Six print media institutions have threatened to institute a blackout on government’s activities if the government reneges on paying what it owes them for covering bicentennial events from February 2022.
The media institutions, Hot Pepper, Heritage, The Analyst, New Dawn, Independent and New Republic said they stand ready to cut off the publication of pro-government stories until their debts are settled.
According to them, while the government is still indebted to them, it is rumored that they are inviting Kizz Daniel, the Nigerian musician who sang Buga, which the President was recently dancing to, to perform at the finale of the bicentennial celebrations in December.
They termed the government’s plan as wicked and unfair, noting that even if the government cannot settle their debts it should jump over all the promising artists of Liberia to promote a Nigerian during the nation’s 200th year anniversary. They stated however that it will not be a surprise to many observers, as the government took a similar decision during the launch of the event at the SKD Sports Complex, inviting P-Square and paying them US$100,000, while leaving out young Liberian artists who are striving to make headways and promoting the country’s cultural image.
They wondered how a government that is led by grassroots indigenous who claim to be running their administration on a pro-poor agenda would choose to strangulate its own citizenry without any sense of remorse.
In one accord, the media executives urged the government to pay their money and continue on the good media path. However, the pressmen warned the government not to behave in a way that will make them to believe a statement earlier made by a senior government official—that the media would not benefit a dime from the Weah administration.
