By Awa Sowe
The Minister of Information, Mr Lamin Queen Jammeh has begun a familiarisation tour of media houses, as well as institutions under his purview.
The new minister was appointed … following the decoupling of the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure into Ministry of Information and Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.
The minister is being accompanied in this tour by senior officials of both Ministries of Information and Communication and Digital Economy.
Since the tour began on Wednesday, June 1st the Minister and delegation have visited over 20 radio stations and newspaper houses in the Greater Banjul Area.
Minister Jammeh commended radio operators and newspaper publishers for their immense contributions to the development of the country and particular enhancing the fledgling democracy. He expressed his ministry’s commitment to partner with media in nurturing the democratic tenets of press freedom and access to information.
He however expressed the need for ethical journalism and centering of peace building in the media reportages.
The media heads expressed gratitude for the minister’s visit, and highlighted some of the challenges they are facing . Some of the requests made to the minister include repealing and elimination of bad media laws in the constitution, provision of subvention for private media, tax reduction, ‘token payment by GSM operators from revenues made from phone-in programmes on radio, and capacity building.
The Minister and team are set to head to the provincial media houses before wrapping up the tour with visits to the remaining media outlets and relevant institutions in the urban area.