Monrovia — On the outskirts of this capital city, Martha Partor runs what passes for a food processing business in this war-weary west African nation. It’s not high tech or big business. She packages local agricultural items such as pepper sauce, cassava leaf flour and potato greens powder in vacuum bags that are sold at…
NN’s Wade Williams on Liberia’s Entrepreneur Women
MONROVIA, Liberia — On the outskirts of this capital city, Martha Partor runs what passes for a food processing business in this war-weary west African nation. It’s not high tech or big business. She packages local agricultural items such as pepper sauce, cassava leaf flour and potato greens powder in vacuum bags that are…
NN’s Tecee Boley Selected for State Department Reporting Tour of US
New Narratives fellow Tecee Boley has been selected for a 10 day reporting tour of the United States looking at “Youth in Politics” in the lead up to the American election. Tecee was chosen by the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Press Center for the tour that will take her to Washington on June 10…
NN’s Prue Clarke in The Guardian on How Donors Limit Impact by Not Funding Media
Mae Azango is one courageous reporter. But she is also a potent weapon in the fight for human rights. Azango’s reporting on female genital cutting (FGC) in her native Liberia brought death threats and sent her and her nine-year-old daughter into hiding. Three weeks later, the Liberian government, having never dared speak publicly about the traditional practice, had taken steps to…
NN’s Wade Williams Wins Prestigious Dag Hammerskjold Fellowship
NN is madly proud of our reporter Wade Williams of FrontPage Africa newspaper for becoming one of four journalists chosen for the 2012 Dag Hammerskjold fellowship. Wade will spend three months in New York learning about the United Nations and covering the 2012 General Assembly. This fellowship follows Wade’s recent double victory at Liberia’s national…
NN’s Mae Azango guest speaker at conference in New York on Saturday
NN’s Mae Azango will be guest speaker at the Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation conference in New York City on June 16. The event will be held at the New York Academy of Medicine 1216 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street New York, NY Among the awardees at the awards event in the evening will be women’s rights…
Mae Azango exposed a secret ritual in Liberia, putting her life in danger
TODEE, LIBERIA It’s late afternoon in Todee, a village in rural Liberia, and the sun is starting to drop. Mae Azango settles into a taxi for the three-hour drive back to Monrovia, the capital. But this long day hasn’t been quite long enough. Ms. Azango, a journalist, needs to come back on Monday to finish reporting a…
Liberia’s Water Woes: Why Clean, Safe Water Is Still Out of Reach for Many Liberians
Monrovia: “Water! Water!” Eugene Seoh shouted from his three-story apartment building on Benson Street, a main avenue in the center of Monrovia. From across the road, water vendor Jerry Worlogar looked up and nodded. Seoh hurried down the stairs. He stood before Worlogar’s hand-drawn cart full of white five-gallon containers. “Thirty-five \[Liberian] dollars for one…
NN’s Mae Azango on US public radio’s “On The Media”
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…