KEY POINTS
- Press Union of Liberia president Julius Kanubah urged journalists to prioritize energy sector reporting nationally.
- Kanubah says the LERC cannot effectively engage every Liberian without strong media support and coverage.
- The call came at a one-day training on tracking Liberia’s electricity regulatory framework in Monrovia.
Julius Kanubah has a clear message for journalists in Liberia: the energy sector is a public interest story and the media has been underreporting it.
The president of the Press Union of Liberia made the call on May 21 at a one-day training on tracking the implementation of Liberia’s electricity regulatory framework, held at MUREX Plaza in Sinkor, Monrovia. The event, organized by the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission, brought together journalists, media professionals and communications practitioners.
Kanubah framed the energy sector not as a technical niche but as a beat that sits at the center of daily Liberian life. Access to electricity, he argued, shapes livelihoods, economic activity and national development in ways that demand sustained media attention.
“If our daily survival and sustainability depend on access to energy then, we ought as journalists to focus on providing quality information by increasing the quality of stories on the energy sector,” he said.
The media’s role in the regulatory process
Kanubah made a pointed argument about the limits of regulatory work without media engagement. The LERC, he said, cannot reach every Liberian citizen with information about its policies and decisions. Journalists are the bridge between the regulator and the public, and without that bridge, accountability suffers.
“The work of the LERC cannot be performed adequately without public information. It is impossible for the LERC to speak with or engage every Liberian citizen and non-Liberian about its work and policy decision making which impacts access to energy,” he said.
He commended the LERC for organizing the training and described the commission’s mandate as vital to Liberia’s energy security, noting that how it operates carries direct consequences for the availability, affordability and accessibility of electricity across the country.
A push for investigative energy reporting
Kanubah did not stop at encouraging routine coverage. He pushed journalists toward investigative reporting that holds actors in the energy sector accountable for their decisions and performance.
“This would require engaging in investigative journalism by holding actors and users of the energy sector accountable,” he said, urging reporters to deepen their technical understanding of the sector as a foundation for better storytelling.
The Press Union of Liberia serves as the umbrella organization for journalists and media institutions in the country, with a mandate covering press freedom, journalists’ rights and democratic governance. Kanubah closed by expressing confidence that the training would translate into more informed and analytical energy coverage from Liberia’s media community.
