The Liberian media have been cautioned and reminded that they have a duty of responsible journalism to the public and must endeavor to ensure professional and ethical practices.
At the signing ceremony of a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) between media practitioners and Law enforcement officers on Monday November 28, the Head of the ECOWAS Commission in Liberia Ambassador Josephine Nkrunmah, urged journalists to aspire for responsible and professional journalism which promote democracy and consolidate Liberia hard earn peace.
She amplified that the role of the media cannot be overly emphasized, given the history we have in Africa especially when it comes to elections as a key conflict trigger stating, “We cannot joke with the kind of utterances we are hearing from journalists and let me remind them that they owe a duty to Liberia and themselves to aspire for objectivity which is required of journalists.”
She added that in as much as media houses today are full with patronage from political parties or political partisanship which in itself is beginning to sound more like a propaganda than objectivism it is also important that journalists stand up to patrons and speak truth to power because they owe it first to the people of Liberia to promote peace.
She said it is critically important that the role of women is captured in the SOP because women make up half of the population adding, “We need to be mindful that half of the population is women and if you don’t give women their voices you will be silencing the voices of half of the population and if you do that you will not have a true representation of the views and voices of the people of Liberia.”
She called on the media to ensure that the SOP is disseminated in the smallest communities where journalists who are influencers through media and professional journalism are pointing out, “Today, journalism has all kinds of people who are claiming to be journalists but this SOP must flow downward that it gives everybody the understanding and awareness on how they ought to engage each other and report to the public.”
She urged stakeholders to not only depend on the journalists to create awareness on the SOP but everyone should make it a duty noting, “Let us remember that in as much as all of us might not be journalist we all can become mouthpiece for the voice of peace and continue to speak peace in various aspects of the elections in 2023 and beyond”
She pledged ECOWAS continuous support to Liberia’s journey of peace consolidation and ECOWAS looks forward to the next few months of Peacebuilding and enhanced engagement amongst all stakeholders.
Launching the SOP on behalf of the government, Liberia’s Peace Ambassador Eric S. Quaqua said whatever security forces do in the 2023 elections, posterity will judge them.
He cautioned them to stand out to do their duties so that the Liberians can feel their positive impact and also thank them. He reminded journalists that though it is often said that journalists can make and break people, the 2023 election is a High-Stake Elections, so, journalists must be careful in what they report and how they report it.
“The reasons we keep saying high stake elections in 2023 is because this hard earn peace that we’ve sustained has come a long way so, standing here to sign this SOP shows that all you have come thus far in coordinating your efforts together to achieve your goal of sustaining peace,” he stated.
The Liberia National Police, Liberian Immigration Service and the media have been busy for two years brainstorming and discussing this document, because during elections there are series of issues between Law Enforcement Officers and the media.
Though the media over laps functions and at times Law enforcers also do the same therefore, coming together for the past two years to produce this document that is being signed today gives hope; reported by Siatta Scott-Johnson
