The Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, last Thursday 4 July 2024 officially launched the Sierra Leone Broadcasters’ Association (SiLBA) at the Brookfields Hotel Conference Hall in Freetown. The Minister, being a broadcaster, declared that he will formally register as members of SiLBA. SiLBA is a non-profit organization that was incorporated in Sierra Leone two year ago at the Corporate Affairs Commission to fill the gap fora vibrant national umbrella association for broadcasters, safeguard their rights, collective interests and welfare, and improve their professional well-being and outputs.
The Minister in his keynote address congratulated the membership of SiLBA and admonished them to be steadfast in their operations. “When it comes to civic education and public education, broadcasts play a key role in Sierra Leone and around the world,” he said and added that the radio is the most trusted source of information in Sierra Leone, and that it is a major sector for development in Sierra Leone. He added that community radio stations are faced with the challenges of access to energy, which is why his ministry is engaging with donor partners like the World Bank to provide solar energy in all communities to ensure effective broadcast around the country. He said that in other parts of the world, media institutions are owned by businesses, but in Sierra Leone media institutions are owned by media practitioners that could be the challenge for media viability and that is why government is working with partners to promote the media viability policies Sierra Leone. He assured the media that President Julius Maada Bio is committed to promoting media transparency, viability, and professionalism.
Stanley Bangura Junior, SiLBA’s Chairman in his welcome statement at this inception stage, they are comprised of over 50 Radio and TV Stations.
“We envisions an inclusive, competitive, thriving, and sustainable media environment that addresses the needs, interests and welfare of broadcasters and electronic media institutions in Sierra Leone, with the highest level of professional standards,” he said. ”Our mission is to promote unity, professionalism, cooperation, and best practices among broadcasters, safeguard their rights, collective interest, and welfare, and improve broadcasting standards in Sierra Leone and online through strategic programming, gender sensitive and development-focused approaches,” he said.
Bangura continued that SiLBA has broad-based objectives, which include: To seek and advance the interest and welfare member stations, To serve as a forum to address critical national issues relating to broadcasting, including laws, policies, regulations, and advertising, To promote the need for a free and responsible broadcast media environment, and safeguard the safety of members, To advocate improvement of the quality and ensure sustainability and profitability of broadcasting institutions in the country, To support initiatives aimed at encouraging content creation, collection
and distribution, and technology innovation; and ensuring that the stations serve their communities.
To advocate and secure training opportunities and programmes to help members grow in their careers and promote diversity in the workplace, and To network with other entities worldwide to ensure that the Association’s interests are acknowledged, respected and considered at local, national and international levels.
Eastina Taylor, President of Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL) said this is the moment they have been talking about over the years, noting that over the past decades Broadcast media has contributed greatly in the media landscape and according to a research conducted in BBC Media Sierra Leone some years the findings shows that Broadcast media is the main source of reliable information access in Sierra Leone. She encouraged members of SiLBA to move along with female practitioners in promoting broadcast media in the country.
Chairman of Guild of Newspaper Editors, Donald Theo Harding said it has been a burden for him over the years because mostly he was coordinating for both broadcasters and writers in the media, but the creation of SiLBA will enable him to now focus on issues concerning newspaper editors. He assured the President of SiLBA of the Guild of Editors’ support and coordination in promoting the work on of SiLBA and media promotion in Sierra Leone.
Edward Kargbo of the BBC Media Action Sierra Leone, said his organization is pleased to participate in the launch of the Sierra Leone Broadcaster’ Association because it has been providing support for media institutions in Sierra Leone. “We are coming at a time when we have a blueprint on media development in Sierra Leone and we have developed a document after different engagement with senior media stakeholders and we are coming at a point when the challenges in the media are taking different phases with the emergence of the Internet and social media. We at BBC Media will continue to work with you to overcome those challenges and promote media viability in Sierra Leone,” he said.
President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Ahmed Sahid Nasralla welcomed SiLBA into the media landscape and praised the fact that the organization has come to strengthen the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists because these organizations help SLAJ to showcase it strength in advocating for donor support. He encouraged SiLBA not to compete with other journalists organizations but to coordinate and support each other. He also expressed concerns over the poor condition of service for media practitioners and asked that media owners develop ideas to develop their staff welfare.
Other speakers include representatives of Talking Drum Studio, the Independent Media Commission (IMC), Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), and Independent Radio Network (IRN). They expressed nice sentiment about SiLBA and encouraged the Organization to promote professional journalism, and fight against fake news. The event was chaired by the BBC’s Umaru Fofana.
