South Sudanese elites shun local media, editors decry

By Ruot George

The political elites in South Sudan are increasingly shunning local media and preferring to use foreign outlets to disseminate information, the chairperson of the national editors’ forum in South Sudan, Koang Pal Chang said.

While speaking at a panel discussion in Juba on the International Day for Universal Access to Information, Koang cited the difficulty in accessing President Salva Kiir for interviews and yet international media easily get hold of him in Juba.

President Kiir has been interviewed by many international media including BBC Hard talk, Al Jazeera, Kenya’s Citizen TV among others and yet he has never appeared in an interview in the local media.

All media in South Sudan only get him through press releases and conferences, he said.

Koang urged the use of local media to disseminate correct information to people in the country.