NEWS BANJUL, THE GAMBIA (MB)- Thursday, 21 January 2010, the executive members of the Young Journalists Association of The Gambia (YJAG) Wednesday continued its tour of media institutions to discuss with the media chiefs, the welfare of the young reporters in their various media houses.
The executive members first met Musa Sheriff, the editor-in-chief of The Voice Newspaper and later called on Swaebou Conateh, the proprietor of The Gambia News and Report Magazine in Serrekunda.
Speaking at both functions, Assan Sallah, president of YJAG, said the reason for the courtesy call is to discuss with the heads of the media institutions in the country about the welfare of the young journalists in their various media houses. Sallah used the platform to call on the media chiefs to provide in-house trainings for the young reporters, increase their salaries and organise them in a better way, so as to enable them deliver in their newsrooms as expected.
He said the tour of media institutions is not a familiarisation tour, but rather a platform for discussion with the media chiefs about the welfare of their reporters. He also informed the media chiefs that YJAG has plans to come up with a series of training programmes for its members as part of its 2010 Action Plan and called on the media heads to support them to enable them realise their objectives.
Sallah finally thanked Musa Sheriff and Swaebou Conateh for their support to YJAG and the young reporters in general. Speaking earlier, Mamadou Edrissa Njie, YJAGs 2nd vice president, gave a historical background of the association. He said YJAG was established on September 16th, 2007 with the objective of promoting unity among all young journalists in the country, provide training in the form of capacity building, and see to the welfare of young journalists, among others. The organisation, he added, is also tasked with responsibility to facilitate the recruitment of young journalists into the media profession and build capacities for its members.
In response, Musa Sheriff, the proprietor of The Voice Newspaper, welcomed YJAG and commended them for the initiative. According to him, the welfare of the young journalists has always been a concern for the media chiefs. He spoke at length on the behaviour of the young journalists in profession and advised YJAG to rectify some of those issues. The editor-in-chief of The Voice Newspaper also urged the young journalists to venture into investigative journalism.
He said The Voice newspaper is a training centre for all journalists and promised to increase the salaries of his reporters. Swaebou Conateh, the proprietor of The Gambia News and Report Magazine, also commended YJAG and described the young journalists as the lifeblood of any newspaper. Conateh promised to look into the welfare of his reporters and support them in acquiring training on journalism.
The veteran journalists assured YJAG that his newspaper will meet the requirements of the young journalists and advised them to be hardworking. Other speakers include; Alhagie Saidy Faye of the Voice Newspaper and Baboucarr Ceesay, the managing editor of The Voice newspaper. Modou Baldeh, a co-opted member of YJAG delivered the vote of thanks.
Source Daily Observer
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