By Aruna Turay, Media Adviser to Plan Finland in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is a very small country located in West Africa with a population of 5.6 million people, of which 52 % are women. 68 % of the population is under 18 years old. It is a multi-party country with 14 local tribes.

In the whole of Africa, Sierra Leone was the first country to have a university established and originally 70 % of Africa´s Professors and intellectuals got their education from Sierra Leone.

With a population of 5.6 million people, Sierra Leone is richly blessed with several minerals, such as diamonds, iron ore, gold, timber, cacao, coffee, oil and, above all, fertile soil for agriculture and sea and rivers filled with fish.

Sierra Leone, once the "Anthem of Africa"

Sierra Leone has beautiful beaches and is well known for its natural harbor and lovely mountains. For its riches, Sierra Leone in the late 60's was named in my continent as the "Anthem of Africa".

But with all the above, its an irony to note that in Sierra Leone 80 % of the population are very poor, and 60 % of the population live with less than 1 USD per day. 60% of the population can only afford one meal a day.

It is also disheartening to note that the country has gone through eleven years of brutal and senseless civil war.

The civil war began in 1991. Tens of thousands died, and more than 2 million people – over one-third of the population – were displaced.

Neighboring countries became host to significant numbers of refugees attempting to escape. The civil war was officially declared over on 18 January 2002.

Several, if not all of the Sierra Leone's once existing infrastructures were destroyed during the civil war. The war also left the country with increased and uncontrollable corruption, insecurity, injustice, poverty, poor education and health, to name but a few.

The once Anthem of Africa has now listed last in the world’s developing countries index, making it a country relying on donors, such as the IMF and the UNDP, for its survival.

Journalism in Sierra Leone

The media in Sierra Leone is divided into two, namely the electronic and the print media. The print forms 70 % and the electronic, such as radio stations and television channels, 30 % of the media.

Sierra Leone has 52 newspapers, 33 radio stations, 3 magazines and 2 television channels as a whole.

All the 52 newspapers, the 3 magazines, and 18 of the 33 radio stations operate in Freetown, the capital city, while the rest of the radio stations are operating in the provinces as community radio stations.

Challenges in Practicing Journalism in Sierra Leone

Being a developing country, Sierra Leone has lots of issues to offer for a journalist to write about. However, practicing journalism in Sierra Leone is very challenging and sometimes frustrating and dangerous.

As a practicing journalist in Sierra Leone, you are like a hefty man walking on a line crossed between a hungry lion's mouth and the deep red sea.

There are every-day issues on corruption, injustice, and more, that make good newspaper headlines. You can write about them, if only they have nothing to do with the president or top government functionaries, such as ministers.

Journalism in Sierra Leone is not free. We are still struggling with the fight for press freedom and freedom of speech.

On several occasions, journalists are not allowed to access information, not allowed to published certain information, especially if it exposes corruption on the part of government functionaries.

A good number of journalists have suffered serious beating, detentions in police cells and maximum prisons in Sierra Leone in the hands of politicians as a result of articles they have published or aired. On more serious occasions, journalists face death or at least death threats for airing or publishing articles, especially during coverage of election processes.

On several occasions the publisher and editor of the Awareness Times, the leading newspaper in Sierra Leone, were been declared most wanted for publishing articles that have to do with the President.

International Journalists Visiting Sierra Leone

Even though journalism in Sierra Leone is not too safe to practice, there are some exceptions for international journalists, especially those coming from Europe.

Most information that is not accessible to local journalists is made accessible to international journalists.

The fact is that our politicians are usually scared to have their names published in a bad way in the international media, mostly because at the end of their political careers, most of them are likely to choose Europe to resettle themselves.

Thus, they give more regard to international journalists than to the locals.

Status of Journalists in Sierra Leone

As a Sierra Leonean journalist, your working conditions are miserable.

75 % of practicing journalists in Sierra Leone are receiving less than 20 Euros per month as their basic salaries. Most of us are responsible for collecting news stories and taking photographs on our own. Back at the office, we wait until we have access to the limited computers to type our articles before forwarding them to the editor.

Finally, the media in Sierra Leone is to a large extent corrupt and can be bribed by corrupt politicians and individuals in power to uphold a story that is about to expose them and their corrupt practices.

Until journalists are well paid, and conditions of service are improved, the media will continue to be corrupt and biased in reporting matters of importance.