Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

Journalism in a free South Sudan:
By Kamba Anthony
Kamba Anthony is a South Sudanese
journalist who has worked with a series
of newspapers in <strong>the</strong> region since
2009 and is now at The Sudan Tribune
Daily. He went to <strong>the</strong> University
of Bahr El Ghazal, studying Economics
& Social Studies as well as Rural
Development.
84 | Media in Africa - 2011
Journalism in South Sudan faces
some challenges about <strong>the</strong> role of
<strong>the</strong> media in developing an active
citizenry and a truly democratic
country.
During <strong>the</strong> <strong>years</strong> of <strong>the</strong> northsouth
political agreement before
independence (2005-2010), media
stakeholders had to act really swiftly
to counter threats to <strong>the</strong> freedom
of <strong>the</strong> press like harassment,
torture and <strong>the</strong> illegal detention
of journalists and censorship.
Much as <strong>the</strong>y did so, however, <strong>the</strong>
freedom of <strong>the</strong> press in this part of
<strong>the</strong> world has still been restricted
to disseminating information to a
limited class of people as a result of
<strong>the</strong> levels of literacy and poverty.
The struggle for media freedom in
<strong>the</strong> country has been a constant
cause of debate among journalists
and government. Related bills have
been sent for approval to <strong>the</strong> South
Sudan parliament since 2007, but
to date not one has been passed.
Journalists still operate on hopes
that are raised every now-and-<strong>the</strong>n
by <strong>the</strong> Information Minister Barnaba
Marial, who is supportive. Meetings
between members of <strong>the</strong> press and
security bodies on understanding
each o<strong>the</strong>rs’ roles have been held
several times, which has reduced
<strong>the</strong> number of attacks on journalists
since 2005.
Working as a journalist in a free
South Sudan is both a challenge
and a privilege because of <strong>the</strong>
hurdles one goes through. The need
to know <strong>the</strong> ethics of <strong>the</strong> different
groups of people is important. This
is because not all who are educated
are learned, and not all learned are
educated.
However, <strong>the</strong> best part is that
as a journalist you get access to
society’s renowned and admired
people, although at <strong>the</strong> expense of
sacrificing your personal resources
to get to your ‘foot in <strong>the</strong> door’.
South Sudan in <strong>the</strong> last three <strong>years</strong>
(2009-2011) has had more than ten
privately-owned newspapers and
magazines, and a series of local FM
radio stations that are expected to
act independently but to date rely
on support from NGOs.
The government runs a television
and a radio station where most government
programmes are broadcast.
This limits editorial independence
and some journalists working <strong>the</strong>re
are trying to change this.
Some independent media houses
have come under attack for running
critical pieces. These problems tarnish
<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rwise unspoiled reputation
of <strong>the</strong> new government.
As far as readership and audience is
concerned, people in South Sudan
are eager to know what is happening.
Most readers are used to political
stories, and <strong>the</strong>re is an insufficient
number of development stories
and of editorial teams oriented to
produce <strong>the</strong>se. The human interest
aspect of stories tends to get second
place, whereas politically-heated
stories occupy <strong>the</strong> front pages.