Download the Executive Report | PDF
Together Liberia is a pilot media development project intended to empower local communicators to share their own stories through training, equipment donations and relationship building. Together Liberia is comprised of professors and students from five US universities with the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications serving as the anchor institution. Other institutions included Duke University, University of North Carolina, University of Oregon and the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Together Liberia created teams to train Liberian students and professionals in storytelling, photography, media ethics, multimedia and web design. Over the course of nearly three months the US team leadership tested different approaches to training, making adjustments throughout the summer, building a knowledge base of best practices for future projects while benefiting current participants and trainers. Participants were trained and produced stories that were published in the local and international media.
Over the course of nearly three months US team leadership tested different approaches to training, making adjustments throughout the summer, building a knowledge base of “best practices” for future projects while benefiting current participants and trainers. Participants were trained and produced stories that were published in the local and international media.
Together Liberia is the brain child of Newhouse School Asst. Professor Ken Harper and Center for Peace, Democracy & Development Executive Director Michael Keating, who have been traveling to Liberia for several years. Ken has been involved in several Liberian media training initiatives and believes that an emphasis on personalized, human-to-human training would be more effective.
What really got me interested is that you get to meet a lot of people, feel the experiences of a lot of people, to listen to their stories and to tell them to the rest of the world.
Clarence Nah, Liberian Participant
Institutional Partners
- SI Newhouse School of Public Communications
Syracuse University - Center for Democracy and Development
University of Massachusetts Boston - Robertson Scholars Program
Duke University - School of Journalism and Communication
University of Oregon - School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North Carolina - Mass Communication Department
University of Liberia - New Narratives
Monrovia, Liberia | View - Liberia Media Initiative
Monrovia, Liberia | View - New Democrat Newspaper
Monrovia, Liberia | View - FrontPage Africa
Monrovia, Liberia | View - iLab Liberia
Monrovia Liberia | View - Ushahidi
Monrovia, Liberia | View
Metrics
- 5 US based academic institutions | See team bios
- 5 Liberian academic/media institutions
- 7 US student participants | See team bios
- 21 “StoryCorps” conversations produced | Hear conversations
- 19 participant stories produced | View web stories
- 24 participants trained
- 10,222 page views
- $20,000 new/used communication equipment donated
- $51,000 total shared project expenses, less donated equipment
- 4 Liberian publication partners
- 1 international publication partner, aljazeera.com | View
- 1 project documentary created | View
- 2 music videos created | View 1 View 2
- 15 video shorts created | View
- 5 Websites created
- 2 Facebook page created | View one | View two
- 2 newsroom digital image workflows created
- 1 Twitter page Created | View
Flickr Archive
We shot over 20,000 images as part of the Together Liberia project and released an edit of the best under a Creative Commons licence. View the selection below by clicking on a thumbnail or head on over to our Flickr archive.
