainable development, through support to the building, strengthening, and safeguarding of democratic political institutions and processes at all levels.
The editor of Salone Times Newspaper Thomas Dixon said that media viability depends on media sustainability adding that the media is poor and there is a need to establish media conglomerates in the country. He called on Investors to invest in the media in order to ensure sustainability.
The Minister of Information and Communication Mohamed Rahman Swaray said the government is committed to the media manifesto developed by SLAJ.’’ The SLPP government has made significant gains in maintaining media freedom in Sierra Leone and we will continue to work with the media institutions in ensuring professionalism’’, he noted.
