PHOTO: Sean Boda, US Embassy Public Affairs Officer
MONROVIA LIBERIA- The Public Affairs Section (P.A.S.) of the United States Embassy near Monrovia, the capital of Liberia has awarded a six-month-long radio program content gathering and production project to the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiatives (LMDI), Liberia’s leading media, a press release from the LMDI said on Thursday.
This is a community outreach bended People To People democracy and development oriented public education Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organization.
In the contract awarding the project to the LMDI, the U.S. Embassy P.A.S. requires the gathering of contents, production, distribution and broadcast of 14 alternative radio programs as extension to an existing set of weekly programs on ECOWAS Radio named and styled Moving Forward Together (MFT), showcasing collaborative projects and topics important to both the U.S. Mission to Liberia and the Liberian public. The program explains and provides insights into the U.S. Embassy’s unique and diverse partnerships with the Liberian government and society.
Under the project which will run for six months, the LMDI will produce a 45 minute long set of programs that will alternate between typically live interview shows that feature U.S. Embassy staff speaking with their Liberian counterparts on ECOWAS Radio and this set of new pre-recorded shows, also 45 minutes in length featuring Liberians who were beneficiaries or participants in U.S. Embassy or government projects or programs.
The finished products of the 14 radio programs will by contractual obligation be broadcast on 30 rural Community radios and two National or Monrovia based radios, totaling 32 radios, but with expanded
broadcasts on the rest of LMDI partner network of 45 National and Rural Community radios across Liberia. The cost of the project is U.S. $ 40, 000.00 (Forty Thousand U.S. Dollars) for sits ix month duration.
In the announcement for open application to which the LMDI responded, the U.S. Embassy P.A.S. said its general Moving Forward Together (MFT) program supports the Embassy’s strategic goal of building on the foundation of historic ties and shared values between the United States and Liberia.
At a recent visit of familiarity to the headquarters of the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiatives (LMDI), at Lower Careysburg, the New U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer, Sean Boda and his Deputy Michael Ardaiolo described the expected production and broadcast of the new alternative version of their MFT program as a giant step in moving the public visibility of the U.S. embassy and its enormous work to audiences beyond Monrovia.
During the visit, LMDI Director John Kollie committed his organization’s professional preparedness and commitment to the terms of the agreed provisions of the award, promising to live to the expectation of the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section.