In its 2014 Country Report on Human Rights in Liberia, the US State Department noted that newspaper publishers commonly accept fees to publish press releases or other favorable articles.

The report indicated that those wishing to suppress information also make payments to newspapers not to print stories on particular topics, adding that media houses rarely check the accuracy of paid-for articles.

Meanwhile, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has welcomed the U.S State Department’s latest report on the Liberian media.

In a release, PUL President Kamara A. Kamara welcomed the report and urged the media to use it to improve, describing it as a positive criticism.

He said the media has used the same report in the past to judge the government and others, and it was time for the media itself to see the report in good faith, now that it criticizes them.