The Executive Director of South Sudan’s Media Authority has called on news editors to counter rampant hate speech as the country heads for elections in 2024.
Elijah Alier was addressing over 30 news editors and senior news reporters at Palm Africa Hotel while opening a three-day training organized by the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM)/Voice of America (VOA) under the theme “Elections reporting in the digital era” which is facilitated by the African Institute for Investigative Journalism (AIIJ).
He said a proactive stance by the media will help reduce tensions and hatred among citizens as they prepare for the first democratic elections in the country.
“The people who are here are the voices behind the change in the media fraternity. At the moment, in South Sudan, we talk of responsible media but this responsible media did not pop up. It is through the commitment of editors, station managers, in their various capacities to ensure whatever is going to the public is in the public interest,” he said. “I am also happy that issues of hate speech have been minimal as we speak today. But as we are preparing for elections, we expect them to rise again. So, hate speech and incitement to violence will be the issues we are expecting as Media Authority.”
“So, what is very important is that the media has to be guided and the journalists are the change and should be well equipped,” Alier added.
He thanked USAGM for training South Sudanese media practitioners and said the Media Authority is committed to creating a safe environment for journalists during the election. He urged editors to make sure whatever they put out is in the public interest.
For his part, the Regional Director of VOA English in East and Central Africa, Peter Byengoma, said they are training South Sudanese media practitioners to improve their content.
“You being our partners, we think the best way to support is to give you skills as well as content,” he said. “We give you content that is fair and balanced and by improving content, you get more viewers and listeners. When you get a bigger audience, you get more revenue.”