It serves as an umbrella organization for media professionals and institutions to advocate for press freedom and the legal protection of journalists.
By the time the PUL formed in 1964, a rapid growth of military forces in the 1940s created an environment where the government became the largest purveyor of news.
An assessment written by the Press Union in 2003, after Taylor's rule, said media institutions were looted during the fighting and had to focus on rebuilding what was lost.
[5] The 2005 and 2011 elections, both won by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, began a democratic environment more conducive to building a free and independent press.
The 2011 election was rocked by violence in protests by the opposition party Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), leading to the closure of media outlets that were reported to be pro-CDC.
However, full decriminalization in Liberia has been slow, leading media organizations such as FrontPage Africa to temporarily close in 2013 due to libel damages.
Earlier the same year, the PUL boycotted coverage of the presidency due to her "glaring silence" after her chief security aide, Othello Daniel Warrick, threatened journalists for articles criticizing the government.
The Ebola virus crisis in 2014 led to the temporary suspension of certain media rights, as the government tried to control reports for the sake of national safety.