Back in Hipsterville, they have their TV on the Radio, but in Liberia, we get “What’s in the Paper,” a morning radio program where the DJ sits with a stack of today’s papers (there are about 6) and for half an hour reads all the headlines from the front and back pages, being careful to tell you with each story whether you’re now on the front page of the Observer or have moved to the back page of the Statesman, and eventually moving on to gossip and entertainment news. He even tells you which stories have photos and what they show.
The most curious part is the “gossip” reporting, since it includes such tidbits as “A prominent businessman trying to become very powerful downtown is now reported to regularly consult a juju-man,” and “Two big men from Congotown were seen to have a smoking contest at the end of last Saturday’s dinner. They turned the whole hall into a burning bush!!”
I am still puzzling over the social architecture of an anonymous gossip column.
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