# The Daily Talk

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{{Short description|Blackboard news medium in Monrovia, Liberia}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| image           = Monrovia news board 2008.jpeg
| caption         = The May 24, 2008 board describing former President [Charles Taylor's war crimes trial](/source/Charles_Taylor_(Liberian_politician))
| type            = Free daily news board
| format          = [Blackboard](/source/Blackboard)
| founder         = Alfred J. Sirleaf
| managing_editor = Alfred J. Sirleaf
| founded         = {{start date and age|2000|5|14}}
| language        = [Liberian English](/source/Liberian_English)
| headquarters    = Tubman Boulevard, [Monrovia](/source/Monrovia), [Liberia](/source/Liberia)
}}

'''''The Daily Talk''''' is an English-language news medium published daily on a [blackboard](/source/Chalkboard) on Tubman Boulevard in the center of the [Liberia](/source/Liberia)n capital [Monrovia](/source/Monrovia).<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2014-12-24|title=Christmas in the time of Ebola: documenting daily life in Liberia|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/24/-sp-ebola-liberia-christmas-instagram|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|language=en}}</ref> According to the ''[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)'', it is "the most widely read report" in Monrovia, as many Monrovians lack the money or the electricity necessary for access to the conventional mass media.<ref>{{cite news|title=All the News That Fits: Liberia's Blackboard Headlines|author=Lydia Polgreen|date=August 4, 2006|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/04/world/africa/04liberia.html?pagewanted=all}}</ref> Filmmaker David Lalé has stated that "while the global media too often define Liberia in terms of the tragedy of the [recent civil war](/source/Second_Liberian_Civil_War), from its street-level perspective ''The Daily Talk'' describes a busy, hopeful nation in the process of renewal."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lalé|first=David|date=2 May 2012|title=Alfred's Free Press|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/program/witness/2012/5/2/alfreds-free-press|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[Al Jazeera](/source/Al_Jazeera_English)|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:The Daily Talk.jpg|thumb|The board in 2006, discussing president-to-be [Ellen Johnson Sirleaf](/source/Ellen_Johnson_Sirleaf)]]
The founder, managing editor and sole employee of the ''Daily Talk'' is Alfred J. Sirleaf, an inventor and father of three<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Lentfer|first=Jennifer|date=March 23, 2015|title=When reliable information is gold: Demanding the truth during the Ebola epidemic|url=https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/when-reliable-information-is-gold-demanding-the-truth-during-the-ebola-epidemic/|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[Oxfam America](/source/Oxfam_America)}}</ref> who founded his blackboard newspaper on May 14, 2000<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last1=Duckstein|first1=Stefanie|last2=Fuchs|first2=Susanne|last3=Dunham|first3=Tony|date=2009|title=PEOPLE WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE EPISODE 08: Alfred Jomo Sirleaf – THE BLACKBOARD JOURNALIST|url=https://www.dw.com/downloads/26640782/peo-08liberiasirleaffinal.pdf|website=[Deutsche Welle](/source/Deutsche_Welle)|page=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2018-10-31|title=Monrovia's famous showpiece chalkboard 'newspaper' deliberately damaged|url=https://ifex.org/monrovias-famous-showpiece-chalkboard-newspaper-deliberately-damaged/|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[IFEX](/source/IFEX_(organization))|language=en-US}}</ref> because of his belief that a well-informed citizenry is crucial to the rebirth of Liberia after years of [civil war](/source/First_Liberian_Civil_War). In post-war Liberia, Sirleaf sees access to information as the key to peace.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/theglobalist/docs/focusjournalism/14|title="The Talk of the Town" from Spring 2010: Journalism issue of The Yale Globalist|last=|first=|date=|website=Issuu|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-10-21}}</ref>

Sirleaf's critical writing about Liberian President [Charles Taylor](/source/Charles_Taylor_(Liberian_politician)) led to him being jailed several months after the board's creation, and the ''Daily Talk'' was destroyed by government soldiers.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=December 17, 2018|title=Popular Daily Talk News Blackboard in Liberia Relaunched After Vandalism Damage|url=https://internews.org/updates/popular-daily-talk-news-blackboard-liberia-relaunched-after-vandalism-damage|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[Internews](/source/Internews)}}</ref> Following a period in exile, he returned in 2005 and resumed writing.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Quist-Arcton|first=Ofeibea|author-link=Ofeibea Quist-Arcton|date=December 12, 2014|title=Liberia's Daily Talk: All The News That Fits On A Blackboard|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/12/12/370154232/liberias-daily-talk-all-the-news-that-fits-on-a-blackboard|access-date=2021-02-27|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=January 8, 2013|title=Liberia has a blackboard newspaper!|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/liberia-has-a-blackboard-newspaper|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[Free Press Journal](/source/Free_Press_Journal)|language=en}}</ref> With help from his fellow Monrovians, Sirleaf rebuilt it a week before the 2005 election of president [Ellen Johnson Sirleaf](/source/Ellen_Johnson_Sirleaf) (not a close relation) and resumed publication of the ''Daily Talk''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

After a vehicle drove into and damaged the board in 2018, US Ambassador [Christine A. Elder](/source/Christine_A._Elder) was present at the reopening ceremony two months later.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Worzi|first=Alvin|date=December 19, 2018|title=New Day for Daily Talk|url=https://www.liberianobserver.com/news/new-day-for-daily-talk/|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[Liberian Observer](/source/Liberian_Observer)|language=en-US}}</ref> Funding for the reconstruction was provided by [USAID](/source/USAID) via the non-profit [Internews](/source/Internews).<ref name=":2" />

== Format ==
Attached to the back of the {{convert|10|by|15|ft|m}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schanche|first=Didrik|date=2014-12-12|title=A Liberian Prof Doesn't Like What He's Seeing On The News Blackboard|url=https://www.keranews.org/2014-12-12/a-liberian-prof-doesnt-like-what-hes-seeing-on-the-news-blackboard|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[KERA](/source/KERA_(FM))|language=en}}</ref> chalkboard there is a small wooden shed, the "[newsroom](/source/newsroom)", where Sirleaf prepares and writes reports.<ref name=":3" /> Lacking a computer of his own, he visits an [internet café](/source/internet_caf%C3%A9) to read international news reports.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-11-12|title=The Daily Talk - Liberia's Blackboard Newspaper|url=https://nation.com.pk/12-Nov-2012/the-daily-talk-liberia-s-blackboard-newspaper|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[The Nation (Pakistan)](/source/The_Nation_(Pakistan))|language=en}}</ref>

He writes on the board in [Liberian English](/source/Liberian_English), and adds symbols to assist understanding of stories for those with limited literacy {{En dash}} including a bottle of dirty water for news about [oil prices](/source/oil_prices), a blue helmet for [United Nations peacekeeping](/source/United_Nations_peacekeeping) or a [devil](/source/devil) for the [Ebola virus](/source/Ebola_virus).<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-10-10|title=The Daily Talk: keeping Monrovia in the know|url=https://www.channel4.com/news/the-daily-talk-the-chalk-board-keeping-monrovia-in-the-know|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[Channel 4 News](/source/Channel_4_News)|language=en-GB}}</ref> Colors are also used to distinguish topics, such as yellow for numbers, prominent people and leaders.<ref name=":1" />

The ''Daily Talk'' is free to read,<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=March 30, 2018|title=Delivering the news in Liberia, free of charge|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/delivering-the-news-in-liberia-free-of-charge/|access-date=2021-02-27|website=[CBS News](/source/CBS_News)|language=en}}</ref> with Sirleaf receiving support in the form of occasional gifts of taxi rides and pre-paid cellphone cards. In 2010, he relied on reports from 200 volunteers around Liberia.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Duckstein|first=Stefanie|date=29 March 2010|title=Liberian blogger uses blackboard to inform|url=https://www.dw.com/en/liberian-blogger-uses-blackboard-to-inform/a-5390100|access-date=2021-02-27|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Liberia|Journalism}}
* [Media of Liberia](/source/Media_of_Liberia)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120305173021/http://www.monocle.com/sections/culture/Web-Articles/The-Daily-Talk/ Video report from Monocle featuring The Daily Talk], September 2009

{{commons category|The Daily Talk}}
* {{cite news|title=Weah leads Liberia election, may face run-off|agency=Reuters|date=October 10, 2005|publisher=polity.org.za|url=http://www.polity.org.za/pol/news/2005/?show=75729}}{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|6|17|17|N|10|46|14|W|display=title}}

Category:Mass media in Liberia
Category:Mass media in Monrovia
Category:2000 establishments in Liberia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Daily Talk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Talk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Talk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.