GOSS and Media: It is sometimes wise to stomach criticism
By Zechariah Manyok Biar
September 8, 2009 — In his very interesting article, published by Sudan Tribune, Mr. Mayo K. Lado accuses the new Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Paul Mayom Akech, of trying to disable good relationships between the Media and the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) that its leadership at the executive, legislative, and judiciary organs has been trying to build since 2005.
Mr. Lado, who is a journalist, accuses Minister Mayom of having “intimidated, bullied and blackmailed journalists in the name of explaining ‘objective reporting’” in an urgent meeting with all the representatives of media houses in South Sudan that he called recently. Mr. Lado writes that Minister Mayom has ordered his government media reporter to stay away from the executive meetings.
If this is true, then Minister Mayom is not aware of the risk he is getting into. The risk is that media everywhere in the world cannot be silenced even by brutal dictators; leave alone a promising democracy like South Sudan. The Minister may not win this war as we know that the media always bring leaders down. Smart leaders make media their friend, because the media are the ones that promote government programs and destroy them too.
Mr. Lado puts it exactly right when he says that the “minister should understand that his actions would only encourage newspapers to speculate or depend on gossipers for news from the government.” That is exactly how media destroy government programs. The media that capitalize on speculation will always give wrong information to public and the public will believe it. This is what Mr. Lado means when he says, “This will also confuse the public who want to know things the government is trying to do for their welfare.”
When I read all the comments under Mr. Lado’s article, I realized that those who commented in favor of Minister Mayom did not even realize that Mr. Lado was trying to help the Minister by letting him know that media in South Sudan are declaring a war against him.
The warning is clear in this paragraph: “The minister’s predecessors were doing fine in giving freedom to the Media. The new minister wants to control the source of government news. But this is impossible in this world of 2009. South Sudan government or ministry of Information is not a kingdom. The era of ‘Beny’ is over! This culture of keeping as secret what is not secret should be trashed all together. In the villages it could be part of a traditional leader to keep the information for himself so that villagers see him as a big person with a lot of information which they may not know about for years. The ‘Beny’ in this case is now the one to volunteer in telling the public a little piece of information as he wishes during the time his colleagues (subordinates) come to entertain him. That is outdated! We need the culture of openness.”
This paragraph gives Minister Mayom two choices: he either chooses to go after the media and risks getting in a war that he and GoSS will not win, or he adjusts himself and knows that media are important in promoting government programs.
Those of us who read news from the media are sometimes blindfolded by our loyalty to our friends or relatives to the point where we can drive them into hot water that they might not get out of. But the reality is that our relatives or friends who have chosen to be public figures should be public figures in everything, including negative criticisms.
Criticisms are the ones that shape people and lead them into great success. Those who hate criticisms and still remain in public are setting their own traps for self-destruction.
Let us always know what to criticize and what not to criticize when we comment. It is better to see your relative or friend who is a public figure always criticized and maintains his or her position then to protect him or her from criticisms and see him or her kicked out of his or her position in humiliation. It is sometimes wise to stomach criticism for your own benefit.
Zechariah Manyok Biar is a graduate student at Abilene Christian University, Texas, USA. He is pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and a Master of Science in Social Work, specializing in Administration and Planning. He is a regular contributor to www.newsudanvision.com and www.sudantribune.com. For comments, contact him at email: [email protected]
Mr Famous Big_Logic_Boy
GOSS and Media: It is sometimes wise to stomach criticism
This article is written by man from the same tribe like the corrupt Paul Mayom Akech, therefore we don’t need to say this and that because bird of the same feather always act like one another. Mr biar how much you keeping supporting your dinkas, no body is going to agree with your accept your dinkas, because this spirit is common in every dinkas, that your support yourselves whether you are doing good or bad things. The major hint is right from GOSS of dinkas, courrptees, looting and poor management only eating and sleeping is what your people knows. Ask yourself what have you (GOSS) done since 2005? And leave the truth to be expose to the public, don’t attack Lado like what you have done Isaac Vuni and being replaced by dinkas. This dinkas GOSS and his party has been sacking non dinkas and targeting them at the same for intentional assassination.
Peter Nhiany
GOSS and Media: It is sometimes wise to stomach criticism
Dear brother Zechariah Manyok Biar, I’m always impress by your clear points of view on every piece or article you writes. We need people like in our promised democratic free country of South Sudan.
However, the intimidation of the journalist posed by the minister Mayom Akech is a grave digging to his career as the minister. Where the hell did he get that idea, nobody knows.
The public need to know how the government is taking care of businesses for the country to be in the right path. It is unwise for Mr. Minister to put himself in such a spot light to band the media from the government.
Mr. minister is defaming himself from his ministerial position. I thank Mr. Lado for giving some high lights to Mr. minister as to what is the right of the media to cover government news.
Mr. Minister should further make wise decision or seek for advice to immediately reverse his position on baning the media from covering and reporting government news.
Mr. minister has initiated the batlle he would never subdue his opponent [the media]. There should be freedom of speech and freedom to publication of national news by authorized media with out restriction in South Sudan.
This is a new “era” as Mr. Lado has stated it in his article. Those who are blindfolded and who do not understand the content of what is meant by other writers do not see the clear future of their nation.
We should criticize and take criticism to remodal our decision making otherwise we will remain gloomy for the rest of our life time in trying to build the image of our country.
I would love to see Mr. minister Akech revisiting his statement and re-evaluate himself on where he stands on the rights to freedom of speech and freedom to publication of national news by the media. May be, just may be he had said and did not meant it in the way it is perceived by the public.
All over the world, the media is always an ally to the government, and I completely do not understand and see clear reason why Mr. Minister behave in such a manner to the media; that is part of “corrutpion.”
Baning the public media means that Mr. Minister is not a loyalt leader and citizen who can serves the nation with transparency at all.
This is a good article Zach Manyok you made good points of view on assertively alerting Mr. Minister on his move to ban the media and what the consequences will be next. Keeps up good work brother. Peace and blessing.
And thank you.
Peter Nhiany.
McCurd
GOSS and Media: It is sometimes wise to stomach criticism
Mr. Manyok Biar,
Your analysis on “Media verse GoSS” is not sufficient at this time as you have always been, Firstly, it is based on a one sided narrative, that is to say, you have just grabbed Mr. Lado opinion and use it to judging the minister when you haven’t heard the minister’s side of the story.
Secondly, you haven’t made a thorough analysis on what Mr. Lado is upto in his article, instead you have deliberately ignored this fact and managed your way out of what I think is an attempt to disfigure the minister in question.
Thirdly, in your last paragraph, you appeared to have concluded that all those who had responded under Lado’s article in defense of the accused minister are his friends / relatives, which is completely bogus. What you did not put into consideration is the fact that some of that alias who have responded could obviously be your cousins, who are merely responding because of the bias attitude displayed by the writer (Mr. Lado) in his article. That is a premature conclusion and it indicates that you always write your article based on assumptions. I wouldn’t encourage you to be doing that if you are to be considered credible.
Lastly, prehaps, Paul Mayom Akec might have made a mistake/ the GoSS might have made him as their scapegoat in dealing with the media the way he might have done, however, the way Mr. Lado has reacted to this very situation clearly indicates that those who claimed to be Journalists in southern Sudan are nothing but a bunch of tribalists trying to promote their kinsmen in the GoSS on the expense of trashing those who aren’t from their tribes.