The national press card commission installed

The Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary has installed Sévérin Tchounkeu as the new president of the Commission for the issuance of the press card and nine others as the new executives of national press card commission.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary made it clear to them that they “must exclude those who, at one time or another, would act contrary to the perpetuation of such merit. I urge you to harness yourselves without any idea of complicity or bias.”

Considered as the most ‘beautiful’ job in the world, journalism is infiltrated by non-professionals in Cameroon. As a result, there are abuses of privacy, defamation and false news that are recorded on a daily basis. According to the Cameroonian communication body, it has comes to redeem the profession of journalists by a careful selection of those who are up to the task.

The Minister insisted that executives under Séverin Tchounkeu “should endeavor to make the press an instrument for development, a body that protects the interests of the nation and one which should not be held liable to all forms of aggression on the destabilization of the nation. We live in a ‘poisonous’ world. The press is powerful. We should not use it to destabilize the country", noted Issa Tchiroma Bakary.

The Minister gave full authority to the new executives of the Commission for the issuance of the press card. "Your responsibility is to make sure everything is in order. Work on the broken pieces to save the remains of the body and restore the dignity of the profession. The press should be regulated by its professionals," he said.

Based on the distinction between professionals and non-professionals, the new team for the issuance of the press card were asked must make sure every document received is from a reliable source. Before the title as a journalist is legitimately obtained, the individual should provide the "essential" professional facilities: telephone number, internet access, hotel accommodation and other vital information.

Mincom also asked them to put their expertise and experience together to achieve the objectives assigned to them.

This Committee has existed since 2002. It is responsible for issuing press cards and letters of accreditation to the professionals.

Only those who graduates from the institutions specialized in journalism training among other criteria are entitled to have a press card in Cameroon that.