BOB: And now, a single, awe-inspiring letter. Before I read it, some context: A few weeks ago on the show, Brooke spoke to Rodney Sieh - the editor of the newspaper Front Page Africa, based in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
CLIP:
BROOKE: Have any of your reporters been reluctant to cover this story?
SIEH: Obviously everyone is afraid of Ebola. But surprisingly our reporters have been very strong and brave in this crisis. There was a case last week, a community called Barnesville, one of the most infested area for Ebola in Liberia. They were mobilizing people in the area to go from door to door and do temperature testing on people and see who has symptoms of Ebola. So I called one of the reporters. And this reporter didn't even hesitate. She followed the team from door-to-door, took pictures, interviewed people and did a very nice article that really hit the nerves of people around here.
BROOKE: Have any of your reporters gotten sick?
SIEH: No we have no, although we don't have the resources other people have - we can't afford to get protective gear. So we have to improvise at times. We've been very very careful.
BROOKE: How do you and your colleagues deal with the reality that the story you have to cover could cost you your life.
SIEH: That's the big challenge we face every day. We take those risks because getting the story out is very important. I mean you win, you lose, you live and you die. Something's got to kill us. We very careful. We're not saying we put our life on the line to die for nothing. We know that we doing something that in the long run will benefit the world. And we are at the forefront of this crisis. We need to let the world know what's happening in Liberia and we're going to risk our lives doing it.
END CLIP:
BOB: Shortly after the segment aired we got this email from a listener (aptly) named Rachel Mercy:
Dear Ms. Gladstone and On the Media Folks, when I heard your show it inspired me to go to the FrontPage Africa website to see if I could make a donation. No button. So I emailed Editor-In-Chief Rodney Sieh, asking how I could offer support. Mr Sieh explained to me that the local FrontPage reporters lacked some of the most rudimentary safety gear themselves, and they also needed cameras with zoom lenses - currently they have to get in close physical proximity to people who are ill or have died, further endangering their lives. I decided to put together some packages of gear to send to FrontPage...and my desire to assist FPA has blossomed into an international effort, with reporters from the BBC and Washington Post stepping in. We're now sending 2 camera packages with telephoto lenses and over 100 PPE suits to Mr. Sieh. Washington Post Reporters Lenny Bernstein and Michel duCille will take the cameras with them on Wednesday to Monrovia and the following week two American doctors will take the safety gear. Without your story, this would not have happened. On a very deep level, I am grateful to you for getting this whole thing started with your show and for shifting the attention from the hype focused on Ebola in the United States to the story of what's happening in Liberia. I, for one, can feel helpless in the face of crises in the news and it's liberating to find such a tangible way to help. Thanks. No Rachel. Thank you. We welcome all your letters, send them to onthemedia@wnyc.org or post a comment to onthemedia.org, and if you make the world a better place, we promise to read it. If you follow OTM on twitter you will know that Brooke has been in Liberia this week. She has been shadowing Rodney and the intrepid staff of Frontpage Africa, reporting on the epidemic there, and the ongoing struggles of putting out a newspaper in Liberia. You can hear her full report on next week’s show.
