New Citizen

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New Citizen
ABOUT US

The New Citizen press started in 1982 through the desire of some citizens to have a truly independent newspaper in circulation in Sierra Leone .

Most of those who saw the need for a truly independent newspaper were people who were not comfortable with the restrictions that were then available in the government owned paper, The Daily Mail.

The original staff of the New Citizen at its inception consisted of Mr. Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, Managing Editor and Daisy Bona, Production Manager, among others.

The New Citizen then sought to bring a holistic approach to newspaper writing and covered many areas of interest including feature articles, economic news and projections, short stories like the Last Word and Who Is Who in Sierra Leone to encourage the circulation of knowledge about prominent citizens who have contributed immensely towards the development of Sierra Leone .

And those who took part in the Who Is Who Quizzes/Competition benefited from cash prizes as a form of compensation to readers.

But by and large, the thrust of the New Citizen has been on objective reporting and in-depth reporting.

Proof of this is the fact that the New Citizen has never been dragged to court for libel or any other criminal offence, which is a tribute to the calibre of staff, that we employ to run our newspaper.

In time, our newspaper became a teaching ground for young journalists who have since taken their rightful places in the national world of journalism. Many young journalists who had worked for the New Citizen press have gone on to higher positions in the trade, up to editorship.

One can clearly see that self-censorship in the interest of fair play, transparency and accountability were accentuated to serve as an example to young journalists who wanted to be objective but lacked the experience.

Ours has always been a daily newspaper featuring very current stories and articles that have won applause both nationally and internationally.

On the eve of our 25 th year of existence as a newspaper, our emphasis is still on objectivity, accurate information, entertainment, sports and short stories.

Yet, as a human organisation, we respect the views of our readers and we therefore look forward to suggestions from our numerous readers to help us maintain the high standard which our readers have known us for.

Our staff list stands at 35 workers and these include Editors, Reporters, Columnists, Typists, Printers, Graphic Designers, Cartoonists and other support staff.

We are proud of our very experienced and hard working staffs who have helped us to achieve the kind of excellence that we are all proud of.

We thank you for your interest in our newspaper and look forward to hearing from you.

Please find in our Team section a list of our employees and their background information on their individual experiences.

Faithfully submitted,

Samuel B. Conteh



STATEMENT FROM THE CURRENT MINISTER OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE

(FORMER PROPRIETOR AND MANAGING EDITOR OF THE NEW CITIZEN)



The New Citizen newspaper, established in April 1982, was the brainchild of a group of Sierra Leoneans who at the time saw the great need to set up an objective newspaper for the important purposes of addressing political, economic and social issues relevant for the overall development of the country.

It should also be noted that at the time the New Citizen was established, it was also expected to perform oversight functions such as putting pressure on those in authority to revert the country to multi party democracy.

The first step was the success clinched when the newspaper succeeded in convincing the authorities about the need to liberalise the economy at a time when the New Citizen took the leadership role of sensitising members of the public about the need for Sierra Leone to work towards the clinching of an IMF programme.

The newspaper has always prided itself as a vehicle for national cohesion and also an instrument for the promotion of objective journalism.

At the moment, the New Citizen stands out as one of the most objective and professionally managed newspaper in Sierra Leone .

In April 2007, the New Citizen will be 25 years old and in celebrating is silver jubilee since its founding, the management intends to honour all those people who in diverse ways have contributed to the success of the New Citizen as a national newspaper.

The New Citizen also specialises in financial reporting and political analysis for which it is held in high esteem.

2007 is particular challenging year for the newspapers as the country moves towards the vital elections of July when Presidential and Parliamentary elections will be conducted as the newspaper has put in place modalities to report the elections in an objective and most professional manner.

At the moment, the New Citizen has a circulation that covers the whole country of Sierra Leone and in this regard, now that the paper is going online, we welcome our new readers from all parts of the world.

I thank you.