Back in 1998 February, barely few months following the inauguration of a new head of state in Liberia, there sprung up the dire need for the Liberian Press to awaken to the occasion of rising national contradictions.

There was the need to keep the infantile democracy that was deemed to have been evolving on an even track by keeping a balance between government programs and policy and what the citizens hear and do. In this regard, for obvious reasons of the war characterized by intimidation of the press, the traditional Liberian press could not live up to the task.

An alternative was necessary; but the mainstream media remained entrenched and acclimatized to what seems public relations reportage. That did not mean that the handwriting and the challenges on the wall were not obvious to them. It was that the risk was not considered worth taking.

That was when a somewhat obscured but determined News Editor of one of the leading newspapers of the day, The NEWS, took to the occasion, braved the gathering storm, and took the bull by horns to establish a media outlet that dare interpret public policy with the hope of stimulating public debates and preparing the way for a new democratic citizen in a new democratic republic.

The Publisher carried this mission in his head until met a friend, an old media hand, on a street corner in May, 1998. That brief and impromptu street-corner meeting was magnetic and seemed arranged by invisible forces – it was a meeting that was to change things forever. The friend wanted an opportunity to collaborate with someone to establish a commercial secretarial center

But the Publisher had a view he has been carrying around for five months and he would not wait to broach it. He told the friend that a media house would be better than a commercial clerical center. His suggestion was an even golden opportunity for the friend who himself was aware of the desperation for change in media approach to the dawning day in Liberia.

After a few meetings, it was agreed that a news organ that will go beyond the headlines, analyze the news, and thereby keep the average citizen au courant with what goes on in the society, government chambers, and in the larger global community be established. That paper came to be known as “The Analyst”. The Analyst was officially established on August 5, 1998. It first appeared on the newsstand on August 13, 1998.

That Publisher is Stanley Seakor. Mr. Seakor was born and raised in the lower part of southeastern Grand Gedeh County, now River Gee County. He started off as a practicing journalist in the early 1980s from Grand Gedeh County where he served as Correspondent for The NEWS  newspaper.

The quality of his reportage compelled The NEWS Management to transfer him to headquarters in Monrovia to undertake responsibilities at the Capitol Building (the seat of the Liberian Legislature as reporter), and later at the Executive Mansion (the seat of the Liberian Presidency) where he actively served his paper as an icon for the Executive Mansion Press Corps.

When the Liberian civil crisis brought The NEWS to its knees, the Publisher was amongst five others who formed the management team that revitalized the paper. The Publisher was assigned to the Editorial Department under that arrangement. His exploits in that post are living legacies at The News up to date.

Stanley is a family man. He is married to lovely Eugenia Henshaw-Seakor for more than seventeen years. The union is blessed with smart and happy kids – Stanford, Dan, Samuel and Deanna Seakor - and scores of dependants entrusted to his care by family members and friends.

He has attended numerous training workshops and seminars in journalism and media management, following his academic studies. In professional circles, Stanley is well respected. He is known as a tactical manager of few words who never shrunk in the face of difficulties or emergencies.

He took personal responsibilities for the fate of The Analyst whether it was a fault he did not personally approve. It is this disposition that brought him face-to-face with the power that be during the desperate days of Taylor’s repressive and despotic regime.  Twice, Stanley was rounded up by police and incarcerated at the National Police Headquarters on Capitol Hill in Monrovia for running headlines considered threat to the status quo.

When The Analyst’s Editor-In-Chief, Hassan Bility was picked up in early May 2003 for alleged subversive activities, Stanley personally assumed editorial responsibilities and effectively combined them with the managerial chores. He survived it with sparkling colors – perhaps The Analyst’s status shortly following that period of extreme struggle for survival and mission propagation is a telltale testimony. 

Stanley is one of the rare species of information managers, if there are still any in Liberia today that is, that still put substance and national interest above sales and political or acceptance. “The business of news management is to serve the interest of the majority. The risk of reporting must therefore commensurate with national good. No story that does not edify the public is worth the ink it is written with, the paper it is written on, and the effort of the reporter,” he often tells his staff.  

Stanley holds membership in many organizations including the Publishers Association of Liberia (PAL), of which he is the Secretary-General, Co-Chairman Media Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Information, and the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), amongst many others.

For the Publisher, the sky is the limit to what The Analyst can do for Liberia in her struggle for the rule of law, the entrenchment of democracy, peace, and reconciliation.

He encourages partners to join him.