Commentary
By Jennifer Hollett, Journalists for Human Rights(JHR),Freetown.
On my way to work each day I pick up two newspapers - The Concord Times and Awoko. Upon arrival at SLBS, each one is quickly snapped out of my hands by curious coworkers. Then a line-up forms for the papers. Sometimes formal, sometimes informal. The newspapers quickly circulate their way around the office, often read by ten people before I see them again.
Priced at Le 1 000 (about 36 cents), newspapers are a luxury. Reporters at SLBS make Le 60 000/month, if they get paid. Most papers in Sierra Leone have a small circulation of 1 000, bought by those with money and influence. Readership is obviously much larger, but still limited to the educated.
Very few people have TVs as they are expensive and the country is without reliable electricity. This leaves radio as the medium of choice here and across Africa. Listening to the news is a communal experience. Friends and family come together and gather around the radio to listen to BBC Focus on Africa or the local news. As the country waits for election results, people walk the streets with radios attached to their ears.
Sierra Leone is hungry. Not just for food, but for information, news, and updates. The people are famished and they are looking for something, anything that will indicate that things are getting better, or at least explain why they’re getting worse.
Photo credit: Jennifer Hollett.
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