The President of the Gambia Press Union, Madi MK Ceesay a vibrant and innovative journalist who has dedicated his life to the improvement of journalism in the country continues to advocates for a free press and longs for under standing and dialogue between the media and the government through the Department of State for Information and Technology who have always locked their doors to their invitation for talks to make media admirable in the country. Encounter met in a brief encounter with this gentleman who has won a prestigious journalism award from America, which he dedicated to the media fraternity in the country and opened Media Agenda for the development of media in the Gambia, talks about his life as a journalist, his early days, problems facing journalism, the stand off between Do SIT and the Gambia media, media chiefs and their workers’ development and encouraging advise to those media workers who fled the country. Read on and see this man who is hell bent on a good media practice on the shores of the Gambia.

EIG. Would you please tell me about yourself briefly?

Madi MKC. I am a young man .I have been practicing journalism for the past 12 to 13 years. I served as Deputy Managing Editor for News and Report weekly magazine and also briefly became General Manager for the closed Independent newspaper in 2006. I founded an NGO called Media Agenda of which I became the director. I was also President of Health Journalist Association for four years. As god may have it I was elected President Gambia Press Union in 2006. Apart from that I became an award winner of the International Press Freedom Award in November 0f 2006 from the Committee to Protect Journalist. I am married with children.

EIG. How can you compare the press in the Gambia ten years ago to now?

Madi MKC: Well candidly speaking, the media and practicing journalists were smaller then, but now these numbers increased. Today we have more journalists and   more media out lets. Ten years ago journalism was much easier than today with less risk Journalism today enjoys much exposure in terms of periodic trainings both internationally   and locally. This has come to improve the lay out of papers, presentations of the news, and a lot more improvements in the electronic too.

If I were to compare journalism ten years ago in a few words, I would say we have more journalists who have the chance to training and the job is mostly challenging in the face of hostile environment. There are people who take the law into their own hands, by muzzling the journalists. For the first time we lost a journalists, that is the late Deyda Hydara, who was murdered in cold blood on 16th December 2004. This is the journalism today as oppose to ten years ago.

EIG. What is improving the Gambia journalist?

Madi MKC. The exposures served as means of improving o our profession. Several trainings have taken place and GPU is in contact with The African Young Journalists association of Egypt Cairo. That has enabled us to send every year people to train. This year we send  Fabakary Taal of the Nation newspaper to study there. Journalism is dynamic those with certificates need to catch up with more trainings to enhance their out put.

EIG: What about the security of the journalists?

Madi MKC:  The only tool we have as journalists here is the training. The hostile environment makes it risky. The young journalists are afraid of the hooligans who come to detain them or beat them. Their fear can only go if the law enforcing agents can strictly enforce laws against the offenders. We have seen how they willfully take somebody’s life Deyda Hydara and there is no action taken. Our media houses are burnt and no one take responsibility so the young ones will run away from the profession. Many run away due to fear of their lives actually if laws are enforced then these young journalists will stay and not leave the field.

EIG.What have you done to stop journalist run away from the country in line with government?

Madi MKC. To be candid I would say we at the GPU level, we have not been successful in taking Government to tasks. We have only met with Information Secretary the past and present ones not more than two times DoSIT is the ministry we should have meetings with, but the press union has not been able to meet the minister. The stand off is not good between the government and press union. We need to dialogue; we need to hear from each other. If the two sides feel it’s ok like that, that is a mistake. We are loosing a lot of human resources. Journalists running away from ones country to Ghana, USA and UK means loosing human resources we have.  We invite them to foras they refuse to turn up.

During Deyda’s first anniversary, they turned down the invitation to be part of the programe at Kairaba hotel.

The World Press Freedom Day is recognized by UNESCO its celebration was turned down by DoSIT. The two institutions have to stay, the best thing is to reconcile for the betterment of our country.

EIG: Why have you not run away like others?

Madi MKC: Because of the love I have for my country, the Gambia is the only home I have. All I plan is to develop the country in my own way. I have no hidden agenda and my constituency is the media. I just want to subscribe to the development of this beautiful country and nothing more. That is what is keeping me here

EIG: Any advice to the young journalists on the run?

Madi MK: Yes! They should try to develop themselves where ever they are. One day, there would be schools of journalism and we would need professionals to keep the momentum high. For those at home, they should play their roles very well. They should note that being anti government is not journalism. It is our constitutional right to hold government accountable to the people .We must research our stories and present them in a very professional way to satisfy the needs of our readers and audience.

EIG: What did you do with the Award you received from America, is it reflecting on the people you won it for?

Madi MKC:   Well yes! It was reported by big media houses in the world, CNN,BBC, Algerzera, and others, it was reported extensively in The Gambia as  well. Above all with the award and experience , I decided to put it into Media Agenda which focuses on training .We are not trainers  but we facilitate training for  Journalists in order to empower them. We are currently training 22 journalists and those would be empowered soon to face the media world with ease. In March we shall also train 12 more journalists starting from March 4.in the area of human right issues. These young journalists from almost all the media houses in the Gambia will be trained by well experience facilitators from UK, Canada and Zimbabwe.

EIG: Are there any innovation the Media Agenda is thinking of?

Madi M.KC. With the Award, I said it was on behalf journalists in The Gambia journalist that I receive, At the Media Agenda we working on an MOU with African University College of Communications in Ghana to see how we can our  students can go for higher educations at a minimal  cost.

EIG: Do you have plans to have a school?

Madi MKC: Yes of course, our long term vision is to see  that  we have a media institution , then I can  leave the Media Agenda with someone to run while I be come principal of the  Media  Institution.

EIG. Do you have any advice for media chiefs?

Maid MKC. They are very important people; they can change the media landscape. Every media executive should act as principal by educating their journalists.  By exposing them trainings especially in-house training and they should support their workers with remuneration by making their enumeration attractive that will encourage them to stay on. We have a pool of journalists and we are without a media school but they are doing a very good job. They should be give good working conditions.

EIG:  Any advice to the government?

Madi MKC: They should be receptive to the media. We are not anti government, if they understand they will know we are not anti government, we investigate stories and that is it. Misconceptions set us apart. The government should be receptive to the media. We are only doing our job and that way I will call on them to repeal the two media Laws: of 2004. The newspaper Amendment Act and the criminal Amendment Act all of 2004. Ghana and other countries have abandoned those types of laws why not us the Gambia. There would soon be a regional meeting at Burkina Faso to look at such repressive media laws in our region.

EIG: Is there anything you think I may have left behind that is important that you would want to throw light on?

Madi MKC: I think I have said all that was matters for now

EIG: Then I wish to thank you very much for your time.

Madi MKC: It’s a pleasure talking to you.