From child refugee to journalist: How Liberian <PERSON> paved her own path in media · Global Voices
Liberian journalist, <PERSON>. Image used with permission.
It took many years for women journalists in Liberia to take on leadership positions as editors, directors of news, and managers. Editors would often tell them, “This area is not for women,” or “That is a man’s beat (assignment), so women cannot go there,” according to Liberian journalist <PERSON>, 36, who has worked in print and digital media as a reporter for a little over sixteen years.
As of 2016, women were only 13 to 16 percent of media practitioners according to the Internews report “ Women and the Media in Liberia : The Uneven Course.”
At first, women were only used as reporters limited to some assignments, like DJing or reading announcements between breaks, until recently when women started advancing themselves educationally and taking on the challenges to go toe-to-toe with their male counterparts in the newsroom and other sectors in Liberian society.
<PERSON> is one of many female journalists in Liberia who has faced these barriers. But she reached the top of her profession not because she sat down waiting for someone to babysit her. <PERSON>, who lives in Monrovia, Liberia, has written for World Policy Journal, Reuters, World Vision Report, and United Nations Radio, now ECOWAS Radio.
<PERSON> studied Journalism and Media Studies at Wits-University of Witwatersrand. In 2013, she earned a degree in Economics at the United Methodist University (UMU). She also holds an accounting degree from the Stella Maris Polytechnic.
From child refugee to journalist
Born December 25, 1984, just years before civil unrest would break out, <PERSON> did not enjoy her childhood like many other children in other parts of the world. This was because she and her parents were running from being killed by rebel groups who ravaged the country during that period.
“I lost my father to the war,” she told Global Voices in Monrovia as she recalled her childhood. 926
Her father died due to the conflict that targeted certain tribal groupings in Liberia.
Liberia has had two periods of civil unrest, which led to the killing of hundreds of thousands of Liberians and the looting of properties.
The First Liberian Civil War was an internal conflict from 1989 until 1997. The ethnocultural antagonisms between and among the ethnic groups Gios, Manos, Krahns and Mandingos led to the first civil war in that West African nation.
The conflict officially ended in 1997 after military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and United Nations. This led to a ceasefire and a peace deal, after about 150,000 civilian deaths and 850,000 refugees were displaced into neighbouring countries.
The second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), emerged in northern Liberia to fight against the government of <PERSON>, who was elected president at the end of the first conflict. Then, another rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), emerged in the south in 2003, launching another challenge to <PERSON>'s rule.
Thousands of people were displaced in what has become known as the Siege of Monrovia in 2003 when the rebel group LURD fought with government forces in the capital.
Women and children were used as combatants . Those who were fortunate to flee to neighbouring countries did not spend their childhood as normal children would during the days of peace. This is the story of <PERSON>.
“As a child, I saw horrible things,” she reflected, during an interview she granted me in the Liberian capital Monrovia.
She narrated that during her days as a child in refugee camps in Ivory Coast shifting from one camp to the other, she observed that only men would gather around what she then believed was a ‘box.’ Only later did she realize it was a radio and that the men were listening to BBC to ascertain what was happening back home and other parts of the world.
<PERSON> then realized that radio was a powerful tool for advocacy and made up her mind to make the maximum use of it. She had earlier planned to take on a different career path such as a banker, doctor, or another profession a child would dream of during their early days before the conflict.
<PERSON> said that she decided to become a journalist in the camp in Ivory Coast, when her childhood friend was raped and died of the injuries.
<PERSON> then took up journalism to enable her to tell stories about children like her friend, and to move stakeholders to take action.
‘Go beyond what the newsmaker tells you. Dig deeper! 409