Liberia: The Media as Mercenary [opinion]

One frontline Government Ministry has reached its decision and a sound one. It will no longer advertise in this paper because 'yall talk too much about corruption." Another is more sophisticated. After accumulating advertisement bills amounting to thousands of dollars, it adopts a caveat when it comes to payment. And this is almost after a year of debt accumulation.

 

It simply demands presentation of endless documents such tax payment, business registration, or one's great grandfather's birth certificate. The intent, naturally, is not pay and there is absolutely nothing that can be done except expensive and futile legal action in the belief that 'one cannot fight the government'. In the end, it is better never to accept advertisement from state entities.

 

Moreover, for every advertisement that is printed, Government officials demand commission ranging from 10 to 15%. Thus on average, their commissions on advertisement are more than their monthly salaries.

 

All this would be fair if the 'commissions' were deserved. In normal circumstances, a commission is paid for an idea, such as carving an advertisement and convincing the client to pay for it. But both with the NGO and Government circles, this is never the case. Advertising a job placement or a government announcement is not an idea. It is a demand, a requirement in most cases from international organizations pumping their money here. But by simply delivering the advertisement, a "commission" is demanded. This means that media entities are sharing meagre earnings with state and NGO employees, subsidizing them involuntarily. All this is apart from the fact that media entities must pay taxes on these commissions.

 

State restriction the media is now taking a more sophisticated forms, far distant from the past when bans and arrests were the norm. Now, it is the state applying its economic and financial prowess against those it dislikes.

 

This scenario is relevant to the US State Department Human Rights Report on Liberia, in which journalists are listed as amongst the corrupt, demanding and receiving money for favourable stories on NGO and government officials. In this case, truth is now defined by the almighty dollar and nothing more.

 

The US Report noted: "The independent media was active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction; however, journalists commonly accepted payments to publish articles, and did not always fact-check their sources.

 

"In Monrovia there were approximately a dozen newspapers that published during the year with varying degrees of regularity; six were independent dailies, and five were independent biweekly newspapers. The government published the New Liberian newspaper. Due to the price of newspapers and transportation, the 55-75 percent illiteracy rate, and road conditions elsewhere in the country, newspaper distribution generally was limited to the Monrovia region.

 

Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that individuals had been bribed to kill newspaper publishers "

 

These are fair comments, indicating the pervasiveness of corruption and lack of integrity at all levels of the society. Money for a false stories has become common amongst journalists and even for editors determined to end such practice, discovering it can be difficult, if not impossible. Singing the financier's praises is therefore normal for the cash that comes in many forms. With high levels of illiteracy and poverty, independent journalism is sometimes viewed as opposition, particularly within state circles.

 

There is no justification for the escalating levels of mercenarism in the media, but with the absence of commercially-based advertisement, placing the government and its allies in the dominating advertisement position, building an independent and provocative media is challenging.

 

 - March 21, 2010 by The New Democrat

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Source: allafrica.com/stories/201003221772.html (accessed 22.03.10)