Ntumfor Halle presses for media subsidies

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle has stated that the Parliament in Cameroon ought to allocate a portion of govt budget to subsidise the media given the important role it plays as the fourth estate of the realm.

Ntumfor Halle, who is also the President of the General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association, was speaking in an interview he granted The Post in view of the 2015 edition of the World Press Freedom Day.

Reacting to a question on why he is always on the side of journalists while other people treat them with scorn, Ntumfor said, “Let me tell you of the pronouncements of Thomas Jefferson, a former American President who said he will prefer the press to Government if he had to choose one. You know what that means. By that he gives the press a of place pride and relevance because he knows what the press can do for the society".

"I, like him, consider the press as an organ which is indispensable in development because the press informs, educates, creates debates and transforms. Do you know that the press is the only structure in the society that can determine the temperature of a nation? Take away the media, everybody will be blind, and will not know what is really happening in their country.”

Asked what the press does to him, particularly, Ntumfor responded, “I read newspapers, watch TV and listen to news on the radio and they all educate me a lot.

If I had my way, the budget of the media being the fourth estate will be voted by Parliament so that they can contribute by doing their job thoroughly and properly.

It is true that the Government is making some sacrifices to the private press, but I think that much still has to be done.

Inasmuch as I recognise the value of the press, I also hammer and criticize what my good brother, Choves Loh, aptly calls “ugly journalism.” I like news reports based on investigations, analysis, true facts properly crosschecked before dissemination.

Remember Napoleon Bonaparte, though so powerful, said he feared the pen of a journalist more than a thousand bayonets. A hungry journalist will write hungry news, a shabby journalist will write shabby news, and a poor journalist will write poor news.”

Questioned if he has ever been affected by “ugly journalism” personally, he answered, “Yes, as a matter of fact, some years ago, a guy made me ‘Man of the Year'. What I read on the papers one month after, about one of those he honoured was so filthy that I started asking the 'raison d’être' for awards. This is however, an isolated case that should not be generalised. Some of the awards are very genuine.”

Commenting on the commemoration of the Press Freedom, Halle said, “At this juncture and since this event coincides with the World Press Freedom Day, I would like to extend to the entire media family in Cameroon my congratulations on their anniversary for being frontline Nation Builders. May God bless them in all their efforts by providing them the needed resources for the execution of their daunting tasks?”

In answer to whether he still believes in the ‘Man of the Year Award’, Ntumfor mused, “I don’t fully know the criteria used to determine the winner of the award.

If the award is based on some honest efforts that have been made by the receiver of the award, then, I have no problem with that. If however, the award was made based on pecuniary motives, then this would be unfortunate. Such an award means nothing.