20 journalists start 4-day training in elections coverage in Juba

A section of journalists attending training at AMDISS on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

The Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) on Tuesday started training 20 journalists and editors drawn from various media houses across the country in coverage of elections.

The Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) on Tuesday started training 20 journalists and editors drawn from various media houses across the country in coverage of elections.

The three components of the training include elections coverage, countering misinformation and fact-checking, and gender-sensitive reporting.

Speaking during the opening of the workshop, Goya Scopas, a media specialist with AMDISS, said the training aims at promoting quality journalism and building capacity. 

“Today we brought several journalists from the states to Juba for this training which is a capacity building on quality journalism and that capacity building is looking at areas of fact-checking, election preparedness, and gender reporting,” he said.

“The sustainably of Independent media activity project is a project to improve access to credible, accurate, and reliable information. So, we thought about how we can bring journalists that are working for different media houses in Wau, Abyei, Juba, and other project locations and that is why we are here. We have around 20 journalists,” he added.

According to Goya, the training aims to provide journalists with the skills that they will integrate into their daily work. 

Meanwhile, Aya Irene, the principal of the AMDISS’ Media Development Institute, urged the journalists to be keen and internalize the key topics of the training.

“You need to pay a lot of attention during the training and I am glad that we have four days until Friday so you have enough time to learn,  ask questions, and share experiences,” she said. “Most of the elections that had been taking place in South Sudan are student elections and for other small associations. We have experienced that most journalists were arrested covering such small elections so what will happen with the general elections? How many journalists will be arrested?”

Kiden Joyce, one of the journalists attending the training, said she hopes to learn about elections coverage.

“Since I have not learned about elections reporting, this training is going teach me how we conduct reporting during elections, and it will also enable me as a journalist to be able to give our citizens accurate news and facts,” she said.

Another journalist, Kinyi John, said the training will teach them to be impartial while covering elections.

“We are soon going for elections in 2024 and it is very important for us journalists to know so that when we report on elections issues, we do not take sides,” he said.