Today 13 February 2022 is the World Radio Day.
The theme for this edition is ‘Radio and Trust’ according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
As we join the world in commemorating this day, we caught up with the Chief Whip in the Revitalised Transitional National Legislative Assembly Rebecca Joshua Okwaci.
Okwaci is a veteran journalist and has served in different government portfolios. She says to build and maintain trust in radio, journalists should follow journalistic ethics, produce high-quality content and involve listeners in their programming.
Below are edited excerpts of the interview.
Q: We would like to begin our interview by asking you to compare the use of radio then and now.
A: Thank you for this opportunity, and I would take this occasion to wish everyone a happy World Radio Day. Radio is an important tool in the lives of human beings because it depends on the knowledge of human beings. It gives us a chance to listen to songs, stories. It gives us a chance to share opinions and a space to talk about life around us.
I joined radio in about 1979, 1980. But just to mention a few moments of my childhood; our house in Omdurman [Sudan], was next to a police station and they had a big radio. So when they operate it, we could hear it from our house. I used to climb on our windows to listen to this radio. From that time, I developed a special relationship with the radio. I learned a lot of songs during my childhood and my parents loved to listen to radio programs. This cultivated in me a strong connection with media work and in particular with the radio. This has impacted my life. I used to listen to the radio at night on my bed during school days. This relationship has been since my childhood to date. In addition to that, I decided to join the media field and I worked for radio a lot.
In 1980 and 1981, I started to practice media work in an informational way. When I joined the SPLM/A, my main assignment was in the media. Doctor John Garang assigned me to the media and radio. I don’t know why? We did a lot on the radio and it was the voice of the people. Not only the voice of the people of southern Sudan but the voice of the whole of Sudan. We were broadcasting on shortwave, our signal was able to be heard all over, including in the diaspora. I was also part of the monitoring services at the BBC with much focus on Sudan and Yemen. I used to prepare a radio leadership plan, translate and write news. These were among my assignments. After that, I worked with Sudan Radio Service which is now Eye Radio. Where I enjoyed the work and I was also a trainer. I trained a lot of staff. So I am proud today that some of the staff that is now working at Eye Radio were our trainees and it is an honor that I see some of them in key administrative and responsible positions. So some of us are proud that we have brought up a generation.
I also contributed to training staff at Radio Rumbek, Bakhita Radio and apart from my practical fieldwork, I still maintain strong contacts with our journalist colleagues. Whenever they have a training, I encourage them to contact me so I can offer some experience. So I can proudly say I have contributed to the development of the media field in South Sudan. And the radio still plays a significant role in the lives of our communities up to this moment. We are grateful to technology that has included the radio in many gadgets including mobile phones.
Q: Can you mention some of your co-workers or colleagues that have worked with you in the media or radio?
A: Yes. Sure. I could remember many of them even though some of them have passed on. I remember the late Dut Kat, whom I worked with at the Al Sharia Al Sudani program. Kizito Udohu, Chau Moyot Chau, in the Arabic programs. I remember Yasir Arman, I worked alongside him reading the headlines of the newspapers. I was a joker in Arabic, English, and the local language of Chollo with Michael Aban Nyawan. In Sudan Radio Service, I worked with John Tanza, David Amor, Stephen Omiri, Charlton Doki, Al Hadi Hawari, and many others.
Q: With recent developments, do you think people still trust the radio as the source of information?
A: They are supposed to. However, they are not only listeners, they have their suggestions and opinions towards programs that we deliver to them through the radio. And we need to respect their opinion. This will depend on the journalist. The radio is only a transmitter that takes us from one place to another. So if a journalist doesn’t present the information in a good way, the information will not be received well by our listeners.
A true journalist does present the information and keeps in his mind that the listeners also have their opinion. They should be considered when you want to present any piece of information on the radio. A journalist that doesn’t succeed is the one who always assumes that he is right. All the programs include songs, poems among others. You cannot keep on bringing the same song or program every day, that means you are fooling me.
Q: The majority of radio stations now across the country only play songs and there are no informative programs. What do you say about this?
A: I am one of the people who feels bad about this. Sometimes I feel like going back to the media sector and entering a studio and continuing presenting shows as I used to do with my colleagues and my students.
During our training, we were taught that before setting up any programs, you should talk to the local communities. You should know which category of the society likes songs, educational programs, health programs and you should also ask them about the suitable time that they want to listen to the program. Your programs should have a targeted group, old people, blind, youth, or children. So if you don’t have a planned program, you will just play a program at any time, left and right. And this is the reason why some listeners hate certain journalists. I learned from the BBC how to monitor the programs. You must know what they are saying about our radio station? A good journalist should put more effort into bringing new faces, voices, and new issues. During our training, we were told that when you play a lot of music that means you don’t have something new to offer. So these are issues our journalists should focus on if they want to win the confidence of the listeners. We need to market ourselves as radio stations and journalists.
Q: What is needed today to elevate the content of the programs in our radio stations?
A: That is a very good question because a journalist is also a human being. He wants to eat, travel, get treatment, and have good equipment for coverage. We don’t expect a boss to send a journalist to Gurei without giving good and ready equipment for coverage. You want to interview five people and yet you have no good mic and no transport money. The media institutions should understand that this work is not cheap. For you to have good material and content, you need to spend money. You need to budget well. Mics are very important. You need to have a good studio and a good work environment, and journalists should also be promoted and happy. They need to eat and have the energy to work and have a good time. This is scientifically proven. I cannot continue to run a radio station and yet I only hire part-timers all the time. It is good to have them but they will never accomplish good work for the radio. This is a big issue. So a good radio program needs a good budget, planning, and good implementation.
Q: What are some of the challenges journalists today are facing in accessing information?
A: There are many challenges. As I said earlier, a good journalist needs to put in the effort. It is not easy to get information. But as a journalist, one should be selective in his materials. You have topical issues for example the national budget. You need to talk to the minister of finance, speaker of the assembly. This is topical and urgent; you need to speed up effort about it. If you have a weekly program you need to prepare for it early enough. We are trained that if you want to begin any program, you should have at least five or seven episodes ready. And your boss has to listen to them and then you can begin to produce more so that you don’t run out of topics. While these ready episodes are being aired, you are producing more because it is not easy to find sources for programs. These are normal challenges. But what I have been observing recently is mainly unprofessionalism may be based on circumstances.
When you go for an interview, you need to have a good approach. Some journalists don’t introduce themselves. They don’t introduce themselves or their media house and immediately begin questioning you. I normally excuse myself and ask them, who are you? Because I don’t know. I regard them as my colleagues. Please introduce yourself, this is called courtesy.
If you are a journalist you should introduce yourself and if you have a business card or contact, we will call you. We have office managers and they organize our programs. Some journalists call you directly to your phones and they don’t even tell you where they get your contact from. Some ministers don’t pick up their call. But we are few that pick up our phone calls.
Some journalists don’t want to make efforts to expand their contacts with other officials. I used to tell them that I can’t be on the TV, radio, and in the newspaper all the time. There are other officials. I cannot be the same person speaking all the time.
There is also an issue with the booking of appointments, I need to say something about that. You don’t just call and say I am coming this afternoon. This statement annoys some officials. It is not because those officials don’t want to be interviewed. We have other priorities in the office. The office of the president or the speaker can call me for an urgent meeting. I need to look at my agenda and fix your appointment so that when you come I will be available for you and you will be happy. But you cannot just decide and come to my office at any time. Sometimes they tell me that you officials have become difficult to meet. But I tell them, look, you are lucky because we are humble and accessible to you. In our time it was difficult to get officials. Sometimes you had to beg for an interview. Sometimes we are chased out. I have been chased several times for trying to access big officials.
Q: That leads me to this question; how do you evaluate trust between officials and journalists then and now?
A: It has deteriorated because our times were different. We would write an official letter requesting an interview and they would come back to you. So the trust has deteriorated in recent days. That is a reality. However, during my engagement and monitoring with journalists, not all of them can be categorized in this group. But still, the majority of them are not professionals. So if a journalist tells me that I am not available and it is very difficult to access me, and I come to realize that other officials are also complaining about the same journalist or a particular media house, that means you have a problem. And next time I am not going to accept any interview with you.
We need the media to show our work and what we are doing but most of the time we are busy with office work and meetings. For example, in my position as a chief whip in the parliament, I have 334 MPs. We are going through a lot of internal arrangements of forming specialized committees, budgeting, and other urgent matters. They should try to arrange an appointment with our office managers who prepare the calendar for visitors. If they respect this, we will be happy. This trust can be rebuilt in that way. I hope journalists will listen to this and admit that they have not been doing well in this regard.
Q: Many rights groups in the country say the space for freedom of speech and expression in South Sudan has been shrinking in recent days. What is your take?
A: Last year, I shared a lot with journalists on some occasions and said; in any country, there is a sort of misunderstanding among journalists with government or security officers. A well-trained journalist would follow journalistic ethics. Carrying his ID all the time, researching his program, and following the law. We are fortunate in this country that we have all the needed laws and regulations in place.
We started them with difficulties with the late Alfred Taban, Hakim, and Victor Lugala among others. We began drafting some regulations in 2004 with laws that concern us in South Sudan. And some of you don’t know that we are founders of the media in South Sudan. So they should know that the beginning was not easy. Journalists should read and follow the law.
I shared with some colleagues that since I became a journalist I have not encountered any big issue. It happened only once when I wanted to meet Doctor Garang in New Site, and I tried to force myself to meet him. But as a journalist when they tell you to stop, you need to comply with that. So I was blocked because I understand the military environment and I understand that Garang deserved the protection. So what I want to say is that when security personnel tells you to wait, don’t resist. In the end, they will understand and give you the opportunity. I tried by all means and he later allowed me to interview him in the garden in Yei. Security officers are not against journalists but they have the duty and responsibility of protecting high officials. You also need to respect others. So if we follow the law and we protect ourselves we will iron out the gap between the security and the media. And at the end of the day, when they come to realize that you are a professional, they will cooperate with you. So it is give and take.
Q: Finally we want to give you a chance to speak to South Sudanese journalists and advice them.
A: Thank you so much and without bragging, I would call myself the mother of the radio in South Sudan because, during our time, we played a significant role in reaching our people through SPLA radio.
I wanted to encourage our fellow journalists to continue the hard work. The radio gives you a space to imagine, it allows your mind to create the picture about the studio, the image of the radio presenter. And this is what I love about the radio. The radio is a friend and in particular to the people in the rural area.
As South Sudanese, we still have a big role towards our people in the rural areas that we should educate them and bring up to date about the development in the country, their voices should be heard. Let’s benefit from the radio in our homes, phones, and other gadgets.
I take the opportunity of this day to congratulate my fellow journalists and to tell them that we are messengers. I am still a journalist and let’s educate ourselves. Despite my experience with this political post, I still regard myself as a journalist and I am still reading and learning from others.
Our journalists should read and research before they go for an interview. Don’t embarrass yourself. Do your work professionally and make it good. In our radio programs, we should have a timetable. And without a proper timetable, the listeners will not like your programs. Bear in mind that people who are listening to your program know more than you even if they are illiterate.
The media institutions should respect journalists and appreciate them. They are not only workers but they need to enjoy their work. Plan for your marketing, budget, and allow journalists to be happy. When they are happy they will offer quality work.