The Daily IIJ » Georges Gbogbohoundada

Treat the receptionist with respect

Georges Gbogbohoundada — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:36:19 +0000

One of the many challenges in journalism is to get the correct and reliable details of the story one is covering. Journalists are sometimes scared to cover certain topics which according to them are complicated. But to Susanne Koelbl, getting to do a story you were always afraid of might at the end of the day appear to be simpler than you would have imagined.

Creating contacts and knowing ‘everyone’ pay when tackling stories that might appear difficult. A good journalist builds trust with sources. Sources must feel comfortable in giving information to journalists and a journalist must NEVER promise something he or she cannot deliver.

Once you create the contact, it is also important to know how and which questions to ask so that you get the information you want. Knowing how and which question to ask is very important when you want somebody to give real information or what you really want when you are interviewing somebody.

Reagan and Georges

Can neutrality be relative?

Georges Gbogbohoundada — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:51:34 +0000

A journalist must be neutral, that is one of the first things a student willing to become a professional journalist must know. And this assertion seems to be universally shared by all professional journalists. But more and more, the concept of neutrality tends to be relativized and its definition differs from one journalist to another.

Despite all the different definitions journalists can give to neutrality, there is one thing on which they must agree. Indeed, even if in practice it is more or less difficult to be neutral, journalists should honestly recognize that it is a duty for them to be neutral.

But after our visit to one of the most important newspapers in Germany, Die Welt, and after its deputy editor , Ms. Seibel, stated that: ”A journalist is never neutral”, it seems very important to define once more the role of a journalist. It needs to be said that there is a difference between a journalist and a communicator.

A journalist is only supposed to inform whereas a communicator in addition to the facts can for instance educate people, entertain people or sensitize people. In this case he or she is no more a journalist, and can therefore forget about neutrality.

So from the definition of the role of a journalist given above, it is clear that a journalist has to be neutral and when he takes a position when dealing with news or while reporting, he is no more a journalist but a communicator. And as young journalists, it is very important to keep that in mind.

A unique example from Benin

Georges Gbogbohoundada — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:29:55 +0000

Yesterday, we had a very interesting discussion with Dr. Redelfs about the freedom of press. I tried to share my country’s experience with the other participants but I was not given the opportunity. So I think that the blog is a means I can use to do it. Indeed, the freedom of press is a reality in Benin Republic. Every journalist is free to write anything he wants without being threatened. Sometimes, the journalists abuse that right by disregarding ethics and their responsibilities. And this is what some of us are fighting. We know that this kind of struggle has never been easy to lead, but we will do it. Let me give you an example to illustrate my point.

I’m quite sure that this example is unique in the world. Can you imagine? During his presidential mandate, our former president Matthew Kerekou signed a sort of contract with the journalists saying that he would never arrest a journalist and during his reign no journalist was jailed. Even when his circle of acquaintances asked him to react, he said no and added: “Let them write anything they want, if this can allow them to live, there is no problem.” However, there is something we are currently afraid of. Since his election in 2006, our new president Dr. Boni Yayi has been trying by all possible means to control the press. I can even say that a journalist has already been jailed but fortunately after two days of demonstration, he was released. I think that this arrest is the beginning of a long process, because after this colleague many other journalists were threatened. How do you think we can thwart his attempts of controlling the press before it becomes more serious?