By Isaac Massaquoi
The world is gradually breathing a sigh of relief once again as Fabrice Muamba takes his first step in a London hospital. He is the Congolese-born and Bolton Wanderers footballer who clinically died for 78 minutes and came back to life with the help of remarkable medical science undertaken by some of the best brains in the business.
By Isaac Massaquoi
Imagine you are in a reasonably good open-air night entertainment spot packed with young people enjoying some of the greatest and latest hits in town. Then this happens: The music suddenly stops and the beautiful voice of a lady is heard announcing: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry for that break in transmission. I just want to announce that tomorrow there will be a fashion show to which you are all invited…” Then the music continues.
Since I’ve been on the board of the Independent Media Commission, I have had to answer two questions from people who know me all over the country. People have always asked me why is it that we (IMC) have granted a license to operate a newspaper or radio station to anybody who has turned up at the IMC to make a request.
I began my address to the recent Commonwealth-Sierra Leone conference on media and post-war reconstruction by agreeing with Professor Francis Nyamnjoh, that journalists in Africa – and I should add Sierra Leone in particular – have not clearly defined their journalism. Defining our journalism, I explained, meant that we must quickly grapple with issues like what journalism in Africa, especially in Sierra Leone, is all about. What its mission is and therefore how we should go about it.
Supported by: Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
