PHOTO: Pewee Baysah, President of ALJA
The Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) has issued a strong call to the Liberian media, urging them to demonstrate a high level of professionalism in their coverage of the upcoming Presidential run-off elections scheduled for Tuesday, November 14, 2023.
In a press release issued over the weekend, ALJA emphasized that the media has the critical responsibility to Scrutinize the electoral process by evaluating its fairness, efficiency, and probity and must do so without distorting, framing, falsifying, omitting, or misrepresenting information in order to avoid the potential of inciting violence or unrest during and after the electoral process.
As Liberia continues its journey towards becoming a stable democracy through the conduct of regular elections, ALJA highlighted that the responsibility for ensuring sustainable peace in the country rests with all stakeholders, including the media and that achieving this goal can only be realized if the media, as the watchdog of society, fulfills its role with the utmost efficacy and professionalism.
At the same time, ALJA calls on the government of Liberia and other stakeholders in the electoral process to continue to accord journalists the full cooperation and respect in the exercise of their duties as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, which were signed and ratified by 154 countries, including Liberia.
AALJA reminds the two political parties in the run-off election, the ruling Congress for Democratic Coalition and the opposition Unity Party, and their respective supporters, of their obligation to respect the terms of the Farmington River Declaration of April 4, 2023 which obliges signatories and their supporters to uphold the principles of peaceful elections and respect for the rule of law as well as manifests their strong commitment to prevent potential instances of violence during the elections.
Meanwhile, ALJA is calling on all registered voters in the country to turnout on elections day and exercise their franchise in a peaceful manner.
The Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas is a 501 (C) 3 organization founded by former Liberian journalists based in the United States in 1998 and was revived in 2014 after a period of dormancy. ALJA advocates for good governance, rule of law, democracy, freedom of speech and of the press and provides capacity building for practicing journalists and media institutions in Liberia.