The Gambia Press Union, with funding from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), Thursday 29th August 2019, officially completed 10 days training on investigative reporting for twenty (20) Gambian journalists.
The training, conducted by Hamadou Tidiane Sy, former BBC correspondent and a renowned investigative journalist, concentrated on corruption and financial reporting, an area with little expertise in Gambian media.
Speaking at the official closing ceremony of the training which started on 19th August, Lamin Jahateh, GPU Programme Manager, thanked Mr Sy for sharing his experience with the Gambia’s own crop of upcoming investigative journalists.
Mr Jahateh also advised the journalists to always engage Mr Syin their future projects.
Saikou Jammeh, GPU secretary general, said the training was designed to raise the standards and instill the passion of investigative reporting in young Gambian journalists. He urged them to put the knowledge into practice.
“We knew what we wanted and the design was deliberate,” Saikou noted. “It’s not enough to manifest commitment during the training; what matters is what you do after the training.”
Madi Jobarteh, country coordinator of the Westminster Foundation, said corruption threatens human rights and must be combated by all means.
“If you can fight corruption, then you’re protecting the rights of individuals,” Madi said, adding that investigative journalism has the power to change the narrative and influence policies.
Demba Ali Jawo, former information minister who delivered the official closing remark, harped on the need for investigativejournalism in the country, having just come out of dictatorship.
“The relevance of investigative journalism in an emerging democracy like ours cannot be over-emphasized. We all know what we have gone through in this country for the past two decades when every facet of journalism was suppressed, and even our very existence as journalists was threatened,” he said.
“I am quite confident that you, the trainees, will make the best use of the skills that you have acquired in the area of investigative journalism. It is our duty as journalists to hold our leaders and indeed all those serving this country accountable for the services they render.”
Juldeh Njie, a participant, delivered the vote of thanks. She advised her colleagues to step up, having acquired valuable skills to kick off their investigative journalism careers.
Aside from the provision of a digital recorder and a new laptopto each participant, a $6000 grant is also available for them through the GPU-UNDEF project for their future investigative projects.