NEWS BANJUL, THE GAMBIA(MB)-“The pen is indeed mightier than the sword”, declared Halifa Sallah a politician, newspaper publisher and editor, who was speaking recently on “the contribution made by Dixon Colley to the socio-economic development of the Gambia”.
Mr. Sallah was the guest speaker at a memorial symposium to pay tribute to the late William Dixon Colley. Organised by the Gambia Press Union, the symposium was held at the TANGO Conference Hall in Kanifing on Saturday 13 February 2010.
It was chaired by Cherno Jallow a veteran journalist, who advised young Gambian journalists to try and emulate Dixon Colley, “if you want to be a great journalist”.
In his statement, Mr. Sallah said Dixon Colley though he is no longer physically alive, “is alive in spirit”.
“The contribution he made is still in out memory. This is why we have decided to recall them today in remembrance of him”.
“Dixon Colley lives in the immortal reports and analyses he wrote with his pen”, Mr. Sallah said, declaring that “the pen is indeed mightier than the sword”.
He described the media as the institutional memory of modern day society, adding that this is one fundamental function of the media.
“The journalist is different from the historian. A historian simply writes what has been done, but the journalist is not only writing and documenting hat has been done, but is also a part of the process of getting things done.
“The journalist is both a scribe and an advocate. That is where Dixon Colley’s remarkable and epoch making contribution lies”.
Mr. Sallah went on to point out that, even “before constitutions were written to indicate to us that the media should uphold the responsibility and the accountability of government to the people, Dixon was among those who put the principles into practice”.
“Advocacy journalism was his professional inclination. He conceived himself as an agent of progress, change and development”.
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