Gambian Media Mourns Death of Legendary Broadcaster, George Christensen

George at Civil Society Forum (Photo credit: Sainey MK Marenah)

Local journalists in Banjul have described the death of Mr. George Christensen, the founder and proprietor of Radio 1 FM as “a big loss and a sad day for The Gambian media.”

Mr. Christensen, 64, died on June 3, 2016 when he returned to Banjul after attending the second ‘International Civil Society Forum on The Gambia’ in Dakar, Senegal ahead of the ECOWAS Summit. 

The veteran radio journalist, commonly referred to as Uncle George by young journalists, trained some of the finest journalists, and bloggers in The Gambia – some of whom owned radio stations and online multimedia news outlets.  

Lecturer at GPU School of Journalism Dies

Irmelin Mei Viegas with students during a field trip (Photo Credit: Irmelin/FacebookTimeline) Irmelin was intelligent and inspirational, and has a great sense of humour, said Zainab Faal (Right, in black shirt)

‘We Kept The Fighting Spirit To The End’

A Valedictory Statement by Talibeh Hydara, a Graduate of The Gambia Press Union School of Journalism. 

 

Valedictorian Talibeh Hydara (Photo Credit: Sang Mendy)

Talibeh Hydara, the best student at the school, said Friday that 12 of 20 students, who started the course in 2012, had kept a fighting spirit to the end of a rigorous academic challenge. 

The Gambia Press Union (GPU) School of Journalism graduate its first batch of students who attained a higher diploma in journalism during a ceremony held at a local hotel in Kololi.

“We kept this spirit, not just because we wanted to, but because we had the best lecturers whose inputs were magnetic,” Mr. Hydara said on Jan. 16, 2015.

Read on, his full statement:

Gambia: Journalism School Graduate First Batch

Students pose to the cameras shortly before the opening ceremony (Photo Credit: Sang Mendy)