Working in a cramped room with two desks and a few computers, Samuka Konneh leads a small team as news editor for the Public Agenda newspaper in Liberia’s [7] capital, Monrovia. Although he has been in this post for four years, Samuka says the last 12 months brought profound changes in how he approaches his work and life. Not only has he committed to reporting sensitively on issues affecting women, he encourages his colleagues to do the same. The changes also have helped him to redefine his relationships with those closest to him.
Samuka received training and mentoring as part of IREX’s Civil Society and Media Leadership Program [8](CSML). The program builds the capacity of journalists in gender, elections and politics, and conflict reporting. Prior to his involvement in the program, Samuka says his journalistic approach was conventional, influenced by the patriarchal views prevalent within Liberia. Many stories in Liberia’s newspapers and heard on radio and television are reported from a male perspective and lack gender sensitivity. “There’s been a revolution in my professional and private life,” Samuka says. “When I’m writing or editing stories, I avoid words like ‘manpower,’ ‘housegirl,’ and other words that are not gender sensitive.” One of his recent stories delved into how cultural and social norms compel Liberian women to accept abuse and mistreatment from their husbands and partners.
The CSML program aims at sustaining peace in Liberia by giving a voice to, informing, and engaging all citizens. Drawing on issues emerging from the country’s 14-year conflict, the media training and mentoring program develops and strengthens journalists’ skills to be sensitive in the stories they pursue and in how they tell them.
The above story is originally featured in our 2011 Annual Report [9]. With your help, we can continue to support journalists like Samuka. Please consider making a gift online through our donation page [10].