By Gideon Nma Scott, Jr.
The Managing Editor of the Inquirer Newspaper, C. Winnie Saywah-Jimmy, urged Liberian journalists to be ethical and professional in their career, especially during these electioneering periods.
She said journalism is a noble profession and journalists should not allow themselves to be used or misused by non-media practitioners to abuse the nobility of the profession.
Madam Jimmy made the statement yesterday, June 5, 2023 when she served as guest lecturer for the Communication 415 Script and Feature Writing Class at the United Methodist University delving on the structure of the newspaper in Liberia.
“Always be ethical and professional in your duty as journalists or reporters especially during these elections period. Let us remember that journalism brings fame and forges strange bedfellows but we journalists should not allow politicians and non-journalists cause us to abuse our own profession,” the Inquirer boss warned.
She noted that journalists should work to uphold the integrity of their profession with passion and jealously including the image of the media in general noting, “All of you are under obligation to protect the image of our profession and let me tell you this, there is no story worth dying for.”
Speaking on the structure of the newspaper, she said every newspaper is structured as its editorial policy depicts and the Inquirer is not an exception pointing out, “But what we try to do, unlike some newspaper, is try not to sensationalize our story headlines or publish stories that attack the character of people in government and the opposition, especially when we are going to a crucial election.”
“And let me tell you this and I’m serious about it, the newsroom is a place to be focus and work. It is not like the radio where the actuality can fit in. Newspaper reporters must be mentally and academically fit because newsroom is for writers and not lazy people,” she emphasized.
She averred, “I am encouraging you, our emerging journalists to choose the print media over radio and social media, because it is where you will feel your true worth as journalists.”
In remarks, the students praised Madam Jimmy for the eye-opener to some actual work of a journalist and the newsroom.
Student Bendu Gracious said, “We appreciate you for your time, moreover for opening our eyes to some of the things that happen in the newspaper and how the newspaper is structured. We hope that you can come by some day with more lectures on our career as journalists.
