Brook Gladstone intro: When Liberian journalist Mae Azango wrote an article about the taboo topic of female genital mutilation, she and her nine year-old daughter became the targets of multiple threats. Brooke talks to Mae about her reporting that forced the Liberian government to finally take a public position on the practice. GUESTS: Mae Azango…
NN Executive Director Prue Clarke to appear at Deutsche Welle 2012 Global Media Forum
New Narratives’ Executive Director Prue Clarke will present at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn on June 25-27. Prue will join a panel entitled Gender in Journalism and Media Training with experts from Tunisia, Ethiopia, Germany and the USA. Please see more on the conference here and see a video about the conference here. …
Charles Taylor’s Verdict Proves What Goes Up Must Come Down
by New Narratives Fellow Robtel Neajai Pailey I was in The Hague on April 26 when they convicted Charles Taylor. Appearing like a child being publicly scolded, he stood on seemingly wobbly legs, head bowed, when they pronounced him guilty on 11 counts of crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting rebels during Sierra Leone’s…
NN’s Mae Azango in Foreign Policy magazine
Labor Pains In the midst of a civil war, becoming a mother was its own battle. Melinda Gates has me thinking about the time I became a mother. When the Gates Foundation co-chair recently said that improving family planning for the global poor is her new personal mission — and that she is making it a top…
NN Reporters Win 4 National Reporting Awards, Most Ever for Women
New Narratives fellows won 4 awards and were finalists for most categories in Liberia’s annual national media awards presented by the Press Union of Liberia (PUL). Tetee Gebro of NN partner Sky FM won best business story of the year for her piece on the impact of the rise of food prices in the country. She…
NN’s Tecee Boley and Joanna Devane on Liberian Reaction to Taylor Verdict for Global Post
Charles Taylor guilty: Liberians have mixed reactions In Monrovia, some Liberians denounce Taylor’s conviction, others welcome it. By Joanna Devane and Tecee Boley April 26, 2012 12:48 In Freetown, Sierra Leone, Mohamed Traore, one of the amputees of the civil war, welcomes the conviction on war crimes of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Taylor was…
NN’s Robtel Pailey interviews Charles Taylor’s daughter for The Daily Beast
War Criminal Charles Taylor’s Daughter Defends Her Dad Apr 27, 2012 4:45 AM EDT This week, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was convicted of aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone. His daughter watched the U.N. tribunal in The Hague and spoke to Robtel Neajai Pailey. Charles Taylor only smiled once during the court…
NN’s Tecee Boley Featured on PBS Newshour on Liberia’s Clean Water Problems
Radio journalist Tecee Boley’s investigations on the water crisis in Liberia is featured in this PBS report. For full transcript of the show click here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/globalhealth/jan-june12/africawater_04-25.html…
The Promise of April 12: A Preface to Liberia’s Complicated Biography
Written by New Narratives Fellow Robtel Neajai Pailey April 12, 1980 is often described as the beginning of Liberia’s end. I think of it as the preface to Liberia’s long, complicated biography, the beginning of our awakening. It was a day when our pomp and circumstance left a deafening echo; when we were all exposed,…
NN’s Proudest Moment: Reporting Prompts Leaders to Herald End of Female Genital Cutting
In a powerful example of the impact support for African media can have, NN’s reporting has prompted Liberian leaders to announce the end of one of the most harmful practices endured by women in Africa. Reporting by NN’s Mae Azango and Tetee Gebro has prompted the Liberian government and traditional leaders to announce they had shut…
CBC Reports on the Role of NN’s Mae Azango in Leaders’ Decision to End Genital Cutting
Liberian journalist hides, for reporting sexual mutilation Mae Azango is a journalist in Liberia. She’s in hiding fearing for her safety after breaking a national taboo and writing a story about a secret sect that practices female genital mutilation. (Photo: New Narratives) On March 30 it was reported thattraditional tribal leaders have agreed to…
Article on the Difficulty Faced by NN’s Reporters Covering Female Genital Cutting
Monrovia, Liberia: When Kulah Borbor’s daughter was 13 years old, she asked her mother if she could join Liberia’s secret Sande Society. Most Liberian women are members of the Sande, so her daughter’s request was nothing unusual. But Borbor, a gender-based violence officer with the West Point Women for Health and Development Organisation, immediately discouraged…
NN’s Breakthrough Reporting Prompts Liberian Leaders to Announce an End To Female Circumcision
Monrovia – Traditional leaders and government ministers have revealed a secret agreement to shut down the activities of Liberia’s secret women’s society, the Sande, for an indefinite period. The deal will see all Sande land turned over to the leaders of the Poro men’s society. A ceremony handing over the land from the women to…
Still in Hiding, Azango Welcomes Leaders Decision to End FGC
“The Costs for Girls: Why I Welcome Leaders’ Decision” by Mae Azango The sound of drums and sasa fills the air as little girls and young ladies leave the Sande Bush. They have completed the traditional bush school and sing and dance their way into this town in rural Liberia. Well-wishers from neighboring towns…
NN’s Tetee Gebro to Appear On Panel at New York Film Festival on Global Human Rights
Tetee Gebro, a reporter for New Narratives’ supported Liberian radio station SkyFM, will appear on a panel at the City University of New York’s Global Film Festival highlighting the work of documentarians and journalists covering issues relating to human and women’s rights. Tetee was one of two reporters in New Narratives’ network to do groundbreaking…
Newsweek/Daily Beast Reports on Bravery of NN’s Mae Azango
Liberian Writer Mae Azango Forced Into Hiding for Story on Female Genital Cutting by Danielle Shapiro Mar 23, 2012 4:45 AM EDT Ever since she published a front-page story about female genital cutting within a secret society of women, the Liberian journalist Mae Azango has lived in fear, and threats have sent her into hiding—but she says…
Denying Liberia’s Babies: Teen Fathers Speak
By Mae Azango “Some of these young boys are from broken homes. Sometimes it is peer pressure that causes many of the teen fathers to deny pregnancies.” But there are also other factors. – Ali Sylla, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Counseling and Restorative Dialogue in Monrovia. Nathan became a young dad…
Moving from Open Door to ‘Growth with Development’
During President William Tubman’s Open Door Policy, Liberia was averaging double-digit growth rates. Being open for business, however, did not mean growth was open to all. In the 1960s, it was claimed that we had ‘growth without development’—economic activities from large-scale foreign concessions in iron ore, rubber, palm oil, and timber did not improve the…
NN’s Mae Azango Interviewed By Radio France International
Liberian journalist urges women to speak out on excision Journalist Mae Azango Glenna Gordon By Laura Angela Bagnetto Liberian journalist Mae Azango has been forced into hiding after publishing an article in the Liberian daily Front Page Africa on the practice of female genital cutting or excision in the country. Azango, a New Narratives fellow talks to RFI’s Laura-Angela Bagnetto about…
Genital Cutting Threatens the Health of Liberia’s Women
The cultural practice of female genital cutting is rampant in Liberia, especially in the countryside. Parents send girls as young as infants to ceremonies conducted by a secretive indigenous religion known as the Sande to be cut without knowing the health risks involved. But openly talking about this secret rite of passage is taboo here. …
Amnesty International Joins Calls for Police Protection of Mae Azango and Her Sources
DOCUMENT – LIBERIAN POLICE MUST TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROTECT JOURNALIST AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT 13 March 2012 Liberian Police Must Take Immediate Action to Protect Journalist Mae Azango, an investigative journalist based in Monrovia, is receiving death threats after publishing a story in FrontPage Africa uncovering the practice of female genital mutilation of girls [FGM]…