The primary role of journalism is often said to be the  informing, educating and entertaining of a general audience of either a newspaper, magazine, television channel, radio, or online news medium.

But alongside this task of informing, educating and entertaining, all that media institutions seek to achieve is to shape the line of thought of their audience, in line with their development agenda.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with all this.

In fact, journalism, like other careers, remains a noble profession except if blended with adulterated intent, in which situation its practitioner ceases to serve the purpose of society. The role of the journalist is such that they have that unique privilege of influencing the way society perceives life, and this bonds members of the media fraternity to societal obligations that require them to uphold the general good.

Naturally, every media institution has a unique direction, shaped by its editorial policy. But in the final analysis, these differences in editorial policies are supposed to be propagating ideologies that aims at promoting the general good; and, as such, there is the need for some checks and balances.

The increase in seditious tendencies among today’s journalist fraternity remains the greatest threat to not only the profession, but also the general public. In The Gambia, for instance, the situation is made worst by the fact that most practicing journalists are not conversant of the implications of excesses like these. It is important, however, to note here that sedition, as a criminal offense, is an act which attracts drastic punishments everywhere in the world, regardless of the democratic inclination in all these countries.

 Therefore, there is the need for greater exposure and extensive knowledge on the criminal code, constitution and other laws of the land concerned, especially for our young journalists, in order to avoid constant and unnecessary clashes between journalists and the arms of the law.

This means that one has to be adequately aware and armed with the knowledge of whatever one embarks on or is doing. Every conduct in this life has its merits and demerits. Journalists must be seen to be responsible people as any other citizen. To be a journalist does not mean being a sacred cow who is immune from the laws of the land.

It’s a constitutional provision that every Gambian has a responsibility to uphold and defend the constitution and other laws of The Gambia. Therefore, journalism should not be used as an excuse to destroy or tarnish the image and efforts of the country’s sustainable development endeavours. It would be unimaginable for a single misuse of a pen to render millions of lives and properties destroyed just for an individual’s interest.

A number of journalists have been charged with sedition and related criminal offenses such as giving false information, among others. These accused persons were either found guilty or acquitted and discharged by the courts. But one thing that remains critically clear after all this is that awareness about the existence of sedition in our criminal code remains bleak, and this should be the concern of all and sundry.