Reporters on the Job

• Welcomed in Earthquake Zone: Peter Ford had heard that some colleagues from other American news media had run into trouble in one town damaged by Monday's earthquake in China, infuriating a group of parents waiting to learn the fate of their trapped children when they began taking photos of a devastated school. "I was a little nervous about the sort of welcome I would get," Peter says. "But apart from one young man who was angry that I could not help him get the Army to excavate his home instead of the local school, most people were delighted to see me. Some actually came up to me to thank me just for being there, although my presence hardly made their plight any better."

• Raising Voices in Monrovia: Aloysius Toe told correspondent Tristan McConnell that, of course, Liberians are not still being shot on the street in Monrovia, as they were when he first did his work (see story).

But while the war may be over, the battle goes on, Mr. Toe noted.

"He told me that now he's fighting economic injustice," Tristan says.

With the vast majority of the population unemployed, and with so little hope of jobs, Toe has turned his attention to pointing out the disparities between those running the country and average citizens.

"He wants the government to focus on basic issues such as health and education, and work to ensure such basic needs as clean drinking water and electricity," Tristan says. "For outsiders, the impression is that life must be much better now that it's more peaceful. But Toe says much remains to be done. "

– Amelia Newcomb

Deputy World editor