South Sudan’s rating in the World Press Freedom Index 2021 has dropped despite notable improvement in the media environment since 2019.
Compiled by Reporters Without Borders, the ranking places Africa’s youngest to position 139 behind Philippines, down from 138 in 2020.
The media watchdog says while there have been notable reforms in the local media industry, more still needs to be done.
Surveillance and intimidation of journalists, RSF says, remained prevalent adding that national security agents often go directly to printing presses to censor content.
Owing to the country’s rating among “bad” countries with hostile environment for media practitioners, RSF claims that “intelligence agencies also tried to get a radio station manager to submit his interviews for approval before broadcasting them.”
RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said despite the critical role journalism plays in the development of societies, the profession is often blocked by those in the corridor of power.
“Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation,” Deloire said. “Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political, economic, technological, and – sometimes, even cultural factors.”
“In response to the virality of disinformation across borders, on digital platforms and via social media, journalism provides the most effective means of ensuring that public debate is based on a diverse range of established facts,” continued the secretary-general.
The ranking is staggering in that countries projected to be champions of human rights and press freedom have fallen far behind.
Germany, the U.K, France, and the United States are all missing in top 10. The global economic powerhouses rank in position 13, 33, 34, and 44 respectively. Norway is occupying the first spot for the fifth year in a row.
In South Sudan, RSF recorded zero number of journalists killed as of the year 2021. Within the same period, no citizen was killed. The statistics further show that correspondents from international media outlets assigned to work in South Sudan have executed their duties undisturbed.
In May 2020, the South Sudan Media Authority said the media space in the country was opening up and that the country was witnessing media pluralism.
The organization said at the time that it was committed to protect journalists and that the negative perception of the world toward the country’s media industry was significantly and positively changing.
“Media Authority as a bridge for building healthy relationships among media stakeholders remains committed to creating conducive media regulatory environment that promotes freedom of expression and media as a fundamental human right protected under Article 24 of the South Sudan Transitional Constitution 2011,” part of the statement extended to City Review last year read.
As of 2020, a total of 163 media enterprises from different categories were officially registered by the Media Authority to legally operate in the country.
More than 800 visiting foreign journalists from more than 65 countries working for 147 media agencies worldwide were cleared and issued on-demand accreditation press cards for the period they intended to spend in the country to do journalistic work.
Within the same period, however, the authority either denied or revoked accreditation of over 20 foreign journalists, who were “bent on tarnishing the image of the country by disseminating misleading and harmful information since 2017”.