Radio 4 Today programme production for Save the Children

April 11, 2012 in General Leave a reply

What a great project! The brief from Save the Children was to identify a country, then a specific town and to search out and set up compelling stories and all the necessary logistics for Today programme’s top journalist to visit over the course of a year. After a lot of research Liberia was the country I identified had all the key elements to provide compelling content, and the sprawling town of Gbarnga selected to be the focus of the stories.

Liberia is a country which could be prosperous. It has natural resources, a climate which should make food shortage impossible and a glut of young people eager to work. But it has been blighted by a 14 year civil war and poor leadership.

The Today programme explored how Liberia can recover from the devastation of that conflict and can rebuild to become part of a more prosperous Africa in the 21st Century. The focus was on seven individual’s everyday lives and the programme caught up with these key characters over the course of the year.

It was fantastic to hear John Humphrys broadcast the first programme from Gbarnga.