The event was billed as a forum with three guest speakers: Aisha Ibrahim, a language studies lecturer and feminist scholar at Fourah Bay College, Charlie Hughes, a local human rights activist now working as a consultant for DFID (the U.K.’s Department For International Development), and Fatimata Carlton-Hanciles, a lawyer at the Special Court for SL.
I had decided the format would consist of brief presentations by the panelists, a moderated debate, and questions from participants. But whenever an NGO puts on an event, most people refer to the gathering as a workshop. This is what they are used to from us: presentations, flip charts, handouts, pens, certificates to show they attended, and of course, a meal with soft drinks. In fact, it is generally agreed that nobody will show up to an event that does not include food.
The main points to come out of the discussion were:
> The media does not follow up on initial stories involving human rights abuses
> NGOs need to build partnerships with journalists, help them develop specific beats such as health, justice, education
> While women journalists have no role-models in the media, there are plenty of prominent women in SL they can look up to for inspiration
> It is too easy for individuals with moderate financial means to start their own newspaper and then use it to fuel personal rivalries
> Journalists need more information on the three Gender Laws enacted last year
> The Official Secrets and Seditious Libel Acts should be abolished because they intimidate journalists and limit press freedom
Following the forum, a reporter from Culture Radio came up to ask me a handful of questions, the answers to which he duly recorded for the evening broadcast.
The next day, the random nature of attribution and quoting, an unfortunately prevalent aspect of journalism in SL, became very apparent.
Only one of the papers, The New Citizen, ran a story on the forum. While this was a bit disappointing, I was nevertheless eager to read the quarter-page article. It started well, then mentioned me as the JHR trainer and debate moderator. So far, so good. The next paragraph referred to a comment I had made. The paraphrasing was close in terms of the general meaning, but it also embellished the message with typical NGO-speak (capacity-building, stakeholders, etc.) which I had made a point of avoiding.
Then I was quoted. Words I had never said. I might have expressed something approaching what was on the page, had the reporter interviewed me. But he didn’t.
We still have a lot of work to do.
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