Mass media in South Sudan

The mass media in South Sudan is underdeveloped compared to many other countries, including fellow East African states like Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, the constitution of the newly autonomous South Sudan guarantees press freedom and ensures that all levels of government uphold the principle.

However, journalists including the editors of both The Citizen and The Juba Post have alleged harassment, abuse, and de facto censorship at the hands of the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement as recently as in the months leading up to independence, and the government has been known to confiscate newspapers[1] and threaten radio stations with closure.

Reporters Without Borders cited the murder of Isaiah Diing Abraham Chan Awuol, who was shot dead by an unidentified man on December 12, 2012, as the reason for the country's fall in ranking.

The report, titled "The Price of Silence: Freedom of Expression Under Attack in South Sudan," accuses the National Security Service of harassing and detaining journalists.

Since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, over 30 FM radio stations have been set up across the country with the encouragement of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) run government.

[8] The Republic South Sudan has another TV station called JunobnaTV stabilised in 2017 by Adil Faris Mayat, a former Al Jazeera reporter, along with businessman Sebet Dok and other shareholders, JunobnaTV broadcasts 24 hours/day on Nilesat focusing on social, youth and sport related content and it has stopped the live broadcast service and resumed many times since but has never stopped operating on or delivering other media services.

Arabic Newspapers in South Sudan circulate almost exclusively among the educated elite in urban areas and very few copies reach rural villages.