{{short description|Liberian journalist|bot=PearBOT 5}} '''Kenneth Yakpawolo Best''' (born 28 October 1938) is a Liberian journalist who founded the Liberian newspaper ''[[The Daily Observer (Liberia)|The Daily Observer]]'' and [[The Daily Observer|a paper of the same name]] in The Gambia.<ref name=IPI>Michael Kudlak, [http://www.freemedia.at/Heroes_IPIReport2.00/04Best.htm IPI World Press Freedom Heroes: Kenneth Best] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608213108/http://www.freemedia.at/Heroes_IPIReport2.00/04Best.htm |date=2011-06-08 }}, ''IPI Report'', June 2000</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liberianobserver.com/opinion/letters/kenneth-y-best-at-75/|publisher=Daily Observer|date=20 November 2013|title=Kenneth Y. Best at 75|access-date=26 August 2017|archive-date=26 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826160848/https://www.liberianobserver.com/opinion/letters/kenneth-y-best-at-75/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He is the nephew of [[Americo-Liberian]] journalist of [[Caribbean people|Caribbean]] descent [[Albert Porte]].<ref>Carl Patrick Burrowes, ''Power and Press Freedom in Liberia, 1830-1970'', 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FaEs88IpUzEC&dq=albert+porte&pg=PA108 p.108]</ref>
==Biography== Best was born in October 1938 in Harrisburg, St. Paul River in [[Montserrado County]], Liberia to [[Americo-Liberian]] parents of West Indian descent.<ref name="Historical Dictionary of Liberia2000">{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Liberia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qt0_RrW8ghkC&q=Kenneth+Yakpawolo+Best&pg=PA39|year=2000|publisher=Scarecrow Press|edition=2nd|isbn=978-1-461-65931-0|pages=39}}</ref> He studied at St. Patrick's Elementary School on Snapper Hill, Monrovia. He entered [[Booker Washington Institute]] in 1959, graduating with a diploma in agriculture.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement">{{cite web|url=https://www.liberianobserver.com/news/kenneth-best-to-speak-at-cuttingtons-commencement/|title=Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement|publisher=Daily Observer|date=26 June 2014|access-date=26 August 2017|archive-date=27 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827004421/https://www.liberianobserver.com/news/kenneth-best-to-speak-at-cuttingtons-commencement/|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 2 December 1963, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and political science from [[Cuttington University]] (CU) after studying there since 1960.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" /> During his years in CU, he ran a literary magazine, the ''Cuttington Review'',.<ref name="Historical Dictionary of Liberia2000" /> On 3 December 1963, he was appointed Assistant to the Dean of Liberal Arts of the [[University of Liberia]].<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" /> Between 1963 and 1965, he was a journalist at the Press and Publications Bureau for the Liberian government.<ref name="Historical Dictionary of Liberia2000" /> In April 1964, he became an information officer for the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs in Tolbert's government. He studied journalism at the Institut für Publizistik in Berlin, West Germany and later at the [[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism|Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University]], New York, where he received a Master's in Comparative Journalism in 1967.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" />
In 1968, he returned home to Liberia and became the Director of Press and Publications. In 1972, he became Assistant Minister for Information in the Liberian Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT).<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" /> He moved to Kenya in late 1973 and worked as information director of [[All Africa Conference of Churches]] (AACC) in Nairobi.<ref name="Perfect2016">{{cite book|last=Perfect|first=David|title=Historical Dictionary of The Gambia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9MknDAAAQBAJ&q=Historical+Dictionary+of+The+Gambia+Best+Kenneth&pg=PA60|year=2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-6526-4|pages=60–61}}</ref> He resigned from the AACC in 1980 and returned to Liberia.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" />
In February 1981, Best and his wife founded the ''Daily Observer'', Liberia's first independent daily newspaper.<ref name=Campbell>W. Joseph Campbell, ''The emergent independent press in Benin and Côte d'Ivoire'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998, [https://books.google.com/books?id=pAjZu5xA93kC&dq=%22Kenneth+Best%22+%22daily+observer%22&pg=PA20 p.19-20]</ref> Under the Presidency of [[Samuel Doe]], the ''Daily Observer'' was subject to sustained political harassment.<ref>Paul Gifford, ''Christianity and Politics in Doe's Liberia'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=GFZ_TIc4q6UC&dq=%22Kenneth+Best%22+%22daily+observer%22&pg=PA26 pp.26-28]</ref>
The [[First Liberian Civil War]] caused Best to relocate his family by fleeing to The Gambia on 1 August 1990.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" /><ref name=Williams/><ref name="Perfect2016" /> There he founded Gambia's first daily newspaper on 11 May 1992, again called ''The Daily Observer''.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" /><ref name=Williams>Gabriel I. H. Williams, ''Liberia: The Heart of Darkness'', Trafford Publishing, 2002, p.333</ref> In October 1994, following [[Yahya Jammeh]]'s [[military coup]], Best was expelled from Gambia,<ref name=Campbell/> after the newspaper ran a series of stories that were critical of AFPRC on human rights violations,<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" /> although the newspaper was allowed to continue,<ref>"[http://observer.gm/contact Contact Us] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721033054/http://observer.gm/contact |date=2011-07-21 }}." ''The Daily Observer''. Retrieved on 28 February 2009.</ref> it was eventually shutdown by tax authorities on 23 August 2017 for non-compliance of its tax obligations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/daily-observer-closed-again|website=thepoint.gm|access-date=2019-07-09|title=Daily Observer closed again - the Point Newspaper, Banjul, the Gambia|archive-date=2019-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709111323/http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/daily-observer-closed-again|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://foroyaa.gm/daily-observer-closed-again/|title=Daily Observer Closed Again|last=Editor|date=2017-08-24|website=Foroyaa Newspaper|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-09|archive-date=2019-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709111329/http://foroyaa.gm/daily-observer-closed-again/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Best, along with several of his reporters was arrested on 21 October 1994 and detained for 36 hours, before being deported back to Liberia on 30 October 1994.<ref name="Perfect2016" /><ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" />
He and his family moved to the [[United States]] and was granted political asylum in January 1995.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" /><ref name="Perfect2016" /><ref name=IPI/> In 1999, he sold ''The Daily Observer'' to businessman Amadou Samba, who was supported by Jammeh. He returned to Liberia in June 2005 and relaunched his old newspaper. He continued to serve as the publisher and editor of the Liberian ''Daily Observer'', which continued to criticize the government.<ref name="Perfect2016" /> In 2012, Best published ''The Evolution of Liberia's Democracy: A Brief look at Liberia's Electoral History – 1847-2011''.<ref name=2012book>{{cite news|publisher=Daily Observer (Liberia) |url=http://www.liberianobserver.com/index.php/columns/item/256-kenneth-y-best-publishes-new-book-on-liberia%E2%80%99s-evolution-to-democracy |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411071626/http://www.liberianobserver.com/index.php/columns/item/256-kenneth-y-best-publishes-new-book-on-liberia%E2%80%99s-evolution-to-democracy |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-04-11 |title=Kenneth Y. Best Publishes New Book on Liberia's Evolution to Democracy |date=2012-01-24 |accessdate=2012-10-05 }}</ref>
He married Mae Gene Traub on July 17, 1971. The couple have eight children, including two adopted children.<ref name="Kenneth Best to Speak at Cuttington's Commencement" />
==Awards==
Best was named one of [[International Press Institute]]'s 50 [[World Press Freedom Heroes]] in 2000.<ref name=IPI/>
==Works== *''Cultural Policy in Liberia'', 1974 *''African Challenge'', 1975 *"My Fight for Press Freedom", in ''[[New African]]'', August 1991. *''The Evolution of Liberia's Democracy: A Brief look at Liberia's Electoral History – 1847-2011'', 2012
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Kenneth}} [[Category:1938 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Monrovia]] [[Category:Gambian journalists]] [[Category:Liberian journalists]] [[Category:Americo-Liberian people]] [[Category:20th-century Liberian people]] [[Category:Liberian people of Barbadian descent]]