Cheikh Fall, President of Africtivistes: “The media should embrace the new professions in the news industry”

World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on 3 May each year. In Guinea, the date coincides with our country losing three points in the international rankings. And that is not all: the number of journalists beaten while doing their jobs is countless.

While in Labé for FONUF, Cheikh Fall, leader of AfricTivistes, shared his analysis of this pressing issue of press freedom.

“This assessment of Guinea can be applied to nearly all the countries in the sub-region.

They are losing points because they treat the press and the media industry as a form of political opposition, or as a way of arming civil society.

What is happening today is that the emergence of new media and the internet — since it became widely accessible — has given millions of citizens the opportunity to speak out about the management of public affairs.

Seeing people speak out does not necessarily suit some states, which do not want to pursue transparency or accountability. As a result, they treat these people as political opponents…

…The media have much to gain by embracing the digital revolution and integrating digital tools into newsroom operations. That would help prevent the spread of fake news, because when there is a vacuum, others will fill it. But clientelism, corporatism and divisions also played a part: they meant that media organisations were unwilling to let others join them in the news production process.

Those others should be brought in. They include people in new professions such as bloggers, community managers, information curators and data journalists…”

Ousmane K. Tounkara