Liberians Plagued by Mental Health Problems in Aftermath of War

Kullie is one of thousands of Liberians who are still suffering as a result of shocking things that happened to them or what they saw happened to others during the war in Liberia. There are no recent statistics available but a 2008 study  conducted  five years after Liberia’s civil war ended by Harvard Humanitarian Initiative at Harvard University, found that 40% of Liberians had symptoms of major depression and 44% appeared to have post-traumatic stress disorder….

NN Writes on our Role in the Ban on Female Genital Cutting

NN’s Mae Azango and Prue Clarke write on the role of good journalism in breaking the taboo around female genital cutting in Liberia that led to its eventual ban for the Columbia Journalism Review.   PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF left office in January with a tremendous, if overdue, parting gift for the girls of Liberia….

Moses Bailey NN Reporting Fellow, Alum

Moses Bailey started his journalism career in 2010 as a reporter at Radio Gbarnga. He continues to report for the station along with Bush Chicken and Local Voice. Moses has been a New Narratives fellow since 2017. In a project on the extractives sector Moses’s reporting forced the Bong County superintendent to admit he had…

NN editors launch “African Muckraking” at Global Journalism Conference

If you’re going to the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Johannesburg please come and join us for the launch of “African Muckraking: 100 Years of African Investigative Journalism” edited by Anya Schiffrin, Anton Harber and George Lugalambi. The book features groundbreaking work by our Mae Azango, introduced by our Executive Director Prue Clarke and by Liberian journalist legend…

New Narratives/Thomson Reuters Begin Two New Reporting Projects

Monrovia – The new year will see two new training and reporting projects kick off for Liberia’s top journalists.  The continuing collaboration between New Narratives Liberia and the Thomson Reuters Foundation will offer journalists the chance to learn about extractives industries and gain ongoing editorial and financial support to report on the mining, forestries, oil…

Liberian students get scholarship U-turn after journalist reports funding collapse

A Liberian journalist taking part in the Foundation’s Wealth of Nations programme has helped force a U-turn after he reported on dozens of students who had had their funding cut by Liberia’s national oil company, NOCAL. NOCAL hit the headlines in June 2015 when it suddenly announced it was close to bankruptcy. The story figured strongly…

CPJ Calls on President Sirleaf to Release NN’s Rodney Sieh

Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President of the Republic of Liberia Executive Mansion Capitol Hill, Monrovia Republic of Liberia Dear President Sirleaf A year ago, you became only the second African head of state to endorse the Declaration of Table Mountain, which calls for the repeal of criminal defamation and “insult” laws throughout Africa. Now,…

NN’s Wade Williams on Ebola in Liberia for The New York Times

MONROVIA, Liberia — LIBERIANS have begun calling the days between July 27 and Aug. 3 “the dark week” — 173 new Ebola virus cases and 94 new deaths. How much darker things may get is anybody’s guess. In Johnsonville, a swampy town outside Monrovia, three dozen corpses in body bags were dumped in shallow holes…

New Narratives teams with Thomson Reuters for 3-year Oil Reporting Program

New Narratives is delighted to announce it has partnered with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the corporate charity of Thomson Reuters to run a project that supports Liberian journalists and news organizations to cover the country’s oil industry. The project will run from 2014-16 and will feature training, mentoring and capacity building for Liberian journalists and news organizations….

NN’s Robtel Pailey on High Level Panel at Ibrahim Forum

NN’s Robtel Pailey joined a panel on Safety & Rule of Law with some of Africa’s heavyweights, as part of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation annual Forum, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Panelists included: Dr. Salid Ahmed Salim, former chair of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU); Trevor Manuel, minister in the South African cabinet; Jean Ping,…

NN’s Robtel Pailey named to Top 99 Foreign Policy Professionals Under 33

WASHINGTON, DC:  The Diplomatic Courier and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy are pleased to announce that Robtel Pailey, Opinion Columnist with New Narratives, has been recognized on the 2013 “99 Under 33,” an international list noting the most influential foreign policy leaders under the age of 33. The complete list is available at: www.diplomaticourier.com/99Under33. See…

NN’s Wade Williams Wins German Development Prize for Africa

NN is very proud of fellow and FrontPage Africa Newsroom Chief Wade William who capped a brilliant year last night by winning the German Media Development Prize for Africa at a ceremony in Berlin – on her birthday! The win follows Wade’s success in winning a prestigious Dag Hammarskjold fellowship to the UN last year…

In Liberia, silencing press critics through libel lawsuits

From NN executive: We are reposting this article from July 2011 in light of the Liberian Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold the $1.5m libel verdict against FrontPage Africa. During Liberia’s 14-year civil war, the press was silenced through violence. Journalists now say they are the victims of a more subtle assault. They say a…

NN’s Rodney Sieh Spells Out the No Bribe Policy at FrontPage Africa Newspaper

Paying Off – The problem of bribes in the Liberian press After two civil wars, Liberian journalists are enjoying unprecedented freedoms but struggling to maintain independence. The business of news is not yet financially viable there: the media market is oversaturated, advertising is weak, and readership is low with a low-hanging ceiling—only 58 percent of the…

NN’s Wade Williams Wins Journalist of the Year

New Narratives fellow and FrontPage Africa newsroom chief Wade Williams has been awarded the prestigious Journalist of the Year award at Liberia’s annual media awards. Wade is only the second woman to win the award. The UN’s Eva Flomo won the award in 2011. Wade has been with the New Narratives program since January 2011….