Radio Programming

In Liberia, Talking Drum Studio has become a household name that has helped popularize colloquial Liberian English in the media. Our most famous production, Today Is Not Tomorrow, was Liberia’s first soap opera. Totalling 900 episodes, each 15 minutes, the show ran for over nine years, becoming the country’s most popular radio drama ever. Today Is Not Tomorrow explored a wide variety of topics, all responding to the burning issues of the time, including conflict resolution, disarmament, resettlement of refugees, and reintegration of former combatants. 

Key to Today Is Not Tomorrow’s success was its cast of talented young Liberians. By portraying characters from all segments of society, the cast won the hearts and minds of a vast national audience and showed people a way forward. The actors spoke in a vernacular language completely absent from mainstream media, making communication on complex issues accessible for all. 

In 2012, we renamed the show Blah-Tana, meaning “Crossroads” in the Kpelle language, spoken by a major ethnic group in Central Liberia. The title refers to the country’s journey from war to peace and the steps taken to transform communities ravaged by violence into places of hope. In addition to addressing conflict resolution and peacebuilding, the program attempts to give a new direction to the lives of Liberians, highlighting issues of democratic governance, active citizenship, natural resource management, security sector reform, and more. 

Talking Drum Studio has also played a key role in producing educational programs and child-centered programs. Golden Kids News trained children as reporters, helping to raise youth voices and shifting perceptions of the role that children can play in contributing to society. During the war, the messages of young reporters aimed to convince peers to choose education over violence. The show created a two-way communication space in which child soldiers and Liberian students shared their stories on air across the country. This new space of expression and information reshaped the role of young people in society, allowing for full participation at the forefront of child rights issues. 

Today, we are leveraging Blah-Tana to raise awareness of the Accelerated Learning Program schools across Liberia, using humor and exciting storylines to engage children. Moreover, we worked closely with the Ministry of Education to produce educational radio programming for children during the Ebola crisis, providing an alternative platform for education amidst school closures.