–Launches IPNEWS ‘Print House’ Rally
IPNEWS: The political leader and standard bearer of the opposition Movement for Progressive Change (MPC) has underscored the need for the Liberian Media to play a major role in determining Election outcomes in Liberia.
Speaking at the 3rd-anniversary program of The Independent Probe Newspaper (IPNEWS) on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, in Monrovia, Mr. Simeon Freeman challenged the Liberian media to be the pacesetters that will help direct ordinary citizens, to vote as President, lawmakers among others in the country.
According to him, in the United States of America, where the media is very powerful, it practically determines whether it is the Democrats or the Republicans that win a given election. He insisted that the Liberia Media must begin to look into that direction by becoming economically vibrant thus granting them the status to direct the course Liberians take in a given election.
The MPC political leader also urged the Liberian media to go beyond and dig thoroughly about people who declare to vie for public offices, their family lives, educational competence, and social lives among others. “The media must help to expose unqualified and incompetent individuals who put themselves forward to vie for public offices, because when that is the ordinary citizenry will make able to make informed decision as who to vote into public office for the betterment of Liberia,” Mr. Freeman stressed.
Commenting on economic empowerment for the Liberian media, the MPC political leader called for a law that will compel concessions and major businesses in Liberia to advertise their produce through the local media, as that will help upgrade their financial statuses, and also the Liberian government will benefit because Media Houses and Institutions pay income taxes to the national government intended for the growth of the country and its people.
He said the Media institutions in Liberia and the world at large live on advertisement and it is from that media Institutions grow and survive. He also noted President George Weah is not helping the Liberian Media at all, evidenced with statement from his Finance Minister that the media would have been weaponized against upon his administration in 2018, which is being manifested today with lack of advertisement from the Government of Liberia to the Liberian media, and if by chance they tend to give one or two advertisements the Media institutions are not paid as they have to cry out for their monies having aired or published the advertisements the government had given them.
Mr. Freeman then stated if Liberians want to enjoy their taxes that are being paid to national government, it is time that the Media help the ordinary people in making sound decisions about who to elect to public offices by shifting the course of direction instead of the regular thing of the past where incompetent people, criminals, rogues, and murderers etc were elected to public offices by the ordinary people out of ignorance.
“If the Media and the people Liberia must enjoy their taxes there is a need for them to support a political party or individual who will make the Media community grow economically,” the MPC political leader stated.
Mr. Simeon Freeman said the current hardship the librarian people are going through is because of the way in which the Media reported during the 2017 election. He said the media did not help guide the ordinary people through their reportage which way as the best to go in the 2017 elections, as result of that, the ordinary people and the country is suffering today with economic hardship beyond unimaginable reasons.
The MPC political leader then encouraged the Independent Probe Newspaper family that it is time that “we take our problems serious and if the Legislature is the problem what do you expect from them as they will only make bad laws.”
“The media need to deep dig into issues, we also allow things to lie only for a while in Liberia and after a week or two you hear nothing about that particular issue again. That is not helping us at all,” Mr. Freeman noted. He then urged: “If we run our society like this we will not move anywhere as media and a nation”
Launch of IPNEWS ‘Print House’
Serving as official key launcher for the Independent Probe Newspaper (IPNEWS) Rally intended to establish a ‘Print House’, the political leader of the MPC, Simeon Freeman first lauded the news organ for its dream and vision to secure and subsequently establish a ‘Print House’ that will in the near future ease the burden of printing the hard copies of the Independent Probe Newspaper.
Mr. Freeman said any major dream that is to be achieved has to begin from a first step and that is exactly what the IPNEWS family has done today, Tuesday, November 9, 2022 by launching a Rally to raise money for the purchase of modern state-of-the-art machines for their envisioned ‘Print House’.
To set the ball rolling as key launcher, Mr. Freeman made an initial pledge of LS$45,000 to the Rally and encouraged other well-meaning Liberians who believe in Freedom of Speech and Press Freedom, as well as political advocates and activists to support the Independent Probe Newspaper’s Rally with whatever financial contributions as the paper dreams about purchasing and establishing their own Print House.
