PHOTO: The Author
OP-ED By Peter Quaqua
When the Secretary-General of the Liberian National Bar Association recently suggested that Liberia should “move toward licensing journalists,” it triggered both applause and unease. The remark, made at the Press Union of Liberia’s 61st anniversary celebration, forces us to revisit a recurring question: how do we raise professional standards in journalism without shrinking the democratic space that journalism itself makes possible?
A call rooted in concern
To be fair, the concerns that motivated the call cannot be ignored. Our media landscape is far from perfect. Sensational headlines, partisan reporting, mercenary practices and regime journalism have eroded public trust. Citizens often complain they cannot distinguish between professional journalists and those who merely wear the badge. In this climate, a lawyer’s appeal for licensing sounds like a reasonable demand for order. After all, doctors, engineers, and lawyers are licensed—why not journalists?
Why journalism is different
The answer lies in the very nature of journalism. Medicine and law are specialized services that require state regulation to protect public health and justice. Journalism, on the other hand, is an extension of a universal right: the right to freedom of expression.
Article 15 of the Liberian Constitution makes this clear: “Every person shall have the right to freedom of expression, being fully responsible for the abuse thereof. This right shall not be curtailed, restricted or enjoined by government save during an emergency… This freedom encompasses the right to hold opinions without interference and the right to knowledge. It includes freedom of speech and of the press, academic freedom, and the right of the people to be informed.”
This provision recognizes that freedom of expression and press freedom are not privileges granted by the state but rights inherent to every individual. To introduce licensing would undermine that constitutional guarantee by placing the exercise of those rights behind a gate controlled by authority.
The same principle is upheld internationally. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights affirms in Article 9 that “every individual shall have the right to receive information” and “the right to express and disseminate his opinions.” The African Commission has repeatedly held that licensing journalists is incompatible with these protections.
The danger of exclusion
There is also the danger of exclusion. In Liberia, the press is not just big Monrovia newspapers. It is community radio stations in Nimba, citizen reporters in Grand Gedeh, and young bloggers shaping discourse on social media. A rigid licensing system risks shutting out these voices, narrowing the national conversation at a time when we need more diversity, not less.
A legitimate grievance, a better solution
Still, the criticism is not without merit. The profession does need stronger accountability. Public trust must be rebuilt. But the solution lies not in licensing but in strengthened self-regulation. The Press Union of Liberia has already established mechanisms like the National Media Council to handle ethics complaints. What is needed is to reactivate and empower these structures, make them more transparent, and ensure that discipline is real.
Accreditation, training, and continuous professional development can help distinguish committed journalists from impostors. But these processes must remain in the hands of independent professional bodies, not political institutions.
Freedom first, accountability always
Press freedom is not the enemy of professionalism; it is its foundation. Without freedom, journalism becomes an echo chamber of power. Without accountability, it becomes noise. Liberia needs both.
The Bar Association’s call should therefore be read not as a prescription but as a provocation — a reminder that the media must put its own house in order. Journalists must embrace higher standards, but the nation must equally defend their right to speak without a license from the state.
The way forward: constructive steps
Strengthening media freedom and professionalism in Liberia requires a collective effort across institutions and society. The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has a central role to play by reactivating the National Media Council, enforcing a strong code of ethics, and implementing an inclusive accreditation system. Such a system should distinguish serious practitioners while ensuring that the voices of community journalists are not silenced. To this end, I urge the PUL to explore the possibility of convening a national conference on media ethics and safety of journalists.
The Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA) can complement these efforts by partnering with the PUL to promote legal literacy among journalists. By helping media practitioners better understand the law and avoid professional pitfalls—while still respecting the independence of the press—the Bar can strengthen the safeguards around responsible journalism. I should add that the Bar had a representation of the Media Complaints Committee of the PUL
For its part, the government and policymakers must uphold Article 15 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. This means investing in media capacity-building and resisting any temptation to introduce state-controlled licensing mechanisms that could stifle press freedom.
At the same time, media houses and journalists themselves must take responsibility by investing in continuous training, improving fact-checking practices, and strengthening peer accountability. Such efforts are essential to rebuilding public trust from within the profession.
Finally, civil society and academia have an important role in supporting monitoring, research, and public education on media literacy. By equipping citizens with the tools to critically engage with news and hold journalists accountable, they can help foster a healthier media ecosystem without undermining the fundamental right to free expression.
Conclusion
At its core, the push to license journalists is not about raising standards—it is about control. Liberia’s hard-won freedom of expression cannot be surrendered to bureaucratic gatekeeping that decides who qualifies as a journalist and who does not. True accountability must come from strong ethical self-regulation, active peer review, and a press that serves the public with integrity—not from state licensing that risks silencing dissent. What is at stake is more than the future of journalism; it is the survival of free speech and democracy itself.
The choice is clear. Licensing invites control; self-regulation builds credibility. Liberia’s Constitution, Africa’s regional commitments, and our democratic aspirations all point in the same direction: protecting freedom while strengthening professionalism. If we anchor journalism on a foundation of freedom and integrity, it will remain what it was always meant to be—a public good, not a state-licensed privilege.