Rodney Sieh

Rodney Sieh is a Liberian newspaper editor. In 2005, he founded FrontPage Africa. Originally an online-only publication, the newspaper began to print daily copies in 2008, expanding to a circulation of 1,500, which were collated and folded manually.^[1]

FrontPage Africa, Sieh, and reporter Samwar Fallah were sued for libel in 2010 by Christopher Toe, a former Agriculture Minister, who demanded US$2 million in damages; the newspaper had reported that he had embezzled millions of dollars from public funds. The World Association of Newspapers issued a statement on the paper's behalf, stating that while it had no opinion on the merits of the case itself, the amount sought was clearly punitive.^[2] The three parties were found guilty and ordered to pay the full amount.^[3]

In July 2011, Sieh was notified by a government official that former government minister Willis Knuckles was attempting to have him assassinated, in retaliation for Sieh's role in reporting the sex scandal that had forced his 2007 resignation.^[4]

In August 2013, Sieh was imprisoned after he was unable to pay $1.5 million in libel damages awarded to a government minister who had been sacked for corruption.^[5]

Sieh was featured in a Liberia-focused episode of WNYC's program, On the Media, released on December 12th, 2014.^[6]

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