The founder, managing editor and sole employee of the "Daily Talk" is Alfred J. Sirleaf, an inventor and father of three who founded his blackboard newspaper on May 14, 2000 because of his belief that a well-informed citizenry is crucial to the rebirth of Liberia after years of civil war. In post-war Liberia, Sirleaf sees access to information as the key to peace. Sirleaf's critical writing about Liberian President Charles Taylor led to him being jailed several months after the board's creation, and the "Daily Talk" was destroyed by government soldiers. Following a period in exile, he returned in 2005 and resumed writing. With help from his fellow Monrovians, Sirleaf rebuilt it a week before the 2005 election of president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (not a close relation) and resumed publication of the "Daily Talk". After a vehicle drove into and damaged the board in 2018, US Ambassador Christine A. Elder was present at the reopening ceremony two months later. Funding for the reconstruction was provided by USAID via the non-profit Internews.