The Media Authority in South Sudan has announced accreditation of journalists from next week.
According to the regulatory body, all journalists and other qualified media practitioners in South Sudan should be accredited to certify recognition of their work in accordance with the regulation on accreditation of journalists issued in 2018.
The Managing Director of the Media Authority in South Sudan Hon. Elijah Alier says that, the accreditation shall be granted to individuals after they present a professional certificate, a recommendation letter issued by media houses, and a completed application form that will be made available by the office of the Media Authority.
“Accreditation shall be granted only to individual upon presentation of professional certificate, recommendation letter duly issued by the media agencies for which the media professionals work and a filed application form.” Alier explained.
The Managing Director said, it has been accrediting international journalists unlike for national journalists which is overdue, and therefore it starts next week.
Alier further said that, journalists will be charged a non-refundable fee to acquire the accreditation.
He added that, the validity of the accreditation is between 3 months to 12 months renewable after expiration every year.
He urged the government to respect media cards and the accreditation issued to journalists when needed by the security officers for easy access to information.
“We want to make it a practice and it is a responsibility by the government to ensure that they honour the accreditation.”
Alier lauded journalists for their daily improvement in news reporting compared to previous years due to the awareness, and capacity building being done by the Union of Journalists in South Sudan and other partners.
The Media Authority Act (2013) provides for the establishment of an autonomous oversight body, the Media Authority, to regulate, develop and promote an independent and pluralistic media industry in the country. It was created in 2016 and started operations in 2017.