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Reading Guerrilla Radio in Wartime Liberia

Innes, Michael A.

Authors

Michael A. Innes



Abstract

Numerous writers have acknowledged the importance of radio communications and hate propaganda in the Liberian civil war (1990–1997), but none have explored the subject in depth. A wide variety of related issues have been neglected, including military efforts to seize control of broadcast facilities, the deliberate manipulation of public information and perceptions, and the implications of both for wartime atrocities and post-war justice. In the following essay, I identify and discuss six general strands of thought on guerrilla radio broadcasting and communications in wartime Liberia. The first looks to the relationship between mass media and the state in the pre-civil war era. The second covers the cooption of the wartime free press. Three further themes – Charles Taylor's cultivation of personal power, the relevance of broadcasting for rebel command and control capabilities, and Taylor's media dominance during the 1997 Presidential campaign – demonstrate the strategic and public roles of radio communications and broadcasting. Finally, I look to written survivor memoirs for elite responses to wartime media monopolies, guerrilla propaganda, and psychological warfare. I conclude with some notes on indicators for future research, and their implications for historical and contemporary issues in Liberia.

Citation

Innes, M. A. (2005). Reading Guerrilla Radio in Wartime Liberia. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 16(2), 241-251. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592310500130818

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 1, 2004
Online Publication Date Jan 25, 2007
Publication Date Apr 1, 2005
Deposit Date Nov 15, 2019
Journal Small Wars and Insurgencies
Print ISSN 0959-2318
Electronic ISSN 1743-9558
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 16
Issue 2
Pages 241-251
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/09592310500130818