“YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!” Louis on Media Censorship

The term “dictator” is frequently thrown around by the media. It is mostly used to refer to oppressive leaders holding political office. Gambian newspapers are no exception. More often than not, we hear almost all of our online news sources complaining about the oppressive nature of the Jammeh government. We often read about how unfriendly the APRC regime is to journalists and how intolerant they are to freedom of speech and expression.

While some or all these allegations may be true, I pose the question “Are our newspapers in any position to criticize anyone for being a dictator?”

My observations and experience with Gambian Online Newspapers leads me to conclude that they’re not. Freedom Newspaper, the Gambia Echo, Senegambia News. It is funny how all three of them were quick to publish when I wrote something positive about them. Some wrote emails talking about how “different” they are and how much they encourage freedom of expression and would publish anything even if it is a criticism of their own paper. Even funnier…was how quickly they ignored me when my comments were “not so pleasant” about them. Don’t get me wrong, they WILL publish untrue, unfounded or unsupported allegations that they can easily refute. Most of my writings though comprise the “bitter pill of truth” supported by articles from their own websites. Therefore, my “friends” choose the easy way out…ignore me and refuse to publish. I don’t see how this is different to the governments’ censorship they make their living criticizing. In fact, I now find it almost comical whenever I see them crying about the government’s intolerance to free speech. I’m not saying don’t criticize the government’s wrong, just be more tolerant and fair when someone else holds you accountable. You can’t be more hypocrite than to complain of censorship when you’re so dictatorial that you cannot publish a single article that says something negative about you.

To their credit, the only online newspaper to publish fair “criticism” of their paper is Gainako.com. In the copy of my article, THE FOURTH ESTATE: Louis Friend Reviews sent to them I gave them a low rating of 3/10 and some pretty harsh criticism of their website. Anyone paying close attention to the same article on this bloghttp://louisfriendreviews.blogspot.com/2007/08/fourth-estate-louis-friend-reviews.html will notice that the rating there is a 4.5/10. The 3/10 sent to Gainako was test (yeah, I know it’s petty) to see if they would publish being rated as low as Senegambia News. Needless to say, Gainako earned my utmost respect for being BIG and TRUE to freedom of speech.

The media has the responsibility to evaluate the government, to scrutinize what they do and to inform people of every detail worth knowing about. It’s what you call accountability and it is meant to keep the government on their toes knowing that someone is watching. A good government accepts this role of the media and treats them as partners in development. It listens to criticism and encourages healthy political discussions to bring out the best in itself and everyone else.

In the same vein, the public is what holds the media accountable. A good media listens to its readers. It not only allows but also encourages and listens to diverse opinions and discussions which it in turn uses to improve knowing someone is watching.

Yes we all know that dictatorship is wrong. Now we need to figure out that it is not only called dictatorship when the government does it. The media censoring readers’ fair and honest opinions IS a form of dictatorship and is equally unjust. All people have a right to freedom of speech. We all have a right to air our views as long as they are true and don’t promote hate or crimes against any individual or groups. We all have a right to be heard without fear of persecution, punishment or censorship as long as our words are legal and true. This is what journalism is all about and any true journalist will promote and support it even if the views expressed are not to their liking.

To recap, I’m not saying you should stop throwing stones because you live in glass houses. I’m just suggesting that you try moving into brick houses if you’re going to continue throwing more stones.

I leave you with a simple question that came out of a discussion I had with a wise man. “If you become a dictator and display this my way or no way attitude when all you have is a simple website, how will you behave if someone entrusted you with a whole country with an army, a police force and other resources???”

Please answer this question for yourself bearing Shakespeare in mind…”And this above all, to thine own self be true…”

PS: Feel free to criticize my writings right here on my own blog and tell the world if I censor you.