Join the Department of Journalism for a Brown Bag Talk with Francis Sowa (PhD), Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Communication, Media and Information Studies and National Coordinator of the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG).

Sierra Leone has had a long history of print and electronic media presence in Africa. The country had its first newspaper in 1801 and radio station in 1934.  Since then, the media landscape has grown, amidst various challenges, including what the celebrated Sierra Leonean born and American trained- media and communication Professor Ritchard M’Bayo calls “media poverty.” The sector continues to operate with largely outdated pieces of equipment for both print and electronic media and lacks all kinds of resources. Ironically, the number of media institutions registered with the country’s media regulator is very high—over 500—although more than half of them not operational. The ones that operate survive on what they mostly get on a daily basis. Yet they produce contents and people recognise their important role in society. There is no shortage of reform initiatives, including the repeal of criminal libel law; various capacity building programs; and more so a media viability and investment conference. But the results are far from what is expected to take the country’s media to a position in which they will be at par with their peers.

About the Presenter
Francis Sowa is the head of the journalism department at Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone.  He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Sierra Leone. He is a media freedom advocate, journalist and senior lecturer with over twenty-one years working experience. He is currently the National Coordinator of the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), a Secretariat that brings together ten national media institutions advocating media reform, freedom and capacity building. He also leads the National Fund for Public Interest Media which has been established with the support of IFPIM and the BBC Media Action. He was a media regulator at the Independent Media Commission (IMC) where represented the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ). He is a human rights activist, researcher, writer, columnist, and social and political analyst.