REFLECTING ON MY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LIBERIAN MEDIA (PART2)

By Jacob N.B. Parley

The author

Recently I began a publication that is aimed at taking a retrospective look at contributions made to the Liberian media and the larger society in my capacity as a journalist.  The publication, titled: Reflecting on My Contributions to the Liberian Media focuses on specific areas in which I have made considerable contributions.  In part one, I began with my   work at the Liberia Broadcasting System from 1998-2019. In the previous article, I listed five notable accomplishments at ELBC and today’s edition will continue with the rest; including other remarkable accomplishments at the level of the Press Union of Liberia. For those who might not have read the previous publication, kindly check the October 22, 2024 edition of the Analyst Newspaper.

Therefore, let’s begin part two by looking at other indelible marks left at the Liberia Broadcasting System.

6. At the beginning of 2010 when a new management team was named by then President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to succeed Mr. Snetter, the entire Newsroom of ELBC was visited by what political pundits described as the storm of change, named and styled “Reprofiling and Rebranding.”

The entire editorial team containing about eight editors was dissolved. The only editorial staff who survived the wind of change in the newsroom at the time is the very author of this article.

However, in the succeeding months, I observed that I was reduced in rank three-times in less than a year despite my rich media credentials and performance. This was unusual because it had not ever happened to any other editorial staff at LBS. Setting the records straight, management teams at LBS have made and continue to make changes in the newsroom based on various reasons. My experience shows that some of the reasons are professional in nature while others are sometimes influenced by politics and envy.

However, my case was extremely different, the fact that somebody with vast experience, supported by enviable media credentials could be reduced in editorial ranks three consecutive times in less than a year was dramatic. This is what I meant by unusual in the history of ELBC at the time. Take for instance (from news director to editor-in-chief, from editor-in-chief to sub editor and finally from sub editor to reporter).

Some people could have responded to this form of mental torture in a hostile way (incessant rebellion against management, undermining and non-cooperation), the fact that everyone has a way of responding to things in life. As a human, such humiliation got to me for several days, but following a careful thought, I decided to lay the situation at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and asked Him to grant me the fortitude to move ahead without looking at the painful past. Let me state here that my removal from the editorial team was not based on incompetence or lack of performance, but clearly the work of envious   elements in  the LBS Newsroom who saw me as one of the few editors who reporters/newscasters could not take for ride.

Some of these people who always see public positions as family inheritance were running from place to place, calling for my removal.  Initially, when the Ambrose Nmah led LBS Management Team was appointed, some of them embarked on frequenting the homes of some of the new political appointees with a prepared list of positions they were inordinately   opting for. During this short period, the weapon used by some of these impatient LBS employees was falsehood and scolding of others to gain favor from the new management team.   All attempts to get me on board proved fruitless because I am aware that these negative practices are usually found among irresponsible and incompetent people.

Again when the administration and these very people started falling apart, a resolution declaring no confidence in the Ambrose Nmah-led LBS Management was prepared and carried around for signatures.   I refused to sign the document. Take note,  in any institution where envy, impatience and unnecessary in-house fight for positions are the order of the day, God’s blessing finds the exit door while strangers enjoy the milk and honey. And in fact one of the cries of these very unprofessional job seekers was that the new management was “bringing in new people and giving them more money than long-serving and experienced LBS employees.”

The Holy Bible, in Psalm 75: 6-7 says: “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 7. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”

7. I was always asked by successive heads of the newsroom at LBS to be in charge of the weekend schedules for the entire editorial team even when I was no longer serving as news director or editor-in-chief.

By ranking order, colleagues who bore higher editorial titles in the newsroom at the time should have been the ones in charge of coordinating the weekend schedules. However, based on my ability to get things done, no matter the size/status or connection of the person(s) being supervised, I was always asked to take charge. For a person carrying the title of sub editor to be in charge of others with the same or higher editorial ranks should inform any smart mind that the heads of the newsroom saw something in me. I am not sure whether an officer with the lower rank in the army can give command to his superior.

8.As per LBS tradition, during the holidays (Christmas and New Year), where members of the management team usually  go for break, those requested to  take charge of the  administrative  aspect of the entire system are usually people from senior editorial levels upward.

However, somewhere in 2018, I was still asked to take charge of the entire LBS   despite my objection since the title of sub editor felt below the policy belt.  “Jake, please ignore some of these things and just keep on doing your best,” said an elderly man who had great respect for me. Doesn’t this also ring belt in somebody’s ear that some potential was seen in me?

Press Union of Liberia

1.I served as vice president of the Press Union of Liberia from 2008-2010.

Why serving in this capacity, I was privileged to have represented the Union at two international fora. The first was in Beijing, People’s Republic of China for two-week seminar for African Press Officials in 2009, under the Forum for China Africa Relations (FOCAL). It was during this time I earned my second international journalism certificate.

2. Later in the same year, I and former Bong County Representative, the late Martin F. Kerkula of the Liberia Media Center took on a media study tour in Accra, Ghana. The tour was aimed at learning from our Ghanaian counterparts in setting up a National Media Council for Liberia. Mr. Kerkula and I drafted the TOR that gave birth for the National Media Council being celebrated by the Liberian journalism community today. The National Media Council, a multi stakeholders’ group has since succeeded the Grievance and Ethics Committee of the Press Union of Liberia. Its composition or structure has defeated long running arguments/public perception that an all-journalist-led Grievance Committee of the Press Union of Liberia was not administering fair treatment/judgment to aggrieved members of the public who felt disenfranchised by unprofessional reportage by journalists.
3. Today, the Press Union of Liberia has a Media Alert Office that has been tracking various forms of violations against the local journalism community. Besides, the Media Alert Office collates these attacks and looks at issues of improvement in content, etc.

The first person to have served in this capacity, setting the foundation for the Media Alert Office is the very author of this article. I served in the position upon recruitment in April 2017 and was able to author more than twelve reports before resigning in early 2019.

4. Following a TOT Workshop by the Press Union of Liberia, facilitated by the late Prof.James Kpateh Wolo and Samuel Kpanbayyeazee Doworko, etc, I was sent to Kings FM for capacity building for on air staff at the station.
5. Besides, before PrimeFM 105.5 could begin official broadcast in 2015, I am one of those who conducted a two-week capacity building training for the staff. The records are there.

Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute (FSI)

6. Since my graduation for the FSI in 2011, I am so far the only alumnus who has received three invitations to sever as MC during graduation programs. These programs are usually graced by high ranking government officials and heads of foreign missions accredited near Monrovia. Again, somebody who is not up to the task (performance and competence) will not be asked to perform all of these crucial roles in society, etc.
7. I have served as guest speaker at programs for about twenty one times during the past two decades. If the basis for my preferment was money, I would not have passed the test, giving my status as a civil servant whose monthly salary cannot even cope with the current economic environment. In some cases, I give my widow’s might. In our society, politicians and others with deep pockets are most often chosen for these occasions, especially where the schools sometimes have projects that require financial support. Check the Royal Christian Foundation, Diana Davies E. Davis High School, River Gee University of Liberia Student Union (Monrovia, Liberia), Nixon Garlo Lutheran High School, Zwedru City, Grand Gedeh County, etc.

I always write my own speeches and if my speeches were not well-tailored or impactful, I would not have been receiving all of these invitations to address these programs.

My Disappointment About Liberia

I wish to once more mention in this article that one of my greatest disappointments about the Liberian society is that it has no respect for honest, productive and principle-minded people.  Those who are in the habit of willfully tearing down prominent people in society, through falsehood, arrogance, deception, disrespect, etc, gain national fame overnight, compared to the few whose standard of deportment is built around honesty, productivity, etc.

This argument about the constant repudiation of productive and honest people in the Liberian society is informed by my experience, including accounts from many sectors of society.

Fallen Liberian diplomat, Ambassador Carlton A. Karpeh once spoke about such a sad development during an exclusive interview with him about a decade ago while I was pursuing a Post Graduate Diploma in International Relations (Modern Development Diplomacy) at the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute (FSI). I also heard this from Cllr. Frances Johnson -Allison and of late, the Political Leader of the Liberian People’s Party, Cllr. Tiawon S. Gongloe.   There may be several other prominent Liberians who might have expressed frustration at this negative development.

Paraphrasing a Liberian parlance, an empty drum is noted for noise, while the one that is filled to capacity makes no noise.

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: Truly, Liberia Has Won: Weah- Boakai Statements Validate Author’s Opinion; Africa’s Journey To A Single Market- A Few Quarrelsome Issues; Ratification of The Trade Facilitation Agreement- A Nationalistic Decision; 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