Is Senator Dillon Biting More than He can chew? -As He Threatens to Sack Public Officials Sponsoring “Blackmailer” Journalists

MONROVIA – It appears as if the age-old saying in this country might be coming to pass, that the dump truck which is often utilized to build the Executive Mansion will never be allowed to pass in front of the Mansion. Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon  who rose to prominence through the avalanche of media coverage and exposure he received to win the 2019 by-elections, and get reelected the next year to enjoy a nine-year term in the Liberian Senate, has gone all out to wage a stinging campaign against media institutions and personalities that he considers anti-government, even going to the extent of threatening to boot government officials out of the Joseph Nyuma Boakai-led government for sponsoring “blackmailers” who have nothing positive to say about the country, but want to be rewarded for badmouthing the government and its public officials.

“John Kollie, you talked complete nonsense. I am coming for you this week. And I am waiting for all the media people in this country to descend on me because I went for John Kollie. John Kollie went on radio and said Dillon is mean. I got whole radio station, I got journalists working, and we’re paying them. We’ve got administrative staff, we’re paying them. He didn’t see that one. It’s my podcast Class Reloaded? In fact, we will make Class Reloaded bigger. If you don’t want Class Reloaded, follow the ABC in journalism. Not your blackmailing nonsense that you people can be doing and think people will shake to it. No! Not this government. You blackmail us, we close our ears to it, and we open our own show. We are not rewarding blackmailers. If you are angry, sorry. No apologies. We are not going reward people who decide that I will talk about this man until he gives me something. No! Not me! Not this government! Not Joseph Boakai government. If few people are in there giving some of you people something, we are watching. When we catch public officials in our government sponsoring some of these people who loudmouth and they think giving a negative image to the country everyday makes them feel ok, because they are getting something from somewhere, watch yourself. We, the government, we are watching our own from inside. When we catch you sponsoring some of these blackmailers, some of those who say nothing positive is happening to this country, we are watching. When we catch you, you are out of the government. You can cut this part and say Dillon is threatening people,” said Senator Dillon in a sardonic podcast made over the weekend in response to an earlier podcast issued by Liberian journalist John Kollie of the Liberia Media Development Initiatives (LMDI) fame.

“Those of you who know John Kollie, a much known media person, a journalist. He used to run this thing they called Talking Drum Studio. He interviewed candidate Weah in 2005 when you heard about that privatization. He normally does these senatorial debates here and there. John Kollie goes on the radio and is advising politicians from stop intruding into their journalism field. Politicians must stick to their politics and leave journalism. So I am asking myself, what is journalism?

“As I am talking to you now, am I a journalist? Does John Kollie understand what a journalist is, from a podcaster to a political commentator? Doe he understand that?

“John Kollie and some media people are either uncomfortable because some of us, even though in political offices, we are telling our own story because they failed to tell the story in a balanced way. If a journalist is supposed to know and live by the ABC in journalism. Accuracy, Balancing the story, and the story must be Correct. That’s the ABC of journalism.

“Every radio now has a talk show. The place journalism should be practiced and no less is on the news. Even in the journalism field a commentary by a journalist, the editorial written by the newspaper is the thinking or the opinion of that newspaper. The commentary of a media person or a journalist is their opinion. The news must Accurate, Balanced and Correct. That is where journalism is. Everywhere around the world, almost every lawmaker in the US, Ghana, Sierra Leone or Ivory Coast have their podcasts to interact with their people. If I did something positive, and because you the media have turned into politicians, you say, since I am supporting this other politician and I am not supporting Dillon as a politician, I will not report Dillon’s story. So, the public takes it that Dillon is not doing anything because they are hearing about Dillon. Then Dillon comes and says ok, I will tell my own story now, then you vex?

“But more besides, John Kollie took to the radio and said, Dillon we beg your, leave our profession. Dillon you are mean to the media people, to the journalists. John Kollie, along with Senator Lawrence, I am chairing the board of Bushrod Radio. We employed journalists. We have station managers, business managers, reporters. We pay them. When I decide to be guest or to put out my podcast to interact with my people, I am doing journalistic work. I am not reporting the news, and I am not castigating somebody. I am not saying somebody said this and I did not get their side of the story to balance it.

“When you the journalist decide to be journalist, report the news; whether it is negative, but it must be true. There are some things that are negative. For instance, if I stole money, it’s a negative news for me, but it’s true. If I stole and the media reported it that I stole, it is a negative news for me but it is a true news. That’s journalism. Almost every media in this country has some kind of politician or some kind of political party allegiance and they damage one person’s character to promote another person at the detriment of other people reputation, and you expect me, Darius Dillon who is media savvy like this, and knows public relations, I will sit down and allow greedy people like you John Kollie who got no spine, will come tell me that I must leave journalism with you? This thing I am doing, is it journalism? I am interacting with my people. I am holding podcast. I am not reporting news. I am not reading news.

“John Kollie, I am coming for you, with some of your own people who are crying why we opened “Class Reloaded”. We opened Class Reloaded because we can’t sit down, we formed a government, made the government, and then one group of people decide that since they own microphone, they will be negative toward the country and say nothing positive that is happening in the country and under the government at all. And when we can tell our own story, we’re coming to tell our own story, we are telling our own story, then we are presenting our own narratives. So, the people who may be feeding you have reduced what they used to be feeding you, then you want to get angry?

“Just how the public can get up and say all the people in government are corrupt, without having the sense to say it is not possible to say everybody in government is corrupt. Because some people in government may be doing it or actually doing it does not mean everybody in government is corrupt. By the time they say media people are quarks, then they say they will blacklist that person. Dillon attacked the media. But the media people didn’t report that John Kollie went on radio and said Darius Dillon is mean, he shouldn’t get in our journalism field.

“Let me tell your something. I lied on my ticket, it hurt my character, it hurt my conscience, I lived with it. That was a negative story, but it was true against me. I didn’t take it out on anybody, I took it out on myself. But when I am doing something positive and you refuse to report it because reporting it will mean promoting me against the people who are giving you something every month, to hell with you.

“I am saying it, John Kollie. I am going on the radio this week. I will speak to this. We will sponsor Class Reloaded continuously. We will make sure that it will grow bigger. We will get more than 100 community radio stations across the country to tell the government story. So you the blackmailers, you think that you alone have microphone in front of you, that you alone can just get up every morning the whole country is wicked, that everybody has changed in the country, that everybody in government just got up one morning and said they will be bad and corrupt, every expenditure of government is corruption, is that journalism? That nonsense that some of you can be doing.

“Journalism is to respect and take cognizance and abide by the ABC. Some people who are even in the journalism field, and they’re holding talk shows and caller calls, they say something completely misleading, no facts check. They don’t check them immediately to say that thing you’re talking is not true because there are other people listening. And the people who are listening gone with that nonsense that the person talked for one minute through the telephone. Don’t do that.

“In 2019, harmonization, lawmakers’ salaries – from $15,000 gross to $10,000 gross. In August 2019 when I became senator. Since 2019 under George Weah’s government we reduced that money from $15,000 to $10,000. The records are there. Every month we are taking pay. $10,000 gross, $7,900 net. You are holding talk show and you are a journalist and somebody says lawmaker is making $15,000 and you can’t say hey no stop! During the harmonization they reduced their money to this amount. No journalist can do that one during their talk show.

“You are a journalist and you assign reporters to the Capitol Building, and somebody calls and says the lawmakers can only two times a week, and you can’t correct them to say no, the two times you see there is when they are in session. The Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we can see in different committee hearings and committee meetings. Instead of helping the society to be informed, you are there promoting one side and think you can damage another group of people character and reputation and think that some of us will sit.

“John Kollie, you talked complete nonsense. I am coming for you this week. And I am waiting for all the media people in this country to descend on me because I went for John Kollie. John Kollie want on radio and said Dillon is mean. I got whole radio station, I got journalists working, we’re paying them. We’ve got administrative staff, we’re paying them. He didn’t see that one. It’s my podcast Class Reloaded? In fact, we will make Class Reloaded bigger. If you don’t want Class Reloaded, follow ABC in journalism. Not your blackmailing nonsense that you people can be doing and think people will shake to it. No! Not this government. You blackmail us, we close our ears to it, and we open our own show. We are not rewarding blackmailers. If you are angry, sorry. No apologies. We are not going reward people who decide that I will talk about this man until he gives me something. No! Not me! Not this government! Not Joseph Boakai government. If few people are in there giving some of you people something, we are watching. When we catch public officials in our government sponsoring some of these people who loudmouth and they think giving a negative image to the country everyday makes them feel ok, because they are getting something from somewhere, watch yourself. We, the government, we are watching our own from inside. When we catch you sponsoring some of these blackmailers, some of those who say nothing positive is happening to this country, we are watching. When we catch you, you are out of the government. You can cut this part and say Dillon is threatening people,” Dillon raged.

What did John Kollie say?

It can be recalled how the veteran Liberian journalist made a somewhat whimsical but authentically truthful podcast over the weekend where he questioned the rationale of public officials dabbling in the realm of journalism while those who are trained to practice the craft are left to scavenge for crumbs at the largesse of government.

According to Mr. Kollie, public officials should be advocating for support to the media to strengthen their independence, than for public officials to get involved in media activities that exclusively promote the government. This, Mr. Kollie says, is akin to taking bread from the mouths of journalists and media institutions.

“You got water to your house? I have been using my own system that I built for, I don’t how long. He claims to be have built one for $200,000. Just about the same system that I built for $35,000. It’s been working so well. But instead of sitting down overnight to think on these things, these guys are on the radio all day. Leave that with us who chose it. I just think they are too mean. They are trying to mean you so they don’t want to give you anything for the reason you went to school. So if Mo Ali and Patrick Honnah who is now my little brother are going to be journalists, then how do we eat? Have we thought about this? These guys are destroying the media. We need money to survive.

“I appeal to the government people to leave the media with us. They are stealing our profession.  They are denying our livelihood. What we learn to live on, if they are doing it, they will not give us contract. They got our money. This is our country’s money. These guys shouldn’t be mean like this. Leave us let’s run the media. We will help you if we strike deals, but please do not steal our profession that way you are doing it. I can afford, but the younger generation of media people have turned to beggars. Is that what Mo Ali wants? Is that what Patrick Honnah wants? Is that what Jerolinmek will want?” Mr. Kollie wondered.

The war of words between Senator Dillon and the supposedly blackmailing media institutions and personalities comes hot on the heels of the Director General of the Liberia Broadcasting System threatening to suspend live coverage of the Ministry of Information press briefings due to lack of money.