With more than 40 newspapers and magazines, some 130 radio stations, a few TV channels and a significant number of online media outlets, the Liberian media sector has enjoyed a boom for the past 20 years, aided by the socio-political stability of the post-civil war (1999-2003). Radio remains the main source of information.

Many politicians have taken advantage of a law facilitating the creation of media companies, putting relatives or close associates in charge. This has not only contributed to the proliferation of media outlets, but has also strengthened politicians’ ability to influence their content. The government continues to exert control over state-owned media, while local officials often control the content and operations of community radio stations.

The legal environment has seen notable improvement in recent years. A 2018 press law eliminated the crimes of sedition and defamation against the president. The constitution guarantees freedom of expression, press, and information, and there is a law on access to information. A National Media Council, created in 2016 by the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), the journalists’ trade union, allows media outlets to self-regulate with a code of conduct.

The economic environment remains difficult and the advertising market is very tight. Media critical of the authorities get no access to advertising from large state-owned companies, which is allocated by the Ministry of Information. Journalists are among the country’s lowest paid professionals, and news sites often have to publish PR pieces in return for financial support – a practice that compromises media independence.

Some topics are still considered off-limits in the media, including female genital mutilation and matters involving freemasonry. Journalists who tackle these subjects face threats, making self-censorship fairly widespread.

The media are often subjected to serious attacks on their freedom. The headquarters of the country's largest independent media group, Spoon Network, were closed for 40 days in July 2023. As for the Concord Times, one of the country’s oldest media outlets, it has been closed for more than three years, after an investigation into the steel giant Arcelor Mittal. Journalists are also victims of judicial and police harassment. In 2022, a woman investigative reporter was sentenced to one month in prison on a charge of “disorderly conduct” in an incident involving a politician, while three other reporters were attacked by security forces and political leaders.