The Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJoSS) and UNESCO have skilled 15 journalists in Pariang town of Ruweng Administrative Area on elections reporting and coverage of the constitution-making process.
The three-day training commenced on Wednesday and was attended by journalists from Jamjang FM and Ruweng Radio.
Speaking during the closing of the workshop on Friday, Santo Lual Mayol, the Ruweng Administrative Area Minister of General Education who also doubles as the Acting Minister of Information, hailed UJoSS for rolling out the training to journalists in Ruweng and said it is critical in improving the reach of elections stories across the administrative area.
“The work for journalists is very demanding, it needs hard work. I am grateful to the Juba team for training young journalists in Ruweng because the work of the media needs energetic and young people,” he said. “As we are heading for elections, we need a determined media to cover elections in the vast areas of Ruweng Administrative Area, which has 197 bomas, 55 payams, and 8 counties.”
For his part, UJoSS’ immediate former president, Oliver Modi, said the training is geared towards promoting democracy through the media.
“This training focuses on the role of journalists in promoting free, fair, credible, and peaceful elections. It is all about the coverage, how journalists can cover elections, and the constitution-making process,” he said. “This election should not take us journalists by surprise. UJoSS and its partners thought wisely, that let us go ahead with training the journalists on elections, and if elections are there or not, what we know is the elections are going to take place and we should not be taken by surprise when they happen.”
Meanwhile, UJoSS Communication Officer Tapeng Michael Ohure said the training is meant to build the capacity of journalists across the country on elections reporting ahead of elections.
“For us a union, we have taken this pre-election period as a chance to mentor our journalists across the country on elections reporting by giving them the techniques, tips, and ways of how they can be able to produce programs on elections, including producing programs that are tailored towards informing the public on the electoral processes,” he emphasized. “We have a critical role to play in the coming elections and so we have to prepare by enlightening ourselves on the skills we need to have to prepare for elections coverage.”
Michael Chol, a participant and the station manager for Jamjang FM, appreciated UJoSS for the knowledge they gained in the three days.
“I would like to express my happiness to the colleagues who came from Juba and gave us the knowledge. The training was very beneficial for us as Jamjang FM and as Ruweng people,” he said.
Another participant, Nyok Luk, the managing director of Ruweng Radio said they would practice whatever they learned.
“We have a big task ahead of us in October and November 2024 and we should maintain media ethics while covering elections,” he said.
The UJoSS, with support from UNESCO, has conducted electoral reporting training in five states across South Sudan. In April 2024, UJOSS launched its first workshop in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, followed by Torit, Malakal, and now the Ruweng Administrative Area in May.
The scribes’ union says it will conduct training in all ten states and three administrative areas to prepare the journalists for the elections.