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By SRS
Posted to the web on December 2, 2008 |
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December 2, 2008 (Juba) - Over 20 journalists from north and south Sudan attended a conference on democracy and media legislation in Juba on Monday.
The participants from different media houses in Sudan discussed a wide range of issues, including the role of the media during the general elections scheduled for 2009.
The journalists agreed on the need for training and capacity building to help them play an effective role in next year’s election.
Amel Habani, a journalist for Al Ajras-al Hurriya newspaper, said the media will face many challenges in reporting next year’s elections:
[Amel Habani]: "I think if we talk about the role of media in the elections, we will realize that the media is much readier than the political institutions. However, many obstacles are preventing the media from playing an effective role. They are obstructing freedom of expression. One of these obstacles is state censorship.”
The editor of the southern Sudan Post magazine, Stephen Tut, raised the question of security during elections.
[Stephen Tut]: "There is also the security issue. Disarmament is not complete and communities are still heavily armed. You need security for the journalists if they are to be sent to remote areas.”
The conference was organized by AMDISS, the Association fro Media Development in south Sudan and funded by the European Union and the Norwegian government.
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