The Gambia Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
April 24, 2013
About the MSI
IREX designed the MSI to measure the strength and viability of any country's media sector. The MSI considers all the factors that contribute to a media system—the quality of journalism, effectiveness of management, the legal environment supporting freedom of the press, and more—to arrive at scores on a scale ranging between 0 and 4. These scores represent the strength of the media sector components and can be analyzed over time to chart progress (or regression) within a country. Additionally, countries or regions may be compared to one another. IREX currently conducts the MSI in 80 countries, and began studying Africa in 2006.
MSI Overview | Africa | Asia | Europe & Eurasia | Middle East & North Africa
Download Complete Chapter for The Gambia (PDF): 2012 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006/7
MSI The Gambia - 2012 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 1.66
The constitution of the Gambia guarantees all citizens freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and many other internationally recognized human rights. However, the governing Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, which is an offshoot of the military council that seized power through a military coup in 1994, has systematically undermined and flouted these rights. Since its inception, the government wasted no time in introducing legislation aimed at silencing the media, including steep obligatory bonds subject to forfeiture should a court rule against a media outlet. The bond is now about $16,000, a severe impediment to market entry. Repressive laws such as these have hampered the independent press now for many years.
Other examples include giving false information to a public servant. Those who petition the president, which is a guaranteed right in the constitution, seeking redress when their rights are violated, must prove their allegations in court; if they fail to do so, they may be fined or jailed.
Laws on sedition and false publication provide for minimum jail terms of one year in prison and/or heavy fines. Although no one faced charges of libel, sedition, or false publication in 2012, the impact of threatening remarks from the president’s office has driven many journalists and editors to self-censorship and continues to dampen free speech among citizens.
However, the government did take action against the media in 2012 through other means. On August 14, 2012, Taranga FM Radio (in Kombo North) was closed down by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). A top NIA officer told Ismaila Ceesay, the owner of the radio station, that the NIA received orders to shut down the station immediately. According to Ceesay, the closure of Taranga FM could be related to an interview he aired with the leader of the opposition People’s Progressive Party, Omar Jallow, in which he highlighted the country’s human-rights violations and poor governance. This was the third time security officials closed down the radio station.
The majority of Gambians live on less than $1 a day. Tourism is the country’s major source of income, which, along with groundnuts and other exports, has declined over the years because of the world financial crisis and poor rainfall. The national currency, the dalasi (GMD), has seriously depreciated against major international foreign currencies over the years, exacerbating economic problems. Nonetheless, there has been tremendous growth in the business sector, with many investments coming into the country. However, the media have not benefited from this boom: most companies in the Gambia prefer not to advertise with private media for fear of government reprisals.
The overall 2012 MSI score showed little change compared with 2010: 1.60 this year and 1.66 in 2010. However, Objective 1, Freedom of Speech, dropped a quarter of a point and Objective 4, Business Management, lost 0.18. Objective 3, Plurality of News, gained 0.15 to offset, slightly, those losses.
