Today is a momentous occasion. The Bush Chicken returns to publication again. If you’ve heard of the name before, you know that we’re a high-quality media outlet dedicated to in-depth news and analysis on Liberia’s current events, development, and state of affairs.

The Bush Chicken name is inspired by the outlet’s inclusive coverage of rural communities and the idea that it will serve as a wake-up call to important issues.

We identified the following problems with journalism in Liberia:

• Articles are often poorly researched.
• Articles reflect poor command of the English language.
• News businesses are poorly managed, leading to paltry revenues and, subsequently, poorly paid reporters. This, in turn, leads to news bias towards those who are willing to pay.
• The interior and rural areas are widely ignored.
• A general lack of in-depth analysis or investigative reporting.

To solve these issues, we produced adequately researched and well-written news articles. We also paid our journalists well above the Liberian norm to ensure they could focus on writing with minimal conflicts of interest. Additionally, we employed investigative journalism and ensured that stories from the interior were covered. When there were potential or perceived conflicts of interest, we disclosed them to our readers, and paid articles were always clearly labeled.

From 2015 to 2021, we published on our website and were one of Liberia’s most respected news outlets. In fact, The Bush Chicken won more Press Union of Liberia Excellence awards than any other news outlet between 2017 and 2020.

However, although we achieved our goal of delivering high-quality journalism, our business model was not sustainable. We were forced to shut down in 2021 to refine the model. However, we are now confident that we have found a sustainable approach.

The Bush Chicken is crowing again.

As we return, we will maintain a weekly print and online publication, publishing on Mondays. Additionally, the paper will be distributed via WhatsApp. Our strength will not be in rushing to publish breaking news; instead, we will pursue in-depth analysis to allow our readers to truly understand the issues and avoid the pitfalls of misinformation. We will also offer unique features missing from the media landscape, including classified listings for jobs and real estate and an events page.

Featured photo by Aaron Nah