May 25, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Managing Director of Sierra Leone’s leading sports betting and lottery company, Martin Michael, has called on all sports journalists in the country to change from the traditional sports reporting to being sports watchdog.
Michael’s clarion call came while offering his keynote address on the theme: ‘Sports for sustainable national development, the role of SWASAL’ in last weekend’s Sports Writers Association of Sierra Leone (SWASAL) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Makeni.
He said: “Mobile technology means that the whole ethos of your profession has had to change. Apps such as twitter, flash score, live score and websites such as the BBC, ESPN, and Yahoo etc. give us a running commentary of the game via messaging
“We know what is happening every second of every minute of every hour just with a flick of our fingers. The effect of this is that print is going out of style and newspapers are not only reducing copies of prints but some are even closing down their dailies and only offer online news.
“You have to adapt to this change and so you also have to change from traditional sports reporting to a sports watchdog assuming a more investigative role, an advisory role, whilst maintaining your independence, fairness and ethics. Sports for sustainable national development can only succeed if those who are tasked with this responsibility carry it out professionally and are devoid of corruption,” he said.
Michael said sports journalist should always hold the minister of sports, sports administrators and officials accountable for their actions and give praises where it is due without a reward.
“Where criticism is due then let it be given without fear. It is your moral and ethical duty as journalists to always propagate the truth and to expose the corrupt with hard facts and evidence. It is your duty to protect those who would benefit from such development,” he admonished.
According to the Mercury International MD, the greatest destroyers of national development are corruption and poor leadership.