All concerned persons who have access to all media establishments should be able to determine for themselves which media establishment is amplifying the voices of those who otherwise would not have been heard if those outlets did not exist.
The Foroyaa office operates like a social clinic where people come to lay their complains of arrests and detentions, land grabs, inhuman and degrading punishment, family crisis, lack of amenities such as water, fire incidents, unlawful dismissals, deprivation of entitlements, drudgery of women in the countryside due to lack of labour saving devices and so on and so forth. People with talents also expose their talents. Those who are destitute or financially deprived, students all turn to the paper for the amplification of their voices.
Foroyaa reporters have been trained to be ready to sacrifice in order to protect their personal integrity by not succumbing to any intimidation or inducement; and to protect sources so that people will trust to give them information. Those who claim that Foroyaa reporters are given special treatment by the state would have been proven wrong by those ex Foroyaa reporters abroad who have exposed the hazards of their profession which they overcome by being principled and indomitable. Every reporter who passes through Foroyaa must ultimately become an indomitable sovereign person who is not anybody’s robot. They speak their mind freely and do not sing praises to anybody or show naïve loyalty to anyone.
Their job is not an easy one so they are trained to be able to sustain the hazards without any desire to revenge or harass people because of the power of the pen. They are trained not to pass judgment on people on trial but defend their rights to fair hearing irrespective of their previous political, social and cultural affiliations.
They will be accused of being busy bodies and insulted when they begin their investigations only to be treated as saints after their loved ones are released after exposure. They know that the profession goes with its joys and pains.
It is their right to judge management as they please. What is important is the service the paper is rendering which, despite all the shortcomings is appreciated by its readers.
Since its principal aim is to hold the authorities accountable to the public, it also will not object to people holding it accountable to the publication of the truth, in good faith and in the public interest. Once it deviates from this principle, it should be criticized, scrutinized and restrained so that it will not depart from its principles. Any critic should be able to show concretely how the truth in good faith in the public interest is sacrificed.
