Sang Mendy, the Managing Director of Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC)
By Landing Ceesay
Sang Mendy, the Managing Director of Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC), said on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day that Gambian journalists are both loved and loathed.
“I have not seen or heard of a profession so noble yet very dangerous as Journalism. Aside, the military and police, journalism is one of those professions with occupational hazards where people are verbally and physically attacked, kidnapped, or often times kills for simply doing their job.
“In The Gambia, journalists are loved and loathed at the same time. Those who love journalists today can easily loath them tomorrow. They loved them yesterday because they exposed the ills of their opponents, competitors etc. The same people will want to eat journalists up the next day when they expose their ills,” Mr. Mendy wrote on his official Facebook Account.
Mr. Mendy, the Managing Director of the Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC), has been training and mentoring young people to become professional journalists in The Gambia for over a decade. He is also one of the pioneers of a safe environment for Gambian journalists, engaging with relevant authorities and organizing training for them.
Speaking about the understanding of the roles of journalists in the country, Mr. Mendy said that some government officials, politicians, and their supporters do not seem to know, understand, or value the role of journalists. He said that these people, like most ordinary people, have the same mentality and thoughts about journalists.
“As a journalism training institute, Media Academy for Journalism and Communication – MAJaC joins the Gambia Press Union and the rest of the world to celebrate World Press Freedom Day. While we call on the government and other stakeholders to respect and uphold the right to free speech as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, watch out for a short video clip where MAJaC discusses the importance of the day,” Mr. Mendy wrote.
The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day or just World Press Day, observed to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991.