Blackboard Blogger

Alfred Sirleaf is an analog blogger. He runs the “Daily News”, a news hut by the side of a major road in the middle of Monrovia. He started it a number of years ago, stating that he wanted to get news into the hands of those who couldn’t afford newspapers, in the language that they could understand.

Alfred serves as a reminder that simple is often better, just because it works. The lack of electricity never throws him off. The lack of funding means he’s creative in ways that he recruits people from around the city and country to report news to him. He uses his cell phone as the major point of connection between him and the 10,000 (he says) that read his blackboard daily.

Not all Liberians who read his news are literate, so he makes use of symbols. Whether it’s a UN or military helmet, a poster of a soccer player or a bottle of colored water to denote gas prices, he is determined to get the message out in any way that he can. Advertising works here too. It’s $5 to be on the bottom level, $10 to be on the sideboard and $25 on the main section. He doesn’t get a lot of advertising, but he manages to scrape by.

His plans for the future include decentralizing his work; this means opening up identical locations, in other parts of Monrovia, and in a few of the larger cities around the country. One shouldn't bet against Alfred either, he’s a scrappy entrepreneur on a mission to bring information and news to ordinary Liberians. He’s succeeded thus far, and has every chance to expand his idea.

Corporate News Media

The current polemic over the negative coverage of Africa is becoming strident in tone. At the recently held International Media Forum in Johannesburg, several members of the foreign media faced allegations of bias. Sensitivities were focused on the reports of xenophobic violence gripping South Africa. Naturally the debate completely ignored the big questions, namely whose agenda is being served and who ultimately owns the world's major media outlets. As usual the underlying cause of the dissent, over content and analysis, remained firmly swept under the rug. Lest we think this is a peculiarly South African problem, take a look at this interview with legendary political commentator Gore Vidal...

...and there it is, the twin horrors of propaganda and censorship. Granted our issues differ somewhat from those in US, yet the methodology is practically identical. Corporations control what we get so see and hear, supposedly at the behest of political puppets already bought and paid for. All in the name of furthering corporate interests. So does a spat between local and international journalists matter? Sadly, no. Their paymasters will further their agenda regardless and, if truth be told, these disputes actually provide perfect cover for those aims.

However, its becoming increasingly difficult to keep the lid on the news in this brave new digital world. Illegitimate wars, corrupt deals, electoral fraud and a myriad other transgressions eventually surface thanks to activism and technology. The internet is an obvious tool for dissent, less so broadcast television. Unless you're brave or a satirist, or John Stewart: