Sierra Leone News: SLAJ Presidential Hopeful Prioritises Welfare, Gender & Mentorship
By Stephen V. Lansana
The presidential candidate in the forthcoming election of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Ahmed Sahid Nasralla aka De Monk on Monday July 8, 2019, prioritized welfare, gender, mentorship, unity & Independence which he shall strive towards achieving after winning the SLAJ 2019 election.
He made this disclosure during the launch of the SALT (Stimulate/Strengthen, Appreciate, Listen/Learn and Transfer) manifesto at the SLAJ headquarters in Freetown. This launch attracted hundreds of SLAJ members including his opponent and other candidates contesting for various positions within the Association. The four priorities were chosen from the various concerns proffer by journalists after his campaign team engaged several media houses on their concerns.
Speaking on Repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, he said that every SLAJ Executive since 1971 has made the fight to repeal the Seditious Libel Laws a priority, adding that every executive builds on the achievement of the previous.
“The outgoing Executive (of which I was a key figure) has taken a giant step in the repeal process which is now at Cabinet level. There’s now a clear light at the end of the tunnel. My Executive will take it up from there and finish this long and arduous race once and for all,” he said.
Speaking on professionalism, he said that after the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, the public and the government will expect more from the media in terms of professionalism and responsibility.
“My leadership will symbolize professionalism and responsible practice. I will ensure discipline within the media,” he said.
He said, “Media houses are generally struggling to survive as businesses. Consequently, the welfare needs of journalists and their conditions of service are challenging and growing. This is also having an impact on the quality of journalism in the country. If we have to work towards achieving independent and professional journalism, we need to give full attention to the working conditions of journalists and the viability of media businesses.”
My Executive will look at journalists’ welfare and working conditions from two angles: legal and economic.
On the legal side, it is against the law for employers to pay their workers below the minimum wage. The law also requires payment of tax to NRA and a social security contribution to NASSIT for their employees.
On the economic side, media houses argue that business is bad and that incomes don’t match expenditure. In other words, it is not profitable. This, they have linked with low advertising revenues (perhaps the lowest in the sub-region) and sales. For the top five to six media houses, it is estimated that annually they have to write off up to Le 500 million in unpaid advertising bills. “With this situation and the over-reliance on traditional revenue streams, demanding improved conditions of service for journalists without a corresponding support to media businesses would be counterproductive,” he said.
“While my Executive would not promise a quick fix solution, or resolving the welfare and media viability issues entirely, we would confront this perennial challenge in a holistic manner.”
Speaking on gender, he said, “I will encourage media owners to set up a Media Owners’ Association (MOA). My Executive shall bring together all the stakeholders (SLAJ, the Independent Media Commission (IMC), the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG, the Labour Congress, Ministry of Labour, WIMSAL, the Sierra Leone Reporters Union (SLRU), the MOA, relevant Government agencies and other partners) to begin an engagement process that would inform the next steps in addressing this challenge.”
“We have among us not only practicing journalists, but also some of the brightest minds in media education and research. Some of them have done extensive research on gender in the media. My Executive will continue to put such works into use, organize events that popularize their findings and recommendations, while we continue to promote research, learning and conversations around gender because it is only when we educate ourselves that we would be able to change our mindset on discrimination based on gender,” the presidential hopeful said. He said his executive shall support affirmative action policies to increase the voices of females in the sector and to ensure that they can thrive. “I will invest in reviewing policies, processes and opportunities that engender bias and discrimination and make sure we move towards a more gender equitable association,” he said.
Speaking on mentorship, he said that one of the current realities in SLAJ is that over 50% of the membership is below 30 years of age. “As a way of molding our young membership into a crop of professional journalists, it is important that we create a system through which young journalists can be mentored. It is no secret that before any formal systems of journalism education, journalists were recruited and trained through apprenticeship and mentoring,” he said. “Training this next crop of journalists is therefore a matter of priority. My Executive shall work with the relevant partners — in journalism and education as well as media development organisations- to develop a mentorship programme for young journalists. Apart from the formal programme, my Executive would also work to pair young journalists with senior colleagues who shall volunteer their time to mentor the younger ones and advise them on matters related to their career.”
Speaking on unity & independence, he said “My Executive would work to ensure SLAJ remains one body after winning the forthcoming elections. We would ensure that after these elections, everyone feels like a winner. We shall initiate a process to bring our members together. We shall do this by reaching out and engaging various sections and factions. We shall work to address deep-seated issues that have left some people unhappy.”
