Media free to cover campaigns during elections: GOV’T

By Benjamin Takpiny

 The media in South Sudan has been assured of unrestricted coverage of the upcoming elections scheduled for December 2024.

Jacob Maiju Korok, the Deputy Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services said on Wednesday during media training workshop organized by the South Sudan media authority in Juba that journalists will be accorded unfettered access to all political campaigns during the elections.

Korok said that guaranteeing freedom of expression and opening up of civic space is necessary for free, fair and credible elections.

He urged the accredited journalists to uphold the code of ethics.

So far the number of the accredited national journalists stands at 116 of which 30 are female. 

The workshop on Accreditation of National Journalists and Stakeholders discussion on misinformation and disinformation brought together media practitioners from government and private institutions, press secretaries, information officers and members from the diplomatic corps. 

The Managing Director of the Media Authority, Elijah Alier Kuai called on the media houses in the country to prioritize accredited journalists over unaccredited ones.

 Majak Daniel Kuany, the Secretary General of the Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS) appealed to media authority to consider giving accreditation to those who have been practicing journalism for long time without certificates from Journalism school.

Kuany said that some of these journalists have worked for over ten years and have performed excellently.

He said that denying them accreditation because they don’t have certificates in Journalism is not a good thing to do.

The Director General of the National Communication Authority, Napoleon Adok Gai announced that the government is already working to launch Computer Incident Response (CIR), adding that later this month they will partner with Meta Facebook to help clear out all fake social media accounts and internet websites in the country.

Gai said that they have already moved a step to begin training government information officers on how to manage government websites and social accounts.

The two- day workshop was organized under the theme: “Unlocking Professional Journalism and Ethical Standards” in coordination with UJOSS and JHR.

The event was attended by the Chairpersons of ICT & press officers in the TNLA, DG of NCA, MD of Media Authority, MD of SSBC and various government officials.

The workshop focused on the importance of accrediting national journalists, code of conduct for practice of journalism and the verification of government social media pages, fact checking and understanding the risks of mis/disinformation in the media.