The mass media in South Sudan is underdeveloped compared to many other countries, including fellow East African states like Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Poor transportation infrastructure and entrenched poverty in the country inhibit both the circulation of newspapers, particularly in states located far from the capital of Juba, and the ability of media outlets to maintain regular coverage of the entire country. [1]
South Sudan nonetheless has several indigenous media outlets and a host of active journalists.
Following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, the constitution of the newly autonomous South Sudan guarantees press freedom and ensures that all levels of government uphold the principle. Three progressive media bills were introduced in 2007 but were not enacted until the end of 2011, leaving journalists in that period without comprehensive legal protections and the media sector without a regulatory framework. [2]
According to former Information Minister Dr.Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the South Sudanese government guarantees freedom of the press, a significant difference from the neighboring Republic of the Sudan from which the South gained independence in July 2011. However, journalists including the editors of both The Citizen and The Juba Post have alleged harassment, abuse, and de facto censorship at the hands of the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement as recently as in the months leading up to independence, and the government has been known to confiscate newspapers [1] and threaten radio stations with closure. The distribution of Arabic-language publications in South Sudan has also allegedly been restricted and outright banned at turns. [3]
Days after South Sudan gained independence, the Sudanese government banned the transportation of newspapers between the two countries and shut down publications and news bureaus owned by South Sudanese in the North, including the Khartoum bureau of The Juba Post. [4]
South Sudan was ranked 124th in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index in 2013, falling by twelve places since 2012. Reporters Without Borders cited the murder of Isaiah Diing Abraham Chan Awuol, who was shot dead by an unidentified man on December 12, 2012, as the reason for the country's fall in ranking. [5]
In 2014, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International released a joint report about media freedom in South Sudan. The report, titled "The Price of Silence: Freedom of Expression Under Attack in South Sudan," accuses the National Security Service of harassing and detaining journalists. [6]
Radio is the main source of news and information in South Sudan. Since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, over 30 FM radio stations have been set up across the country with the encouragement of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) run government. Radio networks and stations are run and funded by Churches, community organizations, international NGOs and private businesses. [7]
The government-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation Television (SSBC TV) is based in Juba. The SSBC TV broadcasts 15 hours a day in English and Arabic and can also be viewed on Satellite. The station runs a few small local TV stations in Aweil, Wau, Malakal and Rumbek. South Africa provides training for SSBC TV staff. [7]
In 2013, the owners of The Citizen daily newspaper launched The Citizen Television (CTV) station broadcasting from the capital, Juba, for five hours each evening. However, in September 2015 the Editor-in-Chief of The Citizen Nhial Bol announced he was resigning and shutting down the newspaper and TV station after government security agents shut down his newspaper's premises, while receiving death threats. [8]
The Republic South Sudan has another TV station called JunobnaTV stabilised in 2017 by Adil Faris Mayat, a former Al Jazeera reporter, along with businessman Sebet Dok and other shareholders, JunobnaTV broadcasts 24 hours/day on Nilesat focusing on social, youth and sport related content and it has stopped the live broadcast service and resumed many times since but has never stopped operating on or delivering other media services. JunobnaTV [9] is located in Juba Hai Malakal and its official website is www.junobnatv.net.
Channel | Language | Establishment | Hub |
---|---|---|---|
South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation Television | English Juba Arabic | 2010 | Juba |
Junobna TV | English Arabic | 2017 | Juba |
Newspapers in South Sudan circulate almost exclusively among the educated elite in urban areas and very few copies reach rural villages. Nearly all newspapers are published in English and as of early 2012, most, such as the Southern Eye, were printed in Kampala or Nairobi and flown into Juba for delivery. South Sudan has two printing presses capable of printing newspapers, one is owned by the government and the other is owned by the daily newspaper The Citizen.
The Citizen and the Juba Monitor, both of which are produced and printed in Juba, are the country’s only daily newspapers. The Citizen was initially founded by a former journalist of the Khartoum Monitor in Sudan and became South Sudan’s first daily newspaper when it transferred all of its operations from Khartoum to Juba. The Juba Monitor was launched in 2011 and is owned by a former BBC correspondent in Khartoum. [10]
The bi-weekly Juba Post is edited by a team of journalists in Juba but is printed in Khartoum. It is the only South Sudan newspaper that is still widely sold in Khartoum. The Sudan Mirror is another bi-weekly newspaper that is produced and printed in Nairobi. Al-Maseer newspaper was the first Arabic-language newspaper to be published in South Sudan and was launched in February 2011. This newspaper was aimed at South Sudanese returning from Khartoum and proved to be very popular with the Arabic-speaking South Sudanese. Following disagreement over share distribution, this first Arabic-language daily ceased publication on Tuesday 10 June 2014. Most of the editorial staff then came together to launch a new Arabic-language daily, Al-Maugif, with its first issue hitting the stands on Saturday 14 June 2014.
SHE South Sudan magazine was an independent magazine providing information and entertainment to the women of South Sudan.
Several South Sudanese-led news organisations cover South Sudan from abroad. These include Radio Tamazuj, Sudans Post, South Sudan News Agency, and Sudan Tribune .
Some other newly created online media outlets includes Talk of Juba , [11] Hot in Juba, [10] Nyamilepedia Press , [12] and The South Sudan Friendship Press . [13] Many of these upcoming media are also operated outside the country.
Newspaper | First issued | Languages | Ownership | Website |
---|---|---|---|---|
One Citizen Daily | 2019 | English | Number One Citizen Daily Newspaper, LLC | onecitizendaily |
The City Review | 2019 | English | (Independent Press) | cityreviewss |
EyeRadio | English | EyeRadio Network, LLC | www | |
Nile Citizens | 2019 | English | (Independent Press) | nilecitizens |
Northern Corridor Morning Post | 2019 | English | NCMP, LLC | ncmorningpost |
Sudan Tribune | 2003 | English | Sudan Tribune, LLC | sudantribune |
Sudans Post | Dec. 2019 | English, Arabic | Sudans Post, LLC | www |
South Sudan News Agency | 2010 | English | South Sudan News Agency, LLC | ssnanews |
Telecommunications in Sudan includes fixed and mobile telephones, the Internet, radio, and television. Approximately 12 million out of 45 million people in Sudan use the Internet, mainly on smartphones and mobile computers.
Equatoria is the southernmost region of South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile and the border between South Sudan and Uganda. Juba, the national capital and the largest city in South Sudan, is located in Equatoria. Originally a province of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, it also contained most of northern parts of present-day Uganda, including Lake Albert and West Nile. It was an idealistic effort to create a model state in the interior of Africa that never consisted of more than a handful of adventurers and soldiers in isolated outposts.
Salva Kiir Mayardit, also known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who has been the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011. He was named Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM/A) in 2005, following the death of John Garang.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army in 1983. On January 9, 2005 the SPLA, the SPLM and the Government of Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ending the civil war. SPLM then obtained representation in the Government of Sudan, and was the main constituent of the Government of the then semi-autonomous Southern Sudan. When South Sudan became a sovereign state on 9 July 2011, SPLM became the ruling party of the new republic. SPLM branches in Sudan separated themselves from SPLM, forming the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North. Further factionalism appeared as a result of the 2013–2014 South Sudanese Civil War, with President Salva Kiir leading the SPLM-Juba and former Vice President Riek Machar leading the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition.
As of the early 2000s, Sudan had one of the most restrictive media environments in Africa. Sudan's print media since independence generally have served one of the political parties or the government in power, although there occasionally were outspoken independent newspapers.
Wau is a city in northwestern South Sudan, on the western bank of the Jur River, that serves as capital for Western Bahr el Ghazal. It lies approximately 650 kilometres (400 mi) northwest of the capital Juba. A culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse urban center and trading hub, Wau is also the former headquarters of Western Bahr el Ghazal.
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Paride Taban was a South Sudanese prelate of the Catholic Church and was the first leader of the Sudan Council of Churches, which was founded in February 1990. He was Auxiliary Bishop of Juba from 28 January 1980 to 2 July 1983 and served as Bishop of Torit from 1983 to 2004.
The Juba Post is an independent English-language newspaper in South Sudan. It currently has offices in both Juba and Khartoum. It is the first independent newspaper of South Sudan based in Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan. The newspaper is owned by the Juba Media Company. The chairman of the board of directors is Charles Rehan Surur. In 2011 the newspaper had a circulation of 2500 biweekly issues. It is financially supported by advertising and subscription.
The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key participant of the Second Sudanese Civil War, led by John Garang. After Garang's death in 2005, Salva Kiir was named the SPLA's new Commander-in-Chief. As of 2010, the SPLA was divided into divisions of 10,000–14,000 soldiers.
South Sudan, officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a country in East Africa which is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya including the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al Jabal, meaning "Mountain Sea". It is a landlocked country. The population is nearly 12.7 million people in 2024, and Juba is the capital and largest city. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, making it the most recent sovereign state with widespread recognition as of 2024.
The Citizen was an English-language newspaper based in Juba, the national capital of South Sudan and the state capital of Central Equatoria.
Ethnic violence in South Sudan has a long history among South Sudan's varied ethnic groups. South Sudan has 64 tribes with the largest being the Dinka, who constitute about 35% of the population and predominate in government. The second largest are the Nuers. Conflict is often aggravated among nomadic groups over the issue of cattle and grazing land and is part of the wider Sudanese nomadic conflicts.
The South Sudanese Civil War was a multi-sided civil war in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and 10 others of attempting a coup d'état. Machar denied trying to start a coup and fled to lead the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO). Fighting broke out between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM-IO, igniting the civil war. Ugandan troops were deployed to fight alongside the South Sudanese government. The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Telecommunications in South Sudan includes fixed and mobile telephones, the Internet, radio, and television.
This article lists events from the year 2019 in South Sudan
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Aguil Chut Deng Acouth, also known as Aguil de'Chut Deng or Aguil Chut-Deng, was a South Sudanese revolutionary and activist. She was a member of "Katiba Banat", the women's battalion of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), during the Second Sudanese Civil War.
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