For some weeks now, the Moderator of the CRTV Buea Saturday morning talk show programme, “Press Club” has been receiving death threats from anonymous sources.
On Tuesday, July 22, there was a new development on the many issues arising because of the said show. A Note of Service signed by the Station Manager, David Chuye Bunyui, called for suspension of the programme “Press Club” on the CRTV Regional Radio Station in Buea until further notice.
In the heat of the “Press Club” issues, iCcameron.com conducted an exclusive interview with the Station Manager, CRTV Southwest, David Chuye Bunyui.
According to him the Moderator of a programme should bring his or her guest(s) to order if he/she is going contrary to the ethics of the show.
Excerpts: Following the Note of Service, dated July 22 2014 and signed by the Station Manager, David Chuye Bunyui, the programme, “Press Club”, generally described by many as the flagship programme of CRTV Buea has been suspended till further notice. What informed the suspension of this programme?
The Saturday, July 12 episode which focussed on the Fako Division land issues was done in a very unprofessional manner. I was surprised that reputable journalists could allow their guests to mislead them the way they did in this episode. You cannot have guests who come into the studio and refer to people as ‘idiots’, ‘thieves’ and the journalists look on and do not bring the guests to order.
You cannot have people who are virtually xenophobic in their submission and the journalists side with them without bringing them to order. So, by the standards of programme management, this programme was not handled well.
We have programmes like Cameroon Calling, Morning Safari, which are equally famous, thanks to its, moderator, De Presse, which is insightful and Press Hour, which touch on burning issues. They have not been suspended?
Listen to the professional way in which these programmes are been conducted. They do not have guests come to the studio and begin to insult people. No! That is wrong! I handled Morning Safari for several years, we handled serious, delicate issues in a mature way. You do not bring guests into the studio and allow them to breed contempt. That is not correct! As journalists, as a Moderator of a programme, you should bring your guest(s) to order if you realise that he/she is going astray. If you do not do that, it means you are siding with what the guest(s) is (are) saying. That is not proper. It means you are no longer doing your job as a journalist.
Where you stampeded to take this action? Or is it a judicial action, professional or political hierarchy?
I was not stampeded. There was nothing judicial about it! It is a purely professional action. The programme was poorly done and we are going to restructure “Press Club”. We will look into it and make sure that when we bring back the programme, things will be done the right way.
What is going to replace the airtime for “Press Club”? We are looking out for something. If we cannot get something better, we will fill the air with music instead of having people who will come on the airwaves and say any kind of thing.
Is the suspension not going to compromise the audience your station has enjoyed over the years? “Press Club” is not the only interesting programme aired on CRTV Southwest. I do not know if people enjoy listening to insults. If that is what my listeners on CRTV Buea want, then it is regrettable.
Some observers and members of the public, who hold that the programme has touched on them, claim that the programme has gone xenophobic, yet the panellists come from across Cameroon. How will you react to that?
When someone who is on the panel goes as far as saying that you Walter Wilson Nana, who comes from the West Region of Cameroon, should not buy and own land in Buea, is that correct? And that land can only be leased to you. Is that right? That is against national unity, national integration, which the Head of State is preaching every day. We have worked so hard to bring this country together. I think that people should not tear us apart at this time.
As we continue to build press freedom in Cameroon, what is your advice?
Journalists should be responsible. We have fought hard to have the press freedom we have in Cameroon. Some of us have suffered, been to jail and suspended from our jobs. People should not come today and compromise what we have worked for in several years. That is my advice to all journalists; those in the private and public media alike. We have to be responsible in the way we handle issues.
Any message to your colleagues of CRTV Buea? Handle your work professionally. Be professional in everything you do. Once you are professional in everything you do, there is no problem. That is what the General Manager of CRTV Amadou Vamoulke reminds all of us of; that we should be professional in whatever we do. And what was done on July 12 2014 on “Press Club” was uncalled for. We should learn to be professional and remain professionals.
Knowing the love you have for the profession, are you ready to dialogue with the panellists of “Press Club” for the programme to be better?
We are going to work on the programme and make sure that if it comes back on the air, it is done in a professional manner. We want to have our audience, we want to have exciting programmes on the air, but, we must not allow people to say just anything just because we want to have programme that is exciting.
I still think that we can and should do the right thing. I believe that we can do the right thing and we know what is right. We know what is right!! So, we should do what is right; what is professionally right.
