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SOUTH SUDAN / FREEDOM OF PRESS
STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / FREEDOM OF PRESS
TRT: 3.11
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: APRIL 30/ MAY 1-3, 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN/FILE
April 30, 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shot, Nhial Bol in studio control room
2. Med shot, Television technician seated and looking
3. Wide shot, exterior showing Citizen Newspaper
MAY 1, 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
4. Various shots, newspaper printing
April 30, 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nhial Bol, Editor-in- Chief, Citizen Newspaper and Head of Citizen TV:
“Nobody is going to silence people of South Sudan whatever it takes. And I know all over, wherever, even the president is always confronted by people who do not have a position – so this idea of speaking is not a concern. But when we talk of speaking from journalists perspective, yes there is a concern because most of our journalists they do not know how to express themselves. And this has been a problem because you have to express yourself within the limits of rule, within the limits of ethics … so what we need more for us to secure this freedom is this training.”
MAY 3, 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
4. Various shots, broadcast in Radio Studio
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen Tut, Official at the Association of Media in South Sudan:
“Our people should not be deterred from doing their work. As a journalist you are like a soldier. Soldiers are not being deterred when they go to war – so one your role is that a watch-dog to the community and to the society. You should continue to be courageous and inform the public no matter what.”
FILE, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
6. Various shots, Journalists
MAY 3, 2013, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
7. Setup of Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to South Sudan, Salah Khaled
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Salah Khaled, Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to South Sudan:
“The capacity of the media practitioners, the professionals is not matching the International levels. You have a lot of challenges in this new country educational challenges, infrastructure. So one of the main priorities that we are looking at now is building the capacity of the media practitioners in general. So we are working with the University of Juba trying to review the curriculum of the school of Journalism so that we bring this to a professional level to allow a better caliber of professionals in the sector and at the same time embed the basic principles of safety. ”
FILE, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
9. Med shot, Journalists at a press conference
Nhial Bol and his team have been in business for the last 8 years when they first started their newspaper soon after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended Sudan’s two decade war. The newspaper first went to print in 2006, in Khartoum.
Just before South Sudan attained independence on July 9th 2011, The Citizen started printing in Juba, with its first Southern Sudanese printed copy hitting the streets on January 9th 2011.
Since then until now, The Citizen is the only newspaper in the country that publishes daily with 8,000 copies being sold countrywide.
With this attained success in the newspaper, Nhial Bol and his team decided to launch a Television Station, calling it by the same name, Citizen. Citizen Television went on air at the end of November 2012.
It has been a tough journey for Bol’s media ‘empire ’, whose newspaper slogan is ‘Fighting Corruption and Dictatorship Everyday’.
SOUNDBITE (English) Nhial Bol, Editor-in- Chief, Citizen Newspaper and Head of Citizen TV
“Nobody is going to silence people of South Sudan whatever it takes. And I know all over, wherever, even the president is always confronted by people who do not have a position – so this idea of speaking is not a concern. But when we talk of speaking from journalists perspective, yes there is a concern because most of our journalists they do not know how to express themselves. And this has been a problem because you have to express yourself within the limits of rule, within the limits of ethics so what we need more for us to secure this freedom is this training.”
As the world marks the World Press Freedom Day today (May 3, 2013), the media in South Sudan continues to struggle with , radio being the main source of information for the country’s citizens. Available statistics indicate that by early 2012, there were more than 30 radio stations on air across the country - many of these having been set up by churches and community organisations backed by international donors.
SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen Tut, Official at the Association of Media in South Sudan:
“Our people should not be deterred from doing their work. As a journalist you are like a soldier. Soldiers are not being deterred when they go to war – so one your role is that a watch-dog to the community and to the society. You should continue to be courageous and inform the public no matter what.”
And as the media in the country develops with every step, numerous challenges seem to plague it, with various criticisms being leveled.
South Sudan dropped 12 places in a recent ranking and press index by Reporters without Borders, a ranking which is related partly to heavy handedness by security forces in dealing with journalists.
South Sudan nonetheless became a pilot country for a UN Plan of Action on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity. The Plan of Action aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers. The UN Plan of Action is important to increase the protection of freedom of expression in South Sudan.
UNMISS, UNESCO and OHCHR will work together with other UN agencies, national and international partners in supporting the development of an implementation plan for South Sudan.
As a practical start to this process close to 40 journalists in April 2013 received training on various human rights issues.
SOUNDBITE (English) Salah Khaled, Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to South Sudan:
“The capacity of the media practitioners, the professionals is not matching the International levels. You have a lot of challenges in this new country …educational challenges, infrastructure. So one of the main priorities that we are looking at now is building the capacity of the media practitioners in general. So we are working with the University of Juba trying to review the curriculum of the school of Journalism so that we bring this to a professional level to allow a better caliber of professionals in the sector and at the same time embed the basic principles of safety.”
And with the training of journalists in South Sudan being a priority issue, and with a media bill currently being discussed at the National Assembly, it is hoped that a common ground will be reached which will see the media in the world’s newest country develop positively as a formidable ‘fourth estate’.
South Sudan has no state body mandated to regulate the media, but there is currently a push for the country’s first media bill to be passed as law.
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