S. Sudan gov’t official says country ‘not interested’ in foreign journalists

JUBA – South Sudan’s deputy minister of information, Baba Medan Konyi, has advised local journalists to cross-check information before publication to ensure accuracy, saying the world’s youngest country is not interest in foreign journalists.

The senior government official made the comments in Juba on Wednesday during a graduation ceremony of 35 journalists who have been undergoing training at Media Development Institute (MDI).

The graduation ceremony was attended by about 300 dignitaries from the government, partners, and donors such as the USAID,  Norwegian People’s Aid – NPA, UNESCO, Internews, and other well-wishers.

Speaking during the ceremony, Mr. Medan advised journalists to cross-check information to ensure accuracy, and impartiality in their reporting, adding that the country is not interested in foreign journalist which he says give reports that does not reflect the country.

“We are not interested in journalists that come from outside, we are interested in our own national journalists who can disseminate accurate information to the citizens of South Sudan,” Medan said.

On her part, Mary Ajith Goch, Chairperson for Association of Media Development in South Sudan, expressed her gratitude to the program Media Development Institute’s offers and contributions to professionalizing the media industry in the world’s youngest nation.

“Media Development Institute aims to become a national media training institute able to strengthen the capacity of journalists, and the other media practitioners, and develop media professionalism, including raising the ethical standards in South Sudan,” Ajith said.

Ayaa Irene, Acting Principal of Media Development Institute revealed that the graduate had acquired enough skills to perform professional journalism work in the media industry.

“It is time to recount on the number of journalists who we have trained and get informed about their contributions in the media landscape of South Sudan and beyond,” Irene said.

Association for Media Development in South Sudan or AMDISS, a network of media outlets and organizations in South Sudan established the Media Development Institute in 2014 to promote professional media development in the country.