MONROVIA-The Executive Director of Premium Time Center for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) says Liberia will not get better in the absence of an empowered media.
Speaking at the end of a three-day intensive fact checking training for 20 Liberian Journalists, Dapo Olorunyomi indicated that Liberia democracy will only progress when the media is empowered. But in the absence of that, the country will not get any better.
He underscored the Need for Government and other private institutions to empower the Liberian Media, noting “Journalists Must Have a better living Standard.”
Dapo bewailed; “Due to the Covid -19, Many Media Institutions In west Africa and Liberia are currently Facing serious economic instability which is leading to many Journalists being put out of Work and some underpaid.”
According to him, something needs to be done urgently to navigate the current economic constraints the media is faced with, stressing the need to have a strong and Sustainable Media in Liberia.
He cautioned Journalists to focus on Investigative and Fact Checking stories rather than running after Political and press conference stories.
The Premium Times Center for Investigative Journalism told Participants that the Challenges to Succeed in the Media requires a strong Focus minded individuals with an Innovative skills.
He pledged his institution’s support to the Liberian Media in the Area of training and other Areas. He said the Liberia’s media has a strong tradition of promoting accountability since the 1826 founding of the Liberian Herald by Charles Force, but fact-checking is in recent time with Stage media, and an erstwhile leader in rural journalism, Local Voices, which incorporated fact checking into its journalism earlier this year; is helping to fight misinformation and promoting media literacy in the country.
For her part, Stage Media Executive, Betty Johnson Mbayo said she was very much happy for the Training and thanked the Partners for their full support in making the Training come to past and encouraged the Participants to make use of the Knowledge.
At the same time, over 20 Journalists from across Montserrado County have been trained to combat information disorder in Liberia.
The intensive three days training was organized by the Premium Times Center for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) in collaboration with the Stage Media.
Remarking at the close of the event, Mrs. Bettie Johnson Mbayo said the Stage Media aim is to change the Pattern of Journalism and fact checking.
She encouraged those trainees to venture more into facts checking as they go about their duties thus turning as a new way of Journalism.
Mrs. Mbayo lauded Premium Times for the opportunity and pledged her organization’s willingness to support the Liberian Media, especially in the area of facts checking.
Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) was established in 2018. It is an independent, transparent and non-partisan and abides with the Code of Principles of the International Fact-checking Network (IFCN) to which it is a signatory. DUBAWA is a transnational verification and fact-checking platform, initiated by the Premium.