The new head of Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) is committed to ensuring the editorial independence of the state broadcaster.
On Monday, Ebrima Sillah was appointed as the new head of GRTS, the state broadcaster of the country. Sillah, who has in media for many years and was also as a BBC correspondent in The Gambia, has committed to steering the organisation towards becoming a public broadcaster.
“We have to be a truly public service broadcaster committed to advancing and improving the democratic quality of political engagement where citizen views and concerns on everything and on anything is truly expressed,” Sillah said.
Among his plans, Sillah wants to reform and improve trust in the state broadcaster which has often been seen as a propaganda tool during the years of Yahya Jammeh’s regime.
Sillah’s ambition may prove difficult as Jammeh’s regime managed to create and maintain an intimidating atmosphere for journalists and media professionals, and Gambia is currently 145th out of 180 countries rated in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index. However, Sillah seems to be prepared to take on the challenge.
“Along the way I may of course step on some toes but that is one big challenge I am prepared to face,” he said.