Monitoring Report from the Monitoring, Research and Projects Unit, Independent Media Commission, against Nightwatch Newspaper in connection with its publication dated Wednesday, 10th August, 2022 titled: “Power Shift…Adebayor More Popular than Pres. Bio”.
On the 15th August, 2022, the Commission received a monitoring report from the Monitoring, Research and Projects Unit of the Independent Media Commission against Nightwatch Newspaper dated Wednesday, 10th August, 2022 titled: “Power Shift…Adebayor More Popular than Pres. Bio”.
The Editor was asked to state whether the popularity that he was talking about was in a positive sense or in a negative way. The Editor replied that he was talking about popularity in the positive form. He was asked whether he was saying that Adebayor was more popular in a positive way than President Bio, to which he answered ‘yes’. A member of the Committee asked the Managing Editor to tell what positive impact that Adebayor had made in Sierra Leone that has made him more popular positively than President Bio. His response was, ‘the Sit-Down Strike’.
Asked whether the ‘Sit Down Strike’ that he was referencing had any positive impact, the Managing Editor said that he considered it to be positive. He said the sit down strike started from the 4th of July and later 8tth – 9th of August, 2022. The Committee then asked him whether he was saying that it was Adebayor that was responsible for the Sit-Down Strike action? He declines to answer that question. Asked which Adebayor he was referring to in his article, he said there was no other Adebayor, save the one in Holland. He added that there was only one Adebayor that the whole country knows on social media.
Emmanuel Thorli was asked to state the parameters he used to assess and determine that Adebayor was more popular in the positive sense than the sitting head of state of his country. He explained that since President Bio was announced President of Sierra Leone, there had been a communication gap between him and the people. He said unlike the former President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, ‘who was the President of the people’ and was always with the people and talked to them frequently, President Bio does not talk to the people. He said Adebayor has been talking with the people since 2016 and the people are with him and trust him. He said since there is a communication gap between President Bio and the people, the people prefer to listen to Adebayor instead, which has made him more popular than the President.
He added that after the President’s speech, he published another article with the title, “President Bio still in control”.
Committee’s Findings and Recommendations:
Findings:
During deliberations, the Committee found out that the newspaper compared the constitutional powers of the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone to that of a social media character that is neither in Sierra Leone, nor held any political or public office in Sierra Leone.
The Committee further noted that considering the particular period in which the article was published, the publication had the potential to create disaffection among the citizenry and put the image of the president into disrepute.
The newspaper also stated that it was not clear where constitutional power lies, a claim which the Committee considers inaccurate, as constitutional power legitimately lies with the president.
Recommendations:
The Board of the Independent Media Commission at its meeting held on Wednesday 26th October 2022, fully endorsed the recommendations of the Complaints Committee as follows:
- That a fine of NLe1, 000 (One Thousand New Leones) be levied on NightWatch Newspaper for breach of Principle 3 of the Media Code of Practice dealing with accuracy.
- That the Nightwatch publishes a retraction of the publication with due prominence, in its next publication immediately following the receipt of this ruling.
