Media Review in Sierra Leone

Auditing the Sierra Leone Media: A Terse Commentary

By Victor A. Massaquoi, Communication and Social Policy Analyst

Periodically, I am tempted to conduct an ecological scanning of media activities in Sierra Leone and juxtapose my findings with contemporary happenings in other African countries, of which Sierra Leone share common socio-cultural characteristics, for example, The Gambia in the West of Africa, and Zambia in the South. The insinuation or aspersion leveled against the media, in recent oral and written narratives, in Sierra Leone, in relation to perceived, but to some extent, evidential failure to uphold its moral responsibilities and apply basic professional principles requires attention. As a professional with over 20 years of precious experience and accumulation of eclectic knowledge and skills in management, media studies, communication theory/planning and society, it behooves my conscience to attempt to objectively examine the accusation(s) and articulate the role of the media in society with respect to information, education, communication, persuasion and social change. This short and snappy commentary has attempted to examine the current media environment in Sierra Leone, and offer an explanation of the functions of this “noble” entity.

Recently, accusations have been made from many quarters in Sierra Leone, including the rural poor, academics, politicians, students, social commentators and sympathizers, who reside abroad, that the media (its definition has broaden to include new media information and communication technology) has failed or continues to fail in its approach to news coverage, advocacy and social responsibilities, to reverse the current moral decline and other reprehensible political, economic and social occurrences in recent history. Even though I am known for harshly critiquing the media, for the better, I take great exception to some of the accusations leveled on the media in Sierra Leone.

First, the media is not this “magic bullet” socially created to solving social, economic and political shortcomings in Sierra Leone, and by extension, other countries around the world. Irrespective of its unique position as the “fourth estate” doused with the exceptional ability to structure socioeconomic and political issues, act as an advocate for social change, and galvanize community for empowerment, the media is still just a vehicle to channel concerns of the poor, needy, voiceless, and an evaluator of government policies; the media lacks power to construct policies, therefore can only do so much. The Sierra Leone society functions on several levels with diverse divisions of society addressing different issues, for example NGOs, principally, address critical social issues (children’s education and health, gender equality, hunger, poverty …), parliament makes the laws, the president executes the laws and makes policies, the court adjudicates and punishes law breakers, and the media acts as watchdog. We tend to forget this basic function of society and expect the media to be the problem solver in society, when according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and other human rights organizations, media freedom in Sierra Leone, in the last 10 years, is measured at best.

Second, the 1965 Public Order Act, a badly written legal tool, that has outlived its utility, given the time it was written and its intended purpose, and also, given the irresponsible manner of its applicability in the last 10 years (remember Paul Kamara, Harry Yansanneh, Sylvia Blyden and Phillip Neville…?) has made it extremely difficult for fair-minded and upstanding media professionals to perform their social and professional responsibilities. People may not like what a media professional voices or prints, but that does not warrant aggression directed at media personnel, even if it’s perceived libel, slander, privacy or other legal matters, that is why the legal system was setup, in the first place, to address criminal and civil grievances. The economic situation is even worse. The other day I read with absolute dismay the failure of organizations and government agencies to settle their advertising debts with news organizations. Is this fair? This is why “yellow journalism” and “brown envelop journalism” are rampant, not only in Sierra Leone, but across the world. There are good media professionals out there who want to do a good job, but the atmosphere is not encouraging to work in. There are clear blatant violations of the basic human rights in relation to freedom of expression, a topic I am seriously addressing in a book chapter, coming out in early 2009.

In sum, the above uncomplicated analysis has ventured to briefly recognize the concerns of the public regarding the social responsibilities of the media, but also offer an explanation of the functions of the media in society, which is tilted more toward advocacy and policy influence rather than formulating and implementing policies that would change people’s social situations. The newspaper and radio stations in Sierra Leone are like the New York Times, the Guardian and the BBC, whose partial responsibilities are to frame and influence policies that benefit the public. But until and unless the environment is made conducive for the media to operate, the status quo would be hard to invalidate. One quick note, it is better to be constructively criticized from within, devoid of political motive, than from outside. Because criticism from within is dangerous than that from outside, why? Those who criticized from within are au fait with the facts and the characteristics of the problems than those from outside who get their information from secondary sources. Media practitioners can make their profession better by self-reflection and by working with the other branches of government to influence policies that would be beneficial to the media, the rural poor and the country in general.

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