Newspapers Publishers Inaugurate New Leadership -VP Koung Installs Officers as New Republic’s Toweh Takes Gavel

MONROVIA – The newly elected officers of the Publishers Association of Liberia (PAL), an umbrella organization of newspapers owners and publishers, will take office tomorrow, Saturday at an anticipated red-lettered induction ceremony at the Monrovia City Hall.

Vice President Jeremiah Kpan-Koung will serve as keynote speaker at the auspicious gathering expected to be graced by other dignitaries drawn from all sectors of society, including business leaders, diplomats, government officials, journalists and officials of the Press Union of Liberia.

Saturday’s induction ceremony will mark the stewardship of another leadership trajectory of the Association which was established in 1997 and has seen some of the ‘cream of the crop’ of the Liberian media landscape as presidents.

Jackson Seeton, formerly of the Inquirer Newspaper led the charge as PAL’s first President, followed by Sando Moore, Stanley Seakor and now the outgoing leadership headed by Othello Garblah of the New Dawn Newspaper.

PAL went to elections recently and elected Alphonso Toweh of the New Republic Newspaper as President, along with Bai Best of the Daily Observer as Vice President, Winnie Saywah Jimmie, as Secretary and Chester Smith as Financial Secretary.

The new leadership takes office at the time the Liberian media searches for answers to serious economic frailties that are affecting the health and survival of many media outlets, in addition to challenges posed by increasing social media explosion and the proliferation of radio stations in every nook and corner of the city and its environs.

Advertisement scarcity is one of the towering challenges facing the media, mainly newspapers, which the new leadership is likely to tackle as a prime priority.

Low advertisement is also having strains on media owners’ ability to pay their employees, including reporters and editors, handsome salaries that enable them to meet their economic needs, put food on the table for families and even send their kids to school.

President-elect, Alphonso Toweh has vowed to find solution to the issue by reaching out to the advertising community led by the government, and the private sector.