http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

By   Dr. Russom Mesfun

While incessantly expressing our views on the nature and state of our opposition groups, we should also perhaps take a moment to reflect on whether or not we're being helpful to The Cause.

This should particularly be the case with those of us who've taken it upon ourselves to oppose the regime in Asmara by being active writers in the media.

We all know that there's such a thing as a weapon of mass destruction, a deadly force that can wipe out humankind within a short time span. We should be equally mindful that the deadliest of all weapons is the written word. If deployed recklessly, it has the power to menace society and wreak havoc.

Conversely, the written word could also be a weapon of mass construction, a potent force that could heal and unite, educate and support, inform and inspire.

To that end, it's high time for those of us in the media to take a look at ourselves, to reflect on our practices, to ask whether we have been assets or liabilities, uniters or dividers? Are we planting the seeds of democracy or we’re poisoning them.

No worthwhile media outlet would publish any news item without checking the veracity of the same item from the opposite side, a standard operating procedure in the newsroom.

We Eritreans should take pride in the fact that we have a culture that goes way back before the Western media developed an evenhanded approach to reporting. Indeed, we all grew up hearing that oft-repeated saying, "ዘረባ ክልተ ከይሰማዕካ ኣይትፍረድ,” meaning, “Do not judge before hearing from the two sides.”

Sadly -- and much to the detriment of our struggle -- we do not seem to have adhered to this true-and-tried practice bequeathed by our forefathers and foremothers.

Whenever we report or write grandiose and sweeping commentary, where do we get our information from? Who are our sources? Do we, for instance, talk to all parties in our opposition or we have a tendency to take sides, to whisper to specific groups and/or individuals?

No matter how seemingly minor a given issue, presenting only one side of the story is irresponsible, to say the least. In the case of Eritrea and its sensitive political conditions, it's divisive and downright destructive.