Renewing our pledge

The New Dawn Newspaper, published by Searchlight Communications, Incorporated is an independent media outlet dedicated to disseminating factual, balance, accurate and timely information to the Liberian public and the world at large. We believe the public trust is sacred and must be guarded professionally to keep society in check for the general good.

In the past twelve months, we have tried with honest dedication to upholding ethical standards while serving the people of Liberia, promoting no specific political agenda or holding allegiance to specific group or political party except to defend and promote the Motherland. We renew our pledge in 2018 to continue on this path.

In our endeavor to champion Liberia’s cause, many may misjudge us and brand our activities as being enemies of the state. But this would be paradoxical. How could we be crusading for the country’s betterment and at the same time be its enemies?

Specifically, we provide the platform for the marginalized segment of society to be heard by highlighting its plight and drawing the attention of those in the governance process of the state to intervene or take action in remedying whatever problem that may be unfolding.

In the tripartite relationship, we are fully cognizant that one side could accuse us of going too fast while the other may scream that we are proceeding very slowly. We pledge to maintain a level head in pushing for the political, social and economic advancement of Liberia.

In this New Year, we look forward to strengthening cooperation with our business partners and cultivating new ones, for democracy can only strive in a fertile economy that would propel the engine of growth, the ultimate goal of a nation state.

Just returning from the ballot box a week ago where a new President and his vice were elected, we have a new opportunity as Liberians to join hands to develop our common patrimony. This country needs its best minds in order to progress.

This is where our role as a media outlet would be critical in advancing the national development agenda of the incoming administration. We pledge to critically examine those programs and policies that would be carved by our national leaders in ensuring that they move from being mere lip services and become tangibles.

As usual there will be few greedy and selfish individuals coming into government with ulterior motives, bent on depriving the country and its citizenry of scarce resources by lining their pockets and purses instead of channeling allotted funds to real developmental projects. We pledge to use our watchdog and sentry-keeping role to expose and shame such unscrupulous officials and even call for their prosecution or dismissal.

Lastly, while in the execution of our sacred responsibility if we had wrongly and inadvertently injured the reputations of some public officials or private citizens in the course of last year, we sincerely apologize and pledge to go beyond surface journalism by thoroughly probing issues and getting all sides in order to gather nothing but the truth before coming out to the public. This is our pledge for 2018.