Socio-Economic Differences in Liberia

According to an April 2007 report [1]   by the Partnership for Media and Conflict Prevention in West Africa, about half of the population in Liberia, suffer extreme poverty. In addition, the 2009 UNDP Human Development Report indicates that close to 45 percent of the population is not literate.

Looking at the BBC 2008 national survey of Liberia, we see some correlation between high access and use of media/ICTs (particularly for televisions as well as mobile phones and internet connections) with high levels of income and educational attainment.



ICT and Media Access: “Anywhere” or “At Home”

Chart 1


While access to radios anywhere or at home was above 80 percent for all income groups, devices such as televisions and mobile phones were notably correlated with one’s income level (see chart 1 and 2).

Television still remained accessible only to those with high incomers, who have the money to spend on TVs and ready access to electricity.

Low income respondents show half the level of access to mobile phones that high income respondents do. Mobile phones still have huge potential for growth, however, and the Partnership for Media and Conflict Prevention report suggests that this could accelerate development at the local levels even in the most remote areas if issues of cost and accessibility are addressed. [2] 

Chart 2


Comparing Charts 1 and 2, television access “anywhere” is much higher than access at home, indicating a possibility of shared/communal viewing.

Mobile phone access “anywhere” is not much higher than access at home.  Cable and satellite television access is very low at home or anywhere for low income respondents; for middle and high income respondents- access at home is low, but sharing seems to be prevalent as access “anywhere” is higher than access at home.

Access to computers, laptops and internet connection is very limited at home and when it comes to access “anywhere”- only those with high incomes have access.  Internet access “anywhere” is lowest among respondents with lowest incomes.

Radio is the only medium that is widespread across income and education levels.

Weekly Media and ICT Use

With low access to television sets for low income respondents (and those with lower education levels), weekly television viewership is also affected- it reduces dramatically as income and education levels decrease (charts 3 and 4).

Chart 3


Newspaper readership as well is correlated to education and income levels (Charts 3 and 4). A typical twelve page tabloid costs roughly 20 Liberian Dollars, the equivalent of US$0.25.  According to the Media Support Study referenced above, “The lack of purchasing power has affected the sales and purchase of newspapers….There’s a relationship between purchasing power and interest to pay for newspapers since most of the respondents in the[ir] study were low-income earners and 28 percent cited high cost as reasons for not reading….”  Some of their respondents (32 percent) surveyed in their report also said that they were not reading newspapers because they were not interested. [3]

The BBC Liberia 2008 survey we referenced for this report also corroborated this: as chart 3 and 4 show, there is a strong positive correlation between newspaper readership and income as well as education levels attained.

Chart 4

As is seen with access trends, radio use is fairly high (80 percent and above) for all income and education groups- making it the most effective way to target a wide range of Liberians. Among the various kinds of programs on radio, radio listeners also weighed in on their levels of interest in various kinds of programs. In the table below we analyze these preferences broken down by education levels. In general, interest in news is high irrespective of education levels, but interest in political, economic and health news increases with a rise in education levels.

Chart 5

More Articles on how Socio-Economic Differences Affect Media and ICT Use in

UGANDA and SIERRA LEONE

 [1] Review of Media Support in the Post-Conflict Transitional Period and Recommendations for Future Actions: Strengthening Liberia’s Media - International Media Support ; Partnership for Media and Conflict Prevention in West Africa.  Available here http://www.i-m-s.dk/files/publications/Liberia_webfinal%201202-2007.pdf

[2] ibid

[3] ibid