Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Media practitioners have renewed calls for greater media space and unrestricted press freedom as South Sudan prepares for elections in December 2026.
They also encouraged social media users to use the platforms constructively and avoid causing harm.
Chuol Jany, the Editor-in-Chief of the Catholic Radio Network, said media houses should continue working together with the Media Authority.
“… in deed we need to work together with the media authority should not be a blockage, it should be used as an institution that help the media houses to prosper,” he said, while speaking on the Eye Radio’s Dawn Program.
“The press freedom is what we want in South Sudan and as we are heading towards elections, we need media to be given space, a space that will give opportunity for the electorates to elect the leaders they want without intimidation. We need social media to be used constructively without causing damage,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mathiang Cirilo, the Editor-in-Chief of Almugief Arabic Newspaper, stressed the need for access to information for journalists in the country.
He said access to information would enable journalists to provide accurate and credible news to the public.
“We need to go deep in reporting stories in detail, for example, there is no media house that has access to how the government budget is being spent. We just hear budget has been presented in the parliament, but what has the finance ministry done or doing to ensure that budget is being spent as intended, no one gives us that information,” he said.
“There are some information government officials never provide to journalists, because when they give you, they will lose their jobs. So, the issue of press freedom also requires good environment for politicians, to provide us with needed information,” he stressed.
In the 2025 World Press Freedom Index released in May, South Sudan rose to 109th place, up from 136th last year.
Reporters Without Borders attributed the improvement to fewer attacks on the media.
However, the report warned that economic pressure remains a major challenge for media outlets globally.
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