By: Naneka Hoffman
The Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) has donated one micro recorder and a Laptop (acer) to the Management of the New Dawn Newspaper in Monrovia.
Speaking on behalf of the Association on Monday, May 2, 2022, during formal presentation at the offices of the paper on U.N. Drive, former ALJA Vice President Mr. Pewu Beysah, who is currently visiting Liberia, said they have been following the reportage of the New Dawn and the works it does.
Mr. Beysah, a former broadcast journalist at the state-run Liberia Broadcasting System, said they
have been conducting training for local journalists and were intending to have In-person training, but unfortunately, one of the persons who they thought could do that couldn’t because of the COVID-19, adding that the plan is still on course.
He said Dr. Samuel Johnson, who is the current Vice President of ALJA, is working with other members to organize training packages for Journalists in the country.
He also promised to collaborate with partners, including the Department of Communication at Minnesota State University and other partners in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, respectively to make sure they can gather more support for the Liberian media.
He said they have been making series of donations to media houses here and thought that reaching out to the New Dawn is very important.
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“We decided to give you one micro recorder that will help in your reportage process and one laptop to strengthen your reportorial duty”, he said.
He noted that ALJA is a 513C organization that basically advocates and speaks to power, adding “If power doesn’t do the right things, we definitely speak to that; if they do the right things, we speak to that as well.”
Mr. Beysah emphasized that the bottom line is the Liberian people that suffer, and urged the New Dawn to keep reporting these stories that nobody would think it can venture around.
He said they are not happy about the current state of affairs, lamenting “Because our country has completely deteriorated whatever, the reason may be, everybody has prospective in different forms but we think that the common denominator is our people.”
In response, the Publisher of the New Dawn Newspaper Othello B. Garblah said he was so grateful for the donation and is one person who likes to see his reporters empowered.
Mr. Garblah recalled that the Embassy of China some time in last donated one motor to the paper, which was subsequently given to its correspondent in Maryland County.
Earlier, Senior Editor Jonathan Browne also thanked Mr. Beysah and ALJA for the gesture, which he said couldn’t have come at more expedient time, noting that media in Liberia operate under enormous constraints.
