By Jacob N.B. Parley
The author
When it comes to whether or not it is professionally prudent for an individual to point out his accomplishments or allow such story to be narrated by those who follow these contributions, two schools of thought have emerged.
One of the arguments is that it is advisable for the work of an individual to speak for him, while the second school of thought is that such individual has to come out to tell his own story. Whatever the case may be, these narrations always serve as inspiration to others.
One of my former grade school instructors (Zwedru Multilateral), an Indian, P.J.Jacobs once said, “If you don’t say I am, nobody will say you are.” It took me a never-ending moment of attentiveness, trying to comprehend the meaning of Mr. Jacobs’ statement.
Taking into consideration how the life of an individual gives hope to others, I have decided to use my former Indian teacher’s argument as the basis to take a reflective look at contributions made to the Liberian society over the past twenty five years through my works as a journalist.
My Foot Prints
- Liberia Broadcasting System (1998-2019)
I worked at the Liberia Broadcasting System for twenty one years before resigning in early 2019, because of a number of reasons I am not prepared to include here for now.
1.While at LBS, especially on the editorial team, there was no time I was not requested by successive management teams at LBS to oversee tutorage for mass communication-graduating students from the University of Liberia and United Methodist University. I never ever went to my bosses to ask them to assign these extra responsibilities to me, especially when there were colleagues in the newsroom boasting of mass communication degrees. For me, my degrees are not in journalism, but God has blessed me with more than fifteen journalism certificates with at least two earned internationally. These journalism papers are backed with many years of extensive practice and an all-encompassing writing skills, etc.
Taking the SWOATS analysis into consideration, former heads of LBS (Broadcasting Division) who always referred these assignments to me knew what they saw in me. Some of the people I helped to nurture are making head ways in many sectors of the country and elsewhere.
- When the Liberian government invited a US-based Liberian, Dr. Sakui Malakpai during the 2008 National Independence Day to serve as the National Orator, former LBS Director General, Charles Alexander Snetter, Jr., walked into the newsroom, saw all other editors with mass communication degrees but singled me out, to do an exclusive interview with Dr. Malakpai on an LNTV Program run by me (Reflection on Society).
Dr. Malakpai, a visually impaired educator was at the time teaching All vision Courses at the Toledo University. Mr. Snetter, looking at the Orator’s intellectual erudition saw it expedient to select an editorial staff who could absorb Dr. Malakpai’s intellectual prowess.
- between 2007-2008, when current Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., was Vice President, the choice for Mr. Snetter for an editorial staff to conduct an exclusive with him was me. The exclusive, done at the Capitol, delved into President Baokai’s great work at the YMCA many years back. I guess somebody who is not professionally up to the task will not always be selected successively to perform these roles.
Executive Mansion
- When I was assigned to the Executive Mansion in March 2011 as correspondent for ELBC, my performance /productivity was recognized by former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in less than a year on the assignment, when others had been there for several years before my arrival. There was a time President Sirleaf requested to meet with journalists covering the Executive Mansion. The introduction started and I was uncalculatedly in the 25th position. The moment my name was called, President Sirleaf did not allow the press secretary at the time (2011) to conclude the introduction when she came in and said: “Yes, I think Mr. Parley does not need introduction, since he was assigned here, he is one of the few journalists who continue to ensure expeditious coverage of my office; rain or shine I always see him here. I also see honesty and respect in his life and I wish to recognize him for this,” said the former Liberian Chief Executive.
Now, what I am saying here does not suggest that I was the only journalist covering the Executive Mansion with diligence, but as I mentioned earlier, former President Sirleaf’s decision was obviously informed by what she saw in me.
There were media colleagues who said my recognition was not fruitful since no envelope (money) job, scholarship or any token was given. But for me, I did not see money, material attachment or any of the other things mentioned by my some of colleagues as the only value of the recognition. My thinking was that for a sitting Liberian President of Madam Sirleaf’s caliber, well-schooled in contemporary local and international politics to have taken due note of my performance in such a relatively short time on the assignment was more than civil and gold.
Besides, I had earlier published several media opinions about the Liberian Presidency in several local dailies; including: 1.News Gathering at the Presidency: Protocol Vs. Expediency and Security; 2. One Year Covering the Executive Mansion: Advantages and Disadvantages (2012); 3. When A Journalist Is Interviewed By Criminals Against His Will (2013), etc.
A lot of people within the corridors of the Executive Mansion were touched by my work, especially for a journalist working at an electronic media institution to be writing appealing articles in the print. I received commendations for my performance.
God’s favor located me in March 2013, when I was included on the President’s trip to the Netherlands for a WASH conference from where we flew to Bali, Indonesia for the 4th and Final Meeting of Eminent Persons on the High Level Panel (HLP) on the Post 2015 Development Agenda. Unfortunately for the President, her Press Secretary at the time, now Minister of Information, Jerolinmik Piah’s flight schedule was different and so he could not be with us at The Hague.
Glaringly knowing my potential, the Liberian Leader, sent Mrs. Toles to call me while she was having breakfast at Hilton Hotel. Initially when Mrs. Toles gave me the message about the President wanting to see me, I almost lost appetite while also having breakfast, thinking that I had done something wrong. However, when I arrived at the President’s breakfast table, I quickly greeted her and she responded with a smile, saying: “Mr. Parley, I guess you know that my press secretary is not here, his flight schedule is different and so I am looking up to you to ensure that every activity that will take place here will be handled by you and shared with your colleagues back home,” she said. With joy occupying my heart, my face beaming with smile, I immediately responded to the President’s call in the affirmative, thanked her and took leave of her to begin work.
Truly, God was with me as I did my best to live up to the assigned task and fed my colleagues back home with stories about President Sirleaf’s engagements with stakeholders at The Hague. From this point we flew to Jakarta, Indonesia, where the President left us and came back to Liberia after the HLP meeting. We had to fly back to the Netherlands before coming back to Liberia as per our flight schedule.
As a result of my great work, I was informed that when she returned to Liberia, my colleagues (Executive Mansion reporters) who had gone to the Roberts International Airport (RIA) to receive her from Bali, Indonesia could not do the normal lengthy interview, where Presidents usually take up time to give updates/outcome of foreign trips. “Well, for now I have nothing else to say about my visit to the Netherlands because all the good things that happened while I was there were sent back home by your colleague from ELBC (Jacob Parley),” the President is said to have told Executive Mansion reporters during a live-interview. Again, there were colleagues who felt that the praises were not impactful once no token was given in appreciation of my hard work.
I responded once again by saying life is not always about money.
However, when news about the President showering praises on me for industriousness started spreading like bush fire right after the foreign trip, I was prematurely withdrawn from the Executive Mansion in 2013 and re-assigned in the newsroom with the title of sub-editor, but the colleague I met on the assignment had spent over six years and was still kept there.
- When I was at LBS, nearly all the opinions published on the System’s website were written by me. I kept writing them to the extent that some people even thought I was the director of public affairs. Initially, I used to send them to my colleagues in the print media to avoid the person who was responsible for public affairs seeing me as trying to unseat him. However, one day, former LBS Director General, Ledgerhood Rennie, taking into consideration the appealing nature of my writings asked me to equally share them with ELBC. “Jacob, you can’t be in a house, cook all the good food and share it with outsiders alone and forget about your own house,” he said. The both of us laughed about it, and realizing that he was my boss (head of broadcasting), including respect for his office, I wasted no time by responding in the affirmative. Regrettably, those who succeeded Mr. Rennie at the Liberia Broadcasting removed all the media opinions from the website. In some institutions, such writings are kept for research purposes. However, I thank God that these articles are still in numerous local dailies and found on websites where people are following.
To be continued!
The author is a Liberian media professional, with over twenty-five years of extensive practice, both print and electronic. He is a Former Vice President of the Press Union of Liberia, Former News Director; Editor-in-Chief, Executive Mansion Correspondent, etc. (Liberia Broadcasting System). He earned a Post Graduate Diploma in Modern Development Diplomacy from the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute, carries more than fifteen journalism certificates, two of which were earned from the People’s Republic of China, etc.
The author has published volumes of opinions on media, economic, diplomatic and political issues over the past two decades. Among them are: 1.Truly, Liberia Has Won: Weah- Boakai Statements Validate Author’s Opinion; 2. Africa’s Journey To A Single Market- A Few Quarrelsome Issues; 3. Ratification of The Trade Facilitation Agreement- A Nationalistic Decision; 4.The Need To Transform Liberia’s Media Generalists Into Specialists, etc.
He’s reachable through: jacobtheancestor@yahoo.com/jacobnbparley1@gmail.comContacts: +231777604576/886560455 WhatsApp: +231881336137
