By Mabinty M. Kamara
The 24 journalists recently appointed as Information Attaché to various missions abroad will be deployed to their respective missions as soon as the global Coronavirus pandemic is contained, Minister of Information, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, has said.
Mr Swaray told Politico that whiles they wait, the attaches would be given the required training in the coming weeks, to prepare them for their new assignment. He said part of their job description was to rebrand the image of the country on the international stage.
More than half of those who have been appointed are either journalists or former journalists. This has provoked some mixed feelings, with one set of people saying it’s an act of compensation for journalists who supported politicians. Others see it just as an opportunity for journalists to transition into diplomacy and serve their country in another way.
Those appointed see it as an opportunity to see how journalism work in other parts of the world and to showcase Sierra Leone as a country in their respective locations.
President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, believes the appointment of journalists to these positions will weaken the human resource base of the journalism profession in the country.
He however added that they were not against the appointment.
“While SLAJ may not be openly opposed to such appointments, as it gives opportunity to our colleagues to help the government of Sierra Leone succeed and they are better remunerated and benefit from international exposure, the downside is that it undermines the independence of the media and helps to polarize it,” he said.
The practice of appointing journalists as press attaches started in the days of late President Ahmad Tejan Kabba, who, however, made only one appointment throughout his presidency, citing lack of financial resources to sustain it.
The practice became popular under President Ernest Koroma, who appointed more journalists.
Swaray himself admitted that Press Attaché is a “political appointment”.
Among the 24 appointees of his government, eight are women. One of them, Princetta Christian Williams, who is assigned to Sierra Leone’s mission in Ghana, was a TV anchor at the Africa Young Voices Media Empire and later at Freetown Television Network. She said her appointment showed that the President was committed to empowering women, adding that even though her appointment was political, it had nothing to do with her professional career.
“I am happy for this appointment not only as an individual, but as a woman because this is what we all have been yearning for, to see women in positions of trust as our male compatriots,” she said.
Mohamed Massaquoi, a journalist with Concord Times Newspaper, said the only difference between press attaché and journalism is that in his new role, his responsibility will be to package information to specifically sell the positive image of the country abroad.
Other practicing and former journalists who were appointed are Abu Bakar Bah of the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, Elizabeth Ali Blango of Radio Democracy, Mahawa Alieu of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, and Mohamed Sherriff, also of Radio Democracy.
Mr Bah, who is currently Communication Officer at the Standards Bureau, once served as intern at Politico.
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