About Rural Reporters News Network

Rural Reporters News Network (RRNN) is a network of rural reporters and journalists passionately working together in bringing rural happenings to urban Liberia through quality news reportage, training and defending press freedom. The website was launched in September 2024 and is hosted by the Liberia Forest Media Watch (LFMW).

Current Context:

The Liberian media environment, though faced with challenges in certain quarters, is quite good when it comes to freedom of the press. There are few available and reliable news outlets doing pretty good in informing the public. But the few credible news outlets and journalists are equally challenged (2022 report by the Media Foundation for West Africa). The challenges include assaults on journalists and attacks on media houses, arson and seizure of journalists’ equipment.

Yet, the Liberian media is progressive and adequately contributing to good governance, democracy and rule of law. For more than a decade now, the media space in Liberia has seen fewer deaths and less brutality or incarceration of journalists and other media actors. In addition, draconian media laws such as the infamous decree 88A have been repealed to allow journalists report freely. The promotion of pro-free press laws such as the 2010 Freedom of Information act and the Table Mountain Declaration have been passed into domestic law by the Legislature. The country’s 1986 constitution also guarantees press freedom.

Despite all of these achievements, information dissemination across the country is limited in scope. Urban Liberia enjoys plethora of avenues through which it gets news effectively and efficiently. These include print, electronic, audiovisual, and digital (Internet). Based on 2022 statistics gathered from Internews Liberia, there were 163 radio stations spread across the country with at least 30,000 citizens having access to one radio station, which remains the major source of information in rural Liberia.

In addition to the proliferation of traditional media, there is a boom in the consumption of media content via the internet and social media. According to a report by the Media Foundation for West Africa, “As of January 2022, there were 1.15 million internet users in the country of 5 million citizens. There are some 748,200 social media users and an internet penetration of 22%”. As the nation gets ready for the connection of additional fiber optic cable and Starlink, it is rightly assumed that the internet penetration will increase significantly to double, thus positively affecting the general population with emphasis on rural areas.

The vast majority of the active media are concentrated and focused on the urban areas. This is where the media institutions have their headquarters and where they target, a clear bias that favors urban areas over rural parts of the country. Most media institutions do not have the institutional capacity and financial wherewithal to employ reporters in the rural or interior parts of the country.

On one hand, there are lots of rural reporters and citizens who make it their duty to report what is happening in rural communities, but are seriously hampered by issues such as the absence of news outlets prioritizing the rural news. 

The latest global press freedom’s rankings by Reporters Without Borders (2022) scaled Liberia 23 places up the pecking order, from its previous year’s (2021) ranking of 93/180. Even so, the 2022 ranking – 75/180 – indicates that more needs to be done.

Challenges faced by rural journalists in the discharge of their watchdog duties:

• Inadequate training opportunities for young and upcoming reporters yearning to become career journalists,
• Inadequate news gathering tools and equipment such as cameras, voice recorders, laptop computers, and video recorders,
• Employment opportunities or sources of income is lacking or almost nonexistent,
• Limited media outlets for effective, efficient and timely dissemination of evolving and contemporary happenings across the country.  

Our journalism

While seeking to address the above challenges, RRNN encourages journalists and reporters to take an interest in the changing dynamics of the media with a keen interest in development-related happenings and occurrences as they unfold on a daily basis.  We are solutions, investigative and development-driven reporters committed to journalism in the interest of the public. Our style and nature of journalism and reportage is driven by the urge to find solutions to challenges face by communities, unearth wrongs committed in society, and promote sustainable development through information, education and awareness with a focus on:

• Natural resources
• Education
• Human rights
• Climate change
• Gender
• Health
• Local government
• Land disputes
• Local commerce
• Arts, culture and tradition
• Public corruption
• Politics

RRRN’s Vision:

A network of rural reporters and journalists passionately working together in bringing rural happenings to urban Liberia through quality news reportage, training and defending press freedom.

Our Mission:

An integrated Liberian media space that is committed to bridging the development news and information gaps, collaboratively build capacity of rural reporters, monitor and defend freedom of expression, and ensure access to essential information and communication platforms to enable dialogue and solutions.

Our Objectives:

• To bridge the news and information gap currently existing between rural and urban population,
• To help government and development partners know and understand the plights of the rural dwellers for effective public policy-making that contributes to poverty reduction and reverses the current rise in rural-urban migration,
•  To correct the distortion of news about the rural population as well as also acquaint rural citizens about developments unfolding in other parts of Liberia,
• To educate, inform and entertain the general public,
• Help promote and defend the rights of rural journalists as well as defend press freedom at all times.

Our Principles & Core Values:

Trust and credibility: Truthful and accurate reporting helps us build trust with our audience. When readers, viewers or listeners believe that a news source consistently provides accurate information, they are more likely to rely on that source for news and information.

Accountability: As a fourth estate institution, we have the responsibility to hold ourselves, individuals, organizations, and government to account for their actions.

Accuracy: For us accuracy is the nerve center of what we do. It is an important ethical guideline. Accuracy is different from truth. Truth in journalism is very cardinal and sacrosanct. Accurate reporting helps ensure that those in power are held to account for their stewardship, decisions and behaviors.

Ethical responsibility and factual information:  Information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair, upholds and defends the principle of media freedom, the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed, correct harmful inaccuracies, differentiates between fact and opinion, obtains material by honest, straightforward and open means, with the exception of investigations-in the public interest and which cannot be obtained by straightforward means, does nothing to intrude into anybody’s private life, grief or distress unless justified by overriding consideration of the public interest, protects the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work, produces no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination and avoids plagiarism.

Respect for All: We understand and appreciate the dignity of all persons with whom we interact daily, especially in our lines of duty. We try as much as possible to internalize the concept that all people deserve the right to fully exercise their autonomy.

As an online news platform, we specialize in investigative, solutions and development reporting. Our not-for-profit frontline institution prioritizes rural news at 70 percent and urban news at 30 percent.  We seek donor support and partnership to enable us remain principally committed to independent journalism.

Our motto: “Everyone must feel and hear the news that matters to them”

Rural Reporters News Network is published by the Liberia Forest Media Watch with funding support from 2024 to April 2026 from the European Union through the French Development Agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Disclaimer: The contents are the sole responsibility of LFMW and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the French Development Agency.

Paul M. Kanneh

Team Leader

Email: paulkanneh5@gmail.com

Cell #: +231-888022040 (WhatsApp)/+231-770437124

Jeseful Morris Keita

Editor-In-Chief

Email: morrisonkeith786@gmail.com

Cell #: 231-777533466 (WhatsApp)/+231-886533466