Stanton B. Peabody Dies

A veteran Liberian Journalist Stanton B. Peabody is dead. He died Tuesday at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia. Peabody, 80, started his journalism career as Reporter with the Liberian Age newspaper in 1952. He later became a senior reporter, a position he held until 1963.

Between 1963 and 66, he served as Associated Editor, and became Acting Editor in May 1966 (when Editor-In-Chief  Aston King was charged with seditions libel). In July 1979, he served as Acting Editor when he was formally appointed as Editor-In-Chief, a position he retained even after the April 12, 1980 coup.

When the name Liberian Age was changed by the PRC military government in September 1980 to The Redeemer, he continued to serve as Editor-In-Chief until December 1980, when he was transferred to the Ministry of Information as Editor-In-Chief of the New Liberian newspaper, a position he held until he was dismissed in 1981. In October 1983, he became Editor of the Daily Observer Newspaper and its sister paper, the Sunday Observer, and  by 1995, he became managing editor.

Peabody, between 1991 and 1994, also served as Editorial Consultant for The Inquirer newspaper, and later served the organizing committee of Torchlight, a newspaper established by ECOMOG, the West African Peacekeeping Force during the height of the Liberian civil conflict, according to a release.

The veteran Journalist has covered over five Liberian administrations, receiving numerous national and international awards and honors, including “Journalist of the year” in 1988 because of “his inclusive and thought-provoking editorial, since 1962. He served has correspondent in Liberia for the British Wire-service, Reuters.

The late Peabody returned home in 2005 after a brief self-imposed exile in the United States where he continued to be active in the press and involved with journalism education in Liberia.