The Publisher of the COCORIOKO Newspaper, Leeroy Wilfred Kabs-Kanu, has warned that the newspaper has more firepower than ever to bring anybody down if the paper really wants. This is so especially as the newspaper is about to become a very vibrant, loud, uncompromising and biting independent newspaper once again .
“Sierra Leoneans love opposition newspapers because they love to read slimy , sleazy and shocking stories about people and social institutions than government news and therefore if you have skeletons in your cupboard , do not push this newspaper “, the publisher warned in Somerset, New Jersey, yesterday.
Cocorioko has the capacity now to use audio, video and even an FM RADIO station in Freetown , owned by one of our allies , to go after its quarry. “The only reason we had backed off from attack-dog journalism during the past nine years was reverence for the then Government of President Ernest Bai Koroma, whose programs we were promoting and propagating. We had to use a soft and more positive approach to sell the dreams, programs and achievements of the President and his Government. We had to embrace the generality of the people so that they will digest articles in favour of the President and the Government “, the Publisher went on.
Also, the publisher and Chief Executive Officer was serving Sierra Leone as a diplomat in the country’s United Nations Mission in New York and a tabloid-type and sensational newspaper dishing out the dirt on people would not have been consistent with a newspaper whose publisher was serving the President, Government and nation in such a hallowed position . Everything we did would have reflected on the President , government and the nation. But very soon, we will not be under any such obligations. Our paper will be independent and we owe nothing to anybody and so it will be free-for-all . If anybody wants to fight , we are ready for the fight , like the Cocorioko of old “.
Cocorioko, above all newspapers of Sierra Leone , has the strongest and most robust social media presence . It is the only Sierra Leone newspaper with many big forums at Facebook , Whatsapp, Twitter and Linkedin and it has a massive following. Whatever we put on the social media is read by over 500,000 people daily.
The Cocorioko Facebook Forum has a total 30, 946 daily readers. Its sister forum, the Daily Nation Newspaper Forum, has 35, 952 readers. Its APC Live Forever Forum has 16, 109 members. The Rebranding Forum has 5, 920 readers. The Cocorioko Sierra Leone page has 5, 000 readers while Cocorioko International has nearly 2,000 people. We also post articles in other forums so what we post goes immediately viral.
The Publisher , however, clarified that, contrary to what some people feel, Cocorioko will not be anti- President Maada Bio or anti-government. “We are nationalistic and we owe it a duty to our nation to help build our country. We will give President Bio and his government positive publicity” , Kabs-Kanu declared. “That does not mean that if bad things happen, we will not report on them or give our views. As an independent newspaper, that will be expected of us. But we will not be overly anti-Bio. We will be a normal newspaper. However, those people who want to test our resolve will have only themselves to blame when we destroy them. Whether you are a family member, friend or so-called brother , do not push us. if you tempt us, we will bring your whole world crashing down with the power of our pens and social media power . A word for the wise is enough ” he added.
