QUESTON OF THE DAY
WILL THE MEDIA FRATERNITY AND THE GAMBIAN PUBLIC REMEMBER GEORGE CHRISTENSEN?
George Christensen continued to emphasise before his death that nothing is more difficult for a human being than to be true to one’s word.
He has always tried to defend advocacy journalism. In being the proprietor of Radio One FM he was among if not the pioneer of using the media to conduct civic education and invite public participation through phone-ins. His radio station enabled Gambians to follow the debates on the provisions of the 1997 constitution when it was a draft.
The phone-in programmes drew the attention of friends and foes leading to arson attacks and threats which eventually suffocated the existence of the station. Ignorance however can never be a substitute to enlightenment. Those who aimed to suffocate his radio station did not succeed in stifling the dissemination of information. Instead they stifled their own credibility and integrity, thus paving their way to their own dooms day.
Those who wage a war on the side of ignorance will never prevail. This is why a memorial service was held for George Christensen yesterday in remembrance of his role in fighting against ignorance and backwardness in The Gambia.