Editorial: US Embassy Promotes Internet Freedom In The Gambia!!

….As Government Blocks US Based Freedom Newspaper

The United States Embassy in Banjul should be commended for initiating an online training program for Gambia’s local journalists. This is a welcomed development, as far as the evolution of the country’s media is concerned.  The Internet is the modern means of communication, and all journalists should rise up to the challenges by ensuring that they are properly trained in the area of IT security, quality content, and timely dissemination of news.  The whole purpose of the Internet is to connect families, businesses, and the world together. In other words, the Internet helps to facilitate timely and effective communication-most importantly in the field of journalism. Billions of people around the world relied on the Internet as a source of news, marketing, and social networking. 

Realizing the importance of the online media, and its role in the country’s ailing democratization process, the US Embassy deemed it crucially imperative to offer such an important cyber training to our hard working reporters, Editors, and typesetters.  This course,  is the first of its kind, in the US’S efforts in helping to uplift the professional skills of Gambia’s media.

The United States’ funded online media training program came at a time when The Gambian Government is cracking down on Internet Freedom. The Government has blocked the main IP address of the leading Gambian online Newspaper-Freedom Newspaper, based in Raleigh North Carolina, with the primary objective of silencing dissent.  It is over two years now, when the Jammeh administration blocked the Freedom Newspaper in The Gambia.

The Government’s  decision to deny Gambians access to the Freedom Newspaper, could be attributed to fear, and lack of confidence. The President does not want the independent minded journalists at Freedom to expose his corruption web, and gross right abuses. Jammeh also believes that this paper is capable of instigating popular uprising in The Gambia, which could ultimately lead to his demise. Wishful thinking, yeah?

Assuming that the Freedom Newspaper is biased against his administration, why is Jammeh not utilizing the Daily Observer to counter  our news reportage, as the United States did during the Cold War era. The Voice of America Radio (VOA), played an important role in countering some of the media  propaganda peddled by the Soviets at the material time.  The best way to counter misinformation is to report the truth.

But Jammeh thinks that by blocking the Freedom Newspaper would save him from media scrutiny, and accountability. He made the biggest mistake by blocking us. He is giving us more credibility in the eyes of the civilized world. 

Today, the Freedom Newspaper is a leader in the online media business. We are not only well read, circulated, but digested. This is evident on our Google news rankings. The Daily Observer, which is Gambia’s main national newspaper, is not even close to our match. We beat the Observer, ten times, in terms of quality content, timely news dissemination, and professional reporting. We are on top of the chart. This is no bragging.  We master our profession to the tip of our finger.

That said, we hope the US Embassy, GAMTEL, Quantum net , and other Internet facilities in the country, would prevail on Jammeh to liberalize the Internet. It is unfair for Jammeh to have direct access to the Freedom Newspaper, when the average Gambian cannot read the paper online. The Internet should be liberalized in the interest of  press freedom, and democracy.  Internet censorship is a global crime, and should be condemned by all decent nations.

Recently, President Obama granted an interview to a Cuban blogger. The New York Times reported in its November 19^Th 2009 edition that “The American president congratulated Ms. Sánchez on the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, which she won this year for her efforts to foster understanding among countries in the Americas. Mr. Obama wrote to Ms. Sánchez: “You richly deserve the award. I was disappointed you were denied the ability to travel to receive the award in person.”

Like the Freedom Newspaper, the Cuban blogger also suffered an untold persecution from the Cuban Government . President Obama went on to add “Your blog provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba. It is telling that the Internet has provided you and other courageous Cuban bloggers with an outlet to express yourself so freely, and I applaud your collective efforts to empower fellow Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology. The government and people of the United States join all of you in looking forward to the day all Cubans can freely express themselves in public without fear and without reprisals.”

The above statement of President Obama, should signal to Banjul that Washington is reading everything reported online about Gambia. Mr. Obama also spoke about his Government’s efforts in liberalizing the Internet.  I think the Banjul embassy is trying to reinforce Obama’s Internet freedom policy by training our reporters. The Embassy should not stop at that. They should also consider highlighting Freedom Newspaper’s case to the relevant authorities in DC, the nation’s capital. We appreciate the State Department’s past country reports on  The Gambia, in which they lamented about the blockage of the Freedom Newspaper. More campaign should be mounted to force Jammeh to liberalize the Internet in The Gambia. We rest our case!