MONROVIA – The owner of Spoon Network, Stanton Witherspoon has revealed why the crew of the SpoonTalk show resigned.
In a shocking revelation last evening, Witherspoon said the crew which includes Ben Samvee, Keff Hassan, and others, allegedly left because he refused to accept an offer of US$50,000 from Liberian Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah.
He said the offer from the Weah official was made during Christmas Season and that he rejected it because he felt it would make the network a mouthpiece of the Weah Government.
Stanton Witherspoon pointed out that rejecting the money was intended to continuously push the cause of the Liberian masses in an environment where corruption has eaten up the fabric of the nation.
Witherspoon said Spoon Talk crew did not seem to be happy with his decision to reject the funds but managed to tell them that his decision was purely based on the interest of the suffering Liberian masses.
His rejection of the funds has prompted the resignation of the crew, he disclosed. They have left, but the show is moving on.
Whitetspoon said Spoon Network will never serve as a mouthpiece of the Weah Government because it was too corrupt. He wondered whether the CDC Government has advanced the interest of Liberians since it took over from the Unity Party Government of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
He added that Liberia was sinking in the hands of George Weah and his team of “Corrupt officials” and called on Liberians to make the right choice to remove it from power in the October elections.
The alleged bribery of the mainstream Media by Samuel Tweah and his government has been reported in Liberia. It can be recalled that Tweah had threatened to weaponize the government against the Local media. While some thought the weaponization would come in the form of crackdown, Tweah had a different strategy-patronizing the so-called independent Media with huge monthly compensation to make them tote the government’s line and abandon its ethical duties.
Right now, Liberians have relegated their faith in the independent press to reports coming from citizens’ Journalists. In real form, it’s the citizen Journalists that break news while the so-called independent media help to cover up the government’s criminality.
This is why Whiterspoon’s revelation did not come as a surprise to many Liberians who were spoken to by Smart News. Generally, the Liberians said the media is as corrupt as the CDC Government itself. Some of them disclosed that media heads and some talk show hosts are linked to WhatsApp group, from where pro-government articles are furnished to them.