Mass media in Liberia explained

Mass media in Liberia include the press, radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Much of Liberia's communications infrastructure was destroyed or plundered during the two civil wars (1989–1996 and 1999–2003). With low rates of adult literacy and high poverty rates, television and newspaper use is limited, leaving radio as the predominant means of communicating with the public.^[1]

Even as it struggles with economic and political constraints, Liberia's media environment is expanding. The number of registered newspapers and radio stations (many of them community stations) is on the rise despite limited market potential. And politically critical content and investigative pieces do get published or broadcast.^[2]

Press

The main newspapers are:^[3]

• The Analyst^{[4] [5]}
• Pumah Times Newspaper
• Daily Observer (est. 1981), private.^[4]
• The Daily Talk^[6]
• FrontPage Africa, private.
• The Inquirer, private daily.^[7]
• National Chronicle^[8]
• The New Dawn, private daily.^[7]
• New Democrat^[4]
• New Republic Liberia^[9]

Defunct newspapers and magazines include:

• Africa League
• African Nationalist^[10]
• Africa's Luminary (est. 1839)
• Amulet (est. 1839)
• Daily Listener (est. 1950)
• Footprints Today (est. 1984)
• The Friend
• Independent Weekly
• Journal of Commerce and Industry
• Liberia and West Africa (ceased in 1932)
• Liberia Herald (est. 1826)^[11]
• Liberian Age (est. 1946)
• Liberian Herald
• Liberian News
• Liberian Recorder (est. 1897)
• Liberian Star (est. 1839)
• Monrovia Observer (est. 1878)
• Palm Magazine
• SunTimes
• Weekly Mirror
• Whirlwind

Radio

See main article: List of radio stations in Liberia.

• Radios: 790,000 radio receivers (1997).
• Radio stations: 1 state-owned radio station, but no national public service broadcaster;^[12] about 15 independent radio stations broadcasting in Monrovia, with another 25 local stations operating in other areas; transmissions of 2 international broadcasters are available (2007).^[13]
  • BBC World Service 103 FM.^[7]
  • ELBC FM, public.^[14]
  • ELWA FM and SW, private, religious-Christian.^[7]
  • Pumah FM 106.3
  • LUX 106.6 FM, University of Liberia.
  • Radio Liberia FM, operated by the state-run Liberian Broadcasting System (LBS).^[7]
  • Radio Veritas FM and SW, religious-Catholic.^[8]
  • RFI English FM, the English service of Radio France Internationale.^[14]
  • Sky FM^[7]
  • STAR Radio FM and SW, operated in partnership with Swiss-based Hirondelle Foundation.^{[4] [7] [15]}
  • Truth FM^[4]
  • UNMIL Radio FM, operated by the United Nations mission.^[7]
  • Voice of Firestone Liberia 89.5 FM^[16]

Television

• Television sets: 70,000 sets (1997).
• Pumah TV Channel 4
• Television stations: 4 private TV stations, none with national reach;^[7] satellite TV service available (2007).^[13]
  • Clar TV, private.^[7]
  • DC TV, private.^[7]
  • Power TV, private.^[7]
  • Real TV, private.^[7]
• Liberia Broadcasting System: Government owned Liberia National Television (LNTV).

Telephones

See also: Telephone numbers in Liberia.

• Calling code: +231
• International call prefix: 00^[17]
• Main lines: 3,200 lines in use, 213th in the world (2011).^[13]
• Mobile cellular: 2.4 million lines, 138th in the world (2012).^[13]
• Telephone system: the limited services available are found almost exclusively in the capital Monrovia; fixed-line service stagnant and extremely limited; telephone coverage extended to a number of other towns and rural areas by four mobile-cellular network operators; mobile-cellular subscription base growing and teledensity reached 50 per 100 persons (2011).^[13]
• Satellite earth stations: 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2010).^[13]
• Communications cables: Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system, links countries along the west coast of Africa to each other and on to Portugal and France.^[18]

The fixed line infrastructure of Liberia was nearly completely destroyed during the civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003).^[19]

Prior to the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 2007, the state-owned Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LIBTELCO) held a legal monopoly for all fixed line services in Liberia, and remains the sole licensed fixed line telephone service provider in the country.^[20]

Two licensed GSM cellular mobile service providers operate in the country: Lonestar Cell and CellCom. Approximately 45% of the population has cell phone service.^[19]

Internet

• Top-level domain: .lr^[13]
• Internet users:
  • 317,717 users; 7.3% of the population, 158th in the world (2016 est.).^{[21] [22]}
  •   20,000 users, 194th in the world (2009).^[13]
• Fixed broadband: 78 subscriptions, 193rd in the world; less than 0.05% of the population, 192nd in the world (2012).^{[21] [23]}
• Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012).^[24]
• Internet hosts: 7 hosts, 228th in the world (2012).^[13]
• IPv4: 13,312 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 3.4 addresses per 1000 people (2012).^{[25] [26]}

Notable commercial websites

While Liberia's commercial internet sector is still behind the majority of African countries there are still a few classifieds sites:

• liberiacommerce.com

Internet censorship and surveillance

There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms.^[27]

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. Libel and national security laws place some limits on freedom of speech. Individuals can generally criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal. Some journalists practice self-censorship.The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.^[27]

President Sirleaf endorsed and signed the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers' Declaration of Table Mountain in Monrovia on 21 July 2012, committing to the core principles of a free press and calling for the repeal of the criminal defamation and insult laws regularly used against journalists.^[27]

See also

• Liberia Telecommunications Corporation, the sole provider of fixed line telephone services in Liberia.
• Cable Consortium of Liberia, a public-private partnership formed in 2010 to own and operate Liberia's cable landing point for the ACE cable system.
• The Liberian Journal, a US-based Liberian online and print news organization covering issues of interest to Liberians in the Diaspora.
• Cinema of Liberia

Bibliography

• Book: Frederick Starr. Frederick Starr. Liberia: description, history, problems . Chicago . 1913. https://books.google.com/books?id=-7JWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA29. Periodicals of Liberia. 29–31. 9780598450234.
• Press in Liberia . Henry B. Cole . Liberian Studies Journal . 0024-1989 . United States . 4 . 1971.
• D.E.S. Kandakai . Role of Research in Development Communication at the Liberian Rural Communications Network . . 3 . 1 . Michigan State University Libraries, African e-Journals Project . 1988.
• C. William Allen . Soaring Above the Cloud of Mediocrity: The Challenges of the Liberian Press in the Nineties . Liberian Studies Journal . 0024-1989 . United States . 15 . 1990.
• Lamini A. Waritay . Problems and Possibilities for the Formulation of a Comprehensive Communication Policy for Liberia . Africa Media Review . 4 . 2 . Michigan State University Libraries, African e-Journals Project . 1990.
• Momo K. Rogers . Liberian Press Under Military Rule . Liberian Studies Journal . 0024-1989 . United States . 21 . 1996.
• S. S. Deddeh . Pushing for Press Freedom in Liberia . . 11 . 10.1353/jod.2000.0033 . 2000. 2 . 159–168 . 154493794 .
• Book: Africa South of the Sahara 2003 . Regional Surveys of the World . . 0065-3896 . 2003 . Liberia: Directory: the Press . 586 . 9781857431315 . (Includes information about broadcast media)
• Book: Carl Patrick Burrowes . Power And Press Freedom In Liberia, 1830-1970: The Impact Of Globalization And Civil Society On Media-government Relations. Africa World Press . Trenton, NJ, and Asmara, Eritrea . 978-1-59221-294-1 . 2004 .
• Book: Toyin Falola. Toyin Falola. Daniel Jean-Jacques. Africa: an Encyclopedia of Culture and Society . 2015 . ABC-CLIO. 978-1-59884-666-9 . Liberia: Media. 687+. .

External links

• Liberia Domain Registration (.lr)
• Web site: News (by country): Liberia . . Africa South of the Sahara . Stanford University . United States . Annotated directory .
• Web site: Newspapers Held in Microform: Liberia . Cooperative Africana Materials Project . . United States . 2012 .

Notes and References

1. http://www.audiencescapes.org/country-profiles-liberia-country-overview-quantitative-survey-qualitative-analysis-research "Introduction to Communication and Development in Liberia"
2. http://www.audiencescapes.org/media-environment-development-Liberia-quantitative-qualitative-analysis-research "Media Environment and Regulation in Liberia"
3. http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/liberia/liberianews.html "Liberia Newspapers and News on the Internet"
4. http://allafrica.com/stories/200809161188.html "Liberia: LMC Extols Media Institutions"
5. Encyclopedia: Liberia: Media and Publishing. 21 August 2017 . Encyclopædia Britannica .
6. News: All the News That Fits: Liberia's Blackboard Headlines. Lydia Polgreen. 4 August 2006. The New York Times.
7. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13729507 "Liberia profile"
8. "Media regulator recommends support for local media coverage of truth commission", BBC Monitoring Africa, 27 June 2008.
9. Alphonso been in the profession for over twenty years. He has worked for many international media outlets  including: West Africa Magazine, Africa Week Magazine, African Observer and  did occasional reporting for CNN, BBC World Service, Sunday Times, NPR, Radio Deutchewells, Radio Netherlands. He is the current correspondent for Reuters.

   Mr. Toweh holds first MA with honors in International  Relations and a  candidate for second master in International Peace studies and Conflict  Resolution.

10. Web site: Liberia . 22 August 2017 . 19th and 20th Century Foreign Newspapers in Original Format: Inventory . Newspaper & Current Periodical Room . . Washington DC .
11. Book: D. Elwood Dunn. et al . Historical Dictionary of Liberia. . 978-1-4616-5931-0 . 2001 . 2nd .
12. http://www.audiencescapes.org/country-profiles-liberia-matrix-radio-stations-community-radio-monrovia-george-weah "Most Used Media Outlets in Liberia"
13. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/liberia/ "Communications: Liberia"
14. http://radiostationworld.com/locations/liberia/radio_websites.asp "Liberia: Radio Station Websites"
15. http://www.mediafrica.net/News_Popup.asp?Id=2442 "Liberia: Press Union names Star Radio as radio station of year"
16. News: Firestone launches radio station 89.5 FM . 3 March 2010 . The Informer . AllAfrica . 9 March 2010.
17. http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/opb/sp/T-SP-E.164C-2011-PDF-E.pdf Dialing Procedures (International Prefix, National (Trunk) Prefix and National (Significant) Number) (in Accordance with ITY-T Recommendation E.164 (11/2010))
18. http://www.ace-submarinecable.com/ace/default/EN/all/ace_fr/ "ACE: Africa Coast to Europe"
19. Web site: PPIAF Supports Telecommunications Reform and Liberalization in Liberia . Public-Private Infrastructure Facility (PPIAF) . July 2011 . 3 September 2011.
20. http://www.libtelco.com.lr/about%20us.html "About Us"
21. Calculated using penetration rate and population data from "Countries and Areas Ranked by Population: 2012", Population data, International Programs, U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
22. http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2013/Individuals_Internet_2000-2012.xls "Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012"
23. http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ICTEYE/Reporting/DynamicReportWizard.aspx "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
24. http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ICTEYE/Reporting/DynamicReportWizard.aspx "Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
25. http://www.countryipblocks.net/country-blocks/select-formats/ Select Formats
26. https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003851/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html Population
27. https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204136 "Liberia"