DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER is born from a rich editorial background that will initiate a guideline policy to work on the platform of editorial independence, fairness and credibility which all gear towards upholding both the ethical principles and the legal framework for media regulations in Sierra Leone. By so doing, we are keen to focus on prioritizing several areas in our editorial coverage, which are explained in details below.

• Firstly, key amongst the many issues that will be fostered by DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER will be to uphold an independent and impartial editorial stance that will suppress the already ethno-regional and ethno-political divides which has plunged the Sierra Leonean society. As the name implies, DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER will always stand tall to portray the true image of a typical Sierra Leonean media. This is why as a team we have worked assiduously to setup a website (demirrornewspaper.com) so as to cater for our Sierra Leonean audience in and out of the country. We are also working on getting our printed newspaper circulated in all the five (5) regions of the country. We are also setting-up our various social media feeds on Facebook and Twitter to get Sierra Leoneans connected irrespective of region of origin to have an equitable platform to discuss issues revolving the welfare of the country.

• Furthermore, another major policy guideline of DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER is to uphold the sanctity of Fundamental Human Rights of Sierra Leoneans irrespective of tribe, ethnicity, religion and social origins. Human rights, DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER believes, are sacred rights which every human being are entitled to basically because they are human beings. They are rights that are God’s given which are protected by our sacred 1991 Constitution and most legal statutes in the country. In our Sierra Leone 1991 Constitution for instance, Chapter 3 detailed all of these rights, with most others found in other parliamentary statutes. During our findings, DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER feels that these rights are constantly being infringed upon, but the media has always under-reported issues of human rights. Hardly will we see newspaper frontpages prioritizing human rights reporting. We are seeing the media more focused on political reporting.

As a result, DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER is formulating an operational policy guideline to always prioritise human rights journalism, and to equip our staff to always report on human rights issues, irrespective of where they happen, no matter where they take place, and no matter the tribe or social origins of the people who are involved. DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER believes that never again must we sit and watch the Sierra Leonean society violate human rights and say we will not report. DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER believes that it is its policy to report on the sanctity of human rights and to report on the protection of dignity of people inline with our established laws in Sierra Leone.

• In addition, DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER is keen on formulating policy guideline to create awareness on the gender laws and laws protecting children in Sierra Leone. Already, the Proprietor and Managing Editor of the newspaper Abdul Malik Bangura, whilst previously serving as editor of one of the newspapers in the country, had been invited to the Africa Union (AU) in Addis Ababa as part of an high-level media platform to discuss “The Role of the Media in Africa’s Development, Women’s Empowerment and its support for Agenda 2063.” He says he believes that attending that particular conference in Addis Ababa in 2017 was never a mistake, but rather a platform to enrich the Sierra Leone female populace on several issues on gender empowerment etc.

DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER therefore believes that there is no way of creating awareness on gender and children’s issues without first of all letting the women know their rights as enshrined in the three (3) gender laws of the country (Devolution of Estate Act; Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act; and the Domestic Violence Act) and the Child Rights Act. By so doing, we are creating a platform of getting together urban and rural women share experience on issues of their welfare. Also, we are going to prioritise the reporting of situations of children involved in rape, sexual penetration, child trafficking etc. DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER will on every edition allocate a full page to report gender and children’s issues throughout the country.

• Meanwhile, another major policy guideline of DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER will be to report on issues of planning the environment and the impact of urbanization in our cities across Sierra Leone. Freetown is a very disaster prone city, and illegal mining is hitting hard on the fabric of our provincial communities. The media coverage on the negative impact of people living in disaster prone communities is really low. Hardly will a media outlet cover these issues, unless at the time when we are plunged with mayhem. For example, our media neglected ever covering the negative effects of people living in disaster prone areas, not until after the August 14 2017 mudslide and flooding disaster.

That notwithstanding, we still have many others whose lives are endangered, thus DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER will be prioritizing reporting on how to plan our cities.

• Additionally, DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER has also worked on formulating a policy that will create an equal and balance coverage of both the rural and urban communities. Sierra Leone provinces are disadvantaged communities. Our estimate is that more that 98% of registered newspapers in Sierra Leone are in the capital Freetown. This means, the geographical proximity paradigm of Galtung and Ruge is very eminent in our newspaper coverage. Most often, our newspapers try to more focus on reporting of events in Freetown against the provinces.

The lack of coverage of events in the provinces has seen Sierra Leone suffered two major outbreaks. The rebel war in 1991 and the Ebola Outbreak in 2014 which all started in remote Bomaru and Gbondu respectively, in Kailahun District, Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Therefore, DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER has formulated a strategy of getting community people sending news about their communities through our various social media feeds and even in our email to ensure that we create awareness to the relevant authorities of negative and urgent situations across the country.

Conclusion

In conclusion, one of the major policy guideline we will continue to uphold as very sacred is to formulate a working team that will comprise individuals from all regions across Sierra Leone. DE MIRROR NEWSPAPER frowns against discrimination and segregation on the basis of tribe, social origin, ethnicity, religious belief etc. We will always seek to protect the interest of Sierra Leone against the selfish desires of men.