Liberia: LMC organizes one-day media training forum for Liberian journalists

Strived to enhance the diversity in media coverage, the Liberia Media Centre (LMC) in coordination with the Multi-stakeholders Forestry Governance Project (MFGAP) concluded a one-day training forum outside Monrovia for the trainers with newsroom editors, according to a report by Front Page Africa. The training was aimed to diversify the forest sector coverage, as per the reports.

The one-day media training forum which was held at the Crown Hotel in Paynesville, outside Monrovia reportedly brought the editors and senior reporters from different media outlets along with the print, online, and electronic media under one roof.

While addressing the trainees Francis Brewer, the Program Officer at the LMC and leading facilitator at the forum emphasized media's role in shaping society and also asked the Liberian journalists to extend the reporting sector to other thematic zones such forest as sector. Speaking at the occasion, the Program Officer at the LMC and lead facilitator at the forum, Mr. Francis Brewer, stressed the importance of media role in society and urged Liberian journalists to diversify their reportage to other thematic areas as such in the forest sector.

Brewer while speaking about the aim that, "the intention of this training is to bring media manager up to speed so that they are aware of what we are doing in the forest sector. This is to improve and increase media coverage in the forest sector We have conducted series of trainings in different thematic areas including the Freedom of Information Act, investigative reporting and this time, we are having this editors' training".

He said that the forum is geared to explore the forest sector, as he quoted, "this is geared to enable editors to have the leverage of what has been ongoing in the sector. This is meant for us to brainstorm on issues bordering the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) and other issues regarding the forest sector".

Adding to the event, Victor A. Menyou, the Officer-In-Charge of LMC, focused on the urgency of varied coverage on the forest sector, quoting, "there is need that we cover the forest sector effectively and efficiently. It is through the media that the society voice will be amplified and it is through the media that the concessionaires will be able to live up to their responsibilities. There is a serious need for media to be in this program".