The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has questioned the fight against corruption in Liberia in the wake of repeated admissions by Government that corruption remains pervasive.
The PUL believes that the widespread use of descriptives on the scale of corruption such as “public enemy number one”, “vampire”, “cancer”, and “king kong” manifests that the fight against corruption has not been yielding the desire results as expected by the public.
In a special remark at the opening of a two-day training on investigative journalism and anti-corruption, PUL President Julius Kanubah, called for genuine and concerted partnership between government, civil society organizations, and international partners in the fight against corruption.
The training on investigative journalism and anti-corruption is under the auspices of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and funding from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.
Tailored on the theme, “Uncovering the Facts: Strengthening Integrity through Journalism”, the training is under the project, “Empowering Citizens and Communities to Foster Social Accountability and Transparency in Governance and Public Service Delivery.”
In his speech at the training undergoing in Ganta City, Nimba County, Kanubah lauded the LACC and UNDP for the initiative, emphasizing however the need for genuine partnership between the PUL and all organizations seeking to strengthen the capacity of journalists.
The PUL President criticized the approach by some organizations including government institutions to directly take on the responsibility of organizing and conducting trainings for journalists, without involving the PUL as a valuable, responsible partner with the capabilities to shape the design, implementation and evaluation of trainings.
“While the good intentions of capacity building are well-established, we should be equally aware that at times good intentions do not produce the needed results after the implementation phase because some, if not, the relevant actors in the sector are not fully included”, asserted Kanubah.
The PUL President also called for targeted and sustained investments in investigative journalism and anti-corruption reporting in Liberia if the fight against corruption is to be institutionalized in the context of a media landscape dominated by political ownership of the media.
The training is being attended by thirty Liberian journalists including 10 female journalists, all drawn from across the Country, with facilitators coming from the LACC, media, and the United Nations.
Core topics include overview of LACC mandate, assets declaration, understanding corruption, and development reporting as well as investigative journalism and reporting corruption, documentary evidence examination, digital forensics and data analytics, artificial intelligence for investigative journalism, and ethical reporting on social media.
