Chance to live in peace again
 

 
 A Refreshing Sign of Press Freedom 

5 May 04

A local newspaper,  The Analyst  
  has become the first independent Liberian newspaper to go online directly from troubled Liberia. This is an astounding departure from the Charles Taylor era when he was the only man with a website run by a Ghanaian and committed and well-paid fanatics to beam to the world his view of Liberia and deny others that right so inalienable.

That a local newspaper has gone directly online from Liberia, with sensational stories on the private life of the head of state Charles Gyude Bryant, is indeed redeeming. It is a signal of changing Liberia that should be encouraged at all costs.

Whatever are the weaknesses and pitfalls of Mr. Bryant, like all others, he is a calm man with no apparent evil mind or intentions.  Or perhaps, as the doctrine goes, men make history, but not under conditions they determine. In whatever case, men can make a huge difference, just as Charles Taylor's exit has suddenly sparked light on dark Liberia.

Liberia has been an incredibly intolerant society, a factor that led to the current destruction. Samuel Doe, intolerant and hot-tempered, attacked and burnt down the offices of the Daily Observer, sending its publisher, Mr. Kenneth Best, in exile to give The Gambia one of its first independent newspapers. Because of his professionalism he was again chased from that West African country  to find solace in the US. Charles Taylor, after vowing to personally invade and attack the offices of this paper, finally attacked and burnt them down  in 1996, forcing  remaining staff into exile  only to find himself in exile and hiding from justice.

When intolerance is the norm, quacks become instant heroes. From the 1970s onward, many men and women were elevated to cult status in Liberia when, in an open society, they would have been exposed to be seen just like those opposed-frail, corrupt and uniamginative. But their shortcomings were hidden in  intolerance. Many who became luminaries during the years of the military and the Taylor years of final destruction did so because of intolerance, not on the basis of merit.

 What the new Liberia should strive for against bad journalism is to rely on the law in a transparent and fair. No law gives an editor the right to blaspheme others. Similarly, no law gives the government the right to imprison journalists, burnt down their properties, all because of what they write, most time pure rubbish. Soon, with an educated public, the line between farce and facts will be drawn, and the quacks will go where they belong-in the dustbin.

All efforts should be made to sustain the current momentum and let the water find its level. The alternative is to travel along the path of Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor and opt for self-destruction.

--Tom Kamara