No government, the world over, can imagine succeeding without ensuring a well organized, carefully processed, and effectively analyzed and packaged communication and information strategies to keep the population abreast of its policies and programs. Anything to the contrary is tantamount to chaos. The people have a right to know. Especially so, for a government duly elected to fulfill the people’s aspirations.
In communicating nothing but the effortless truth, must at all times – be a government’s unequivocal expected outcome. In so doing, the institution or outfits of state responsible must be adequately resourced and capacitated to deliver realistic deliverables. A former Information Minister would comically say: “We cannot expect five dollars to prepare a meal of cabbage stew.” Hmm!
Over the years, successive governments have crudely demonstrated typical nonchalance on account of empowering and fiscally resourcing the Ministry of Information, and the Liberia Broadcasting System to achieve their core values. In furtherance of the peculiar ego of various state actors in various post-conflict governments have for whatever the parochial reasons opted to use ‘private media outlets’ to play the sacred roles of traditional government’s communications team. In the end, the ultimately render MICAT, LBS, LINA and New Liberian totally redundant!
Unless neophytes who historically could be found wanting, the traditional roles of the Ministry of Information and LBS cannot be over-emphasized. Making a dramatic cum radical change in paradigm shift must be prioritized unreservedly.
Prior to the country’s 14-year-old horrific carnage, and despite state broadcaster, LBS’s lean competition from faith-based ELWA radio and Radio Bahia at the time – the state broadcaster enjoyed semi-autonomy when it came to source of credible news as it were. This was informed by the calibre of trained professionals and personnel hired in program, technical and news and Public Affairs. ELWA was largely the training ground that invariably fielded state-run ELBC with some of the best. Lest we forget, the political climate then was not pluralistic. Divergent and competing views in the political space were untenable.
We don’t need to provide any schooling here that it is a government that can best tell its own story. Prior to Liberia’s tragic conflict, the Ministry of Information was solidly multifaceted. Under Ministry of Information Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) ambit, was the once vibrant and resourceful Liberia News Agency (LINA), the once authoritative New Liberian the birth prominent journalists including the late Tom Kamara, Joe Teh, Tarty Teh et al as well as government-owned official printing press that was housed in MICAT’s basement. MICAT also had a broadcast department the presented regular features on radio and television with the likes of Anthony Selma, Slewion T. Toe, and Kla Wilson.
No one is saying the government cannot partner with private media entities let alone PR firms in pursuit of consultancy as it were but if the government must systematically achieve its desired goal, it must strategically realign and recalibrate resources prudently that will empower MICAT, LBS, LINA and New Liberian to live up to the true meaning of the creeds establishing them in the first place.
We welcome the avalanche of an increasingly competitive and somewhat frosty media environment, let alone the social media explosion. However, while we jealously welcome and recognize the obtaining contentious competition, it is imperative that government must position itself to prepare, plan, gather, research, analyze, process, gate-keep and systematically package its own communication and information tools for the desired impact.
Ironically, post-war handling of government communications and information machinery has been nothing to write home about. The Ministry of Information was not created to be reactively combative! Our language announcers must be out and about informing our people about government’s policies and programs. Our mainly rural inhabitants have a right to information and their government must deliver on such commitment.
Our lawmakers who are accordingly elected by the people must see every reason to approve reasonable appropriations for MICAT and the government’s auxiliary communication facets that will ultimately bring immense benefits to our information-seeking and news-hungry rural dwellers.
If the government must succeed in bridging the information gap, it must put its money where its mouth is by committing adequate resources that will ensure the government’s programs and policies are effectively articulated.
It is unwise for any government to fail to tell your own story as professionally as succinctly as possible!
