Marion Foon

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Marion Foon (born 1921 ; died 2012 ) was a British - Gambian journalist and editor.

Life

Foon was from Lancashire , Great Britain.

In 1955 she moved to the British colony of Gambia. She married the later Gambian politician Kebba W. Foon .

In March 1958, her husband, Melvin B. Jones and other members of the Gambia National Party founded The Vanguard newspaper , with Marion Foon as a news editor. Her activity fell at a time when the press was censored and critical journalism was hindered. The "Vanguard" attracted attention because of its particularly strong anti-colonial texts. Foon gave a lot of space to nationalist and women's issues. In addition, there were reports on socially critical and anti-colonial topics .

In 1960 she was editor-in-chief for eight months. She was the first woman to run and publish a newspaper in The Gambia. According to her own account, Foon and her husband took over the newspaper from co-founder JW Bidwell-Bright without having to pay anything. He was happy to get rid of the newspaper. In the 1960 parliamentary elections she defended the only female candidate Augusta Jawara against misogynist attacks.

In 1960 she gave up the post of editor-in-chief to support her husband in his political activities. In December of that year the magazine was discontinued due to technical problems or lack of money. From 1963 Dixon Colley continued to represent the radical positions with his newspaper Africa Nyaato .

In addition to journalism, Foon also got involved in society, opened a womens' center in Bakau and founded several kindergartens.

After Radio Gambia opened in 1963, she was one of the broadcaster.

literature

  • Hassoum Ceesay : Gambian women: an introductory history . 1st edition. Fulladu Publishers, Gambia 2007, p. 75-77 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b David Perfect: Historical Dictionary of The Gambia . Rowman & Littlefield, 2016, ISBN 978-1-4422-6526-4 ( google.de [accessed January 30, 2019]).
  2. ^ West Africa . West Africa Publishing Company, Limited, 1966 ( google.de [accessed January 30, 2019]).
  3. ^ A b c Arnold Hughes, David Perfect: Historical Dictionary of The Gambia . Scarecrow Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8108-6260-9 ( google.de [accessed January 30, 2019]).
  4. ↑ Alagi Yorro Jallow: Delayed Democracy: How Press Freedom Collapsed in Gambia: A Proposition for Research in the Gambian Journalism History 1965-2013 . AuthorHouse, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4918-0661-6 ( google.de [accessed January 30, 2019]).
personal data
SURNAME Foon, Marion
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Gambian journalist and editor
DATE OF BIRTH 1921
DATE OF DEATH 2012