Liberia Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
March 16, 2012
About the MSI
IREX designed the MSI to measure the strength and viability of any country's media sector. The MSI considers all the factors that contribute to a media system—the quality of journalism, effectiveness of management, the legal environment supporting freedom of the press, and more—to arrive at scores on a scale ranging between 0 and 4. These scores represent the strength of the media sector components and can be analyzed over time to chart progress (or regression) within a country. Additionally, countries or regions may be compared to one another. IREX currently conducts the MSI in 80 countries, and began studying Africa in 2006.
MSI Overview | Africa | Asia | Europe & Eurasia | Middle East & North Africa
Download Complete Liberia Chapter (PDF): 2010 | 2009 | 2008
MSI Liberia–2010 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 2.18
Liberia is heading toward crucial elections in October 2011, following unprecedented stability and economic progress in recent years. The upcoming elections are regarded widely as the country’s first truly democratic transition—a phenomenal step for a country that internationally was considered as a pariah and failed state. Following close to 20 years of political instability, Liberia’s current president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has arguably presided over the country’s most stable period for decades. During her tenure, Liberia has experienced relatively strong economic growth, with a rapid increase in foreign investment—leading to the creation of jobs in key sectors, such as mining and forestry. These gains have been buoyed by debt cancellation and the rehabilitation of Liberia’s reputation on the global political stage.
Despite these milestones, frustration is growing internally and externally over the pace of the government’s response to corruption cases. Several government officials lost their jobs in 2010 as a result of corruption allegations. But at the time of the MSI study, not one had been successfully tried and convicted of corruption, lowering some Liberians’ confidence in their government. Furthermore, criticism over the president’s handling of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report continues to overshadow calls for the swift implementation of the commission’s recommendations. In addition, despite gains in meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) around gender equality and HIV/AIDS, the country is unlikely to meet MDG targets related to reducing child mortality and improving access to primary education
A troubling and potentially destabilizing development is the crisis in neighboring Côte d’Ivoire, which triggered an influx of tens of thousands of refugees. The emerging humanitarian situation is exacerbated further by poor infrastructure in bordering towns and cities. Latent conflict over land and longstanding tribal intolerance in the northern region are breeding grounds for potential unrest. Thus, the sustainability of peace and stability remains in question.
The media are moving through a time of great change, as well. Media scrutiny has increased in the last year, with the Liberia Media Center (LMC) introducing the Media Quality Barometer. Designed to stimulate competition by ranking the performance of news media outlets, the barometer has recorded some encouraging improvements. Also, the United States government has sponsored new investments in media development interventions.
By and large, Liberia has made a strong recovery from the downturn in the last MSI study, with modest progress in all five objective indicators. The panelists attribute the improvement to important developments that have shaped the sector in the last few months—most notably, the July 2010 passage of the Freedom of Information Act, which has eased skepticism of the government’s commitment to the protection of freedom of speech and of the press. Nevertheless, some of the world’s most repressive legislation surrounding the freedom of expression remains on the books, and challenges remain with adherence to professional standards and the development and sustenance of the business management side of media outlets.
