Society’s perception of the media in South Sudan
By Ngor Arol Garang
June 8, 2013 – In a world virtually becoming cognitive of individual rights, fundamental freedoms and rapidly growing pressure on governments and societies to open ways to modernity, insinuation to the emergence or the continuation of some repressive or colonial approaches to growing desires for progress and better life have always met pierce resistances including losing lives and properties.
South Sudan is no exception. It is a new nation founded on the dream with democratic ideals as it was one of the principles for which the wars of liberation struggle were repeatedly waged against successive Khartoum based administrations, from which it finally seceded on July 9th, 2011.
As it struggles to consolidate efforts aimed at building since coming into being as the new nation; one of the worrying challenges is the way the society perceives the media. The ways in which print, electronic media, visual representations and the broadcast media is being widely viewed, conceptualized, and imaginatively represented in this country has always been the source of concerns.
The media, as it is known worldwide, helps play fundamental role in strengthening the society as it is considered as the mirror through which people see their own images in form of reflections. Media shapes the lives of the society through gathering information about current, new affairs and educates the public about latest development, making it one way to trade and market ideas and products without prejudices. The media is hence charged with the responsibility to inform, educate, entertain, publicise, build network and promote connections between individual members of the same or different societies.
The media plays a vital role in the society in so many ways, including education about a lot of things as well as in forming opinions and making judgments regarding various issues. The media keeps people updated and informed about developments from which individuals and governments draw plans and actions.
Despite these key roles in the society, the media in South Sudan is negatively seen not as agent of change and tool which could be used to strengthen and enhancing building public confidence in the institutions by promoting good governance, rule of law, human rights, democratic values, transparency and accountability as well as building peace and reconciliation initiatives. But it is viewed as an entity that promotes hostility, putting media institutions in defensive position to always justify their roles in covering events and activities of the societies and government.
Because of the way individual government officials in key positions see the media negative to their performances; the society has often been kept in the dark and made to believe the rhetoric negative about the media and their dealings. Today, most members of various societies in South Sudan view the media as trouble making institutions, manufacturers of allegations, promoters of hatred and at the best lump as betrayers, making it difficult for the media to freely interact with ordinary members of the society fraught with fear of misinterpretation of their interactions.
This societal perception is being exploited by individual government officials to engage in repressive activities, targeting members of the media seen as critical of the performance of some government officials in the way they attend to public interest. The repressive behaviours are manifested in the way they handle members of the media and voices critical of the way the country is being run.
What they do not know is that governments that try to restrict the media actually risk being destabilised by their acts. Enabling the media to become more open, more effective and more independent actually serves to improve the environment for social political stability. A responsible government works hard to improve the professionalism, accountability and freedom of the media. This is very important because media can also play a crucial role in the society.
Allowing the media to freely operate will actually help the government gain public confidence and improving relations with the members of the international community since in democratic societies, media is deemed as fundamental to political life. It provides facts to allow the members of the public to be better informed about the issues that matter to them.
It provides criticism and debate to ensure that that information is tested and examined from all points of view. It provides investigation and examination to ensure that power is checked and decision-makers are held accountable. This flow of information and ideas will then lead to debate and discussion, crucial in any society if it is to grow and flourish, both socially and economically.
There are examples in this country for which the media is known to have played an active role in promoting issues of concern. In the conduct of the referendum media reporting not only highlighted the issue, but educated the publication and the international community to keenly follow the process and engagements of the two parties until the exercise was successfully completed.
The media is also a driver of economic growth. Investors look to establish themselves in countries where there is a free media so they have unhindered access to reliable and credible sources of information, which in turn allow them to make informed decisions.
This will be absolutely vital if the governing leadership of this country is to establish itself as a regional or even global financial centre. Having strong media is very important because, through the media, the public get to hear directly from people who hold different views from the government. That can be difficult at times. But we believe that the better informed the public are about issues affecting our society the easier it is for the government to come to sensible decisions and to develop robust policies that command the confidence of our people.
The media also has a vital role to play in promoting transparency and accountability. Whether it is scrutiny of the performance of the government, unearthing corruption or reporting crimes, the media has to be able to cover these important issues in an open and balanced way.
Media responsibility
Of course, with this important role comes responsibility. The media must operate in an ethical and responsible way. Media organisations, journalists and individuals must be accountable for their output and it is therefore vital that the boundaries that they operate within are clear and unambiguous.
The code of ethics for journalists must be implemented fairly and consistently. This will be an important test for the media laws, which are being passed into law.
I know that we in various media group have been working closely with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Service to support the development of an effective system to deal with public and press complaints, drawing on the experience of other countries.
The media also has a responsibility to provide high-quality output. As I said earlier, we are all impressed by the increased number of news outlets and internet users. However, the figure has little meaning if it does not also represent an increase in quality. We need to ensure that encouraging media development in South Sudan is measured by the quality of coverage and reporting as well as the quantity of outlets. We must encourage the development of the highest professional standards among journalists.
Media rights
The media must be able to operate in an environment free of fear. One in which they can investigate important national issues and express informed opinion without fear of prosecution.In order for the media to function effectively, journalists, opinion writers, media organisations and individuals must be allowed to discuss and debate issues freely and safely within international standards.
The author is a Sudan Tribune journalist and can be reached via [email protected]