Hi Everyone,
This is precisely what I wanted to avoid. Engaging in such public exchanges
is not something that I cherish. Arguments on gambia-l should not be about
scoring points. We should always aim at enlightening people, and that means
giving them the facts.
Ebrima gave his opinions about the possible impact of the sale of the
Observer Newspaper to Amamdou Samba on the quality of its news reporting.
Apparently, Ebrima knows Amadou Samba personally and also his political
affiliations. I don't. I cannot argue, as Bass seems to want me to do, with
his opinions. What would I say? That I think the Observer will be
independent? Or that It will not be independent? The simple fact is that
nobody knows.I think I have better things to do than waste my time
speculating. Whether the Observer has ever been independent or objective is
a matter of opinion. Bass himself has criticised Ebrima in the past for his
partiality. But, of course, consistency has never been his forte.
Ebrima then went on to make a very brief analysis of the ethos of various
newspapers. Here again, the situation is not as clear-cut as Ebrima's
hastily-prepared piece seemed to indicate. I could have questioned why he
left out, for example, The Independent. But I thought, well, maybe to him it
is not worth mentioning. Or maybe he was in a hurry. I am not a journalist,
but my Language In The Media course forced me to do exactly the sort of
research Ebrima say he has done. My Project for this course was on Political
Interviews. So I know something about newspapers and the media in general,
although I accept that Ebrima probably knows better than I do in areas of
Media Studies that the course did not cover.
My main problem with Ebrima's piece was when it appeared to me that he was
mixing living and dead people together. This was not my opinion. It is a
fact that Tiny Rowland is dead. It is also a fact that Robert Maxwell is
dead, though not before defrauding his employees' pension funds. Basically,
he was broke, though everyone thought he was a multi-millionaire. That was
why I was surprised when I saw his name as one of the media magnates, or
even the suggestion that members of his family hold majority shares in
certain sections of the media industry. I wanted to sort this out with
Ebrima privately, but my posting went to the whole list, unfortunately. I
have no problem with Ebrima. I do not know him personally, although I used
to enjoy reading his editorials in the Observer.
Once again I am urging people to refrain from telling me or anyone else for
that matter what or what not to write about. If I decide to comment on one
line out of a whole book - it happens all the time- that is my business. I
did not bring the topic about ownership of newspapers in th UK, so I should
not be blamed for commenting on it. If Bass wants to join the debate he
should do so, rather than act as a self-appointed moderator.
Cheers
>From: Bassirou Dodou Drammeh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Amadou Samba buys the Daily Observer
>Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 10:34:07 GMT
>
>Unless my reading of Mr.Ceesay's piece is wrong,the ownership of British
>News Papers is secondary, if not outright irrelevant, to the issue under
>discussion here.So,maybe we should REFOCUS our cameras back on Mr.Samba and
>debate whether or not he will be able to negotiate a sensible middle ground
>between his business interests, on the one hand, and the need to tell the
>Gambian people the brutal truth about their leaders,on the other.
>
>And until then...... keep Up The Good Work Down There!!
>
>
> Regards Basss!
>
>*********************************************************************
>
>>From: momodou njie <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Amadou Samba buys the Daily Observer
>>Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 01:49:31 PDT
>>MIME-Version: 1.0
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>>
>>Hi Everyone,
>>
>>It was not my intention to go public about this matter, as many of you
>>would
>>have guessed from the format. It would therefore not be right to do so
>>right
>>now. I still believe, however, that Ebrima should update his information
>>about newspaper ownership in this country and come back to us with facts.
>>Cheers.
>>
>>
>>Momodou
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>From: ebrima ceesay <[log in to unmask]>
>>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>>><[log in to unmask]>
>>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>>Subject: Re: Amadou Samba buys the Daily Observer
>>>Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 03:16:08 PDT
>>>
>>>Momodou Njie,
>>>
>>>Both Tiny Rowlands and Robert Maxwell have passed away, but their
>>>families
>>>still own or have majority shares in some of these powerful media groups.
>>>
>>>By the way, I received the following piece from Matarr Njie, and I am
>>>posting it for your (Gambia L members) perusal.
>>>
>>>Cheers!!
>>>
>>>Ebrima Ceesay,
>>>Birmingham, UK.
>>>
>>>
>>>>From: "matarr njie" <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>>>CC: [log in to unmask]
>>>>Subject: Re: Amadou Samba buys the Daily Observer
>>>>Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 20:53:01 PDT
>>>>
>>>>Ebrima Ceesay,
>>>>
>>>>I am not surprise that you are speculating and engaging your mischivous
>>>>mind on fruitless ventures once again ! If Samba is close to President
>>>>Jammeh, as you alleged, what is the deal since Samba has declared from
>>>>the
>>>>onset that the editorial independence of the Observer will be maintained
>>>>?
>>>>By the way, a newspaper's credibility is not only maintained because it
>>>>is
>>>>critical of a government. Rather, credibility of a newspaper comes from
>>>>reporting facts, I mean facts, and not speculation, and one of your
>>>>trademarks, as is now well established, is misreporting and misquoting !
>>>>
>>>>As I said earlier, this bantaba cannot be used as a propaganda tool to
>>>>spread your lies and biased reporting about the Gambia. We are here to
>>>>ensure that this does not happen. In fact, as I promised Katim Touray, I
>>>>have been in touch with the St John's University informing them of the
>>>>subversive nature of this discussion group, and I have been asked to
>>>>provide evidence. I am glad that you have now given me the ginpowder !
>>>>Thank you.
>>>>
>>>>Regards,
>>>>Matarr.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>______________________________________________________
>>>>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>>>
>>>
>>>______________________________________________________
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>>
>>
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