By Peter Gai Manyuon
August 25, 2014 (SSNA) — It is not something new that national security personnel’s in Juba always target the Media houses and the Journalists who speak for the voiceless in the Republic of South Sudan.
National Security agents of Kiir Mayardit have been hunting for Journalists who criticizes their government due to their failure to govern the people of South Sudan in a democratic way.
Nevertheless, World is becoming as the global village , when I talk of global village am meaning the globalization which is as of the result of the interrelated , interdependent and interconnected in term of information sharing.
However, in the world of today, media has become as necessary as food and clothing. It has played significant role in strengthening the society. Media is considered as "mirror" of the modern society and in fact, it is the media which shapes our lives. Interesting!
Hence, internationally, the purpose of the media is to inform people about current, new affairs and to tell about the latest gossip and fashion. It tells about the people who are geographically divided.
The role of media has become one way of trading and marketing of products and prejudices.
The media claimed to be governed by righteousness and equity.
Media is in charge of the information sharing in the globe.
Information is one of the fundamental of the media; it is through information sharing that help the citizen to know about the development issues and so on. Without information nothing can progress well in the society.
Education media as well, is educating general masses of what is going on in the society, those who are in different part of the world get information through Mass Media in way or the other.
Society is influenced by media in so many ways. It is the media for the masses that helps them to get information about a lot of things and also to form opinions and make judgments regarding various issues! It is the media which keeps the people updated and informed about what is happening around them and the world. Everyone can draw something from it.
Media has had a bad effect on a generation, mainly because , youth is strongly influenced by media. Teenagers and children wish to follow the people, who get recognized and do what they do to get noticed. Sometimes, they focus on bad part of the media and strive to be a part of it. However, many are not succumbed to a life of crime!
The media affects people’s perspective. Too much intervention of media in everything is a matter of concern. Media can be considered as "watch dog" of political democracy. Through the ages, the emphasis of media on news has camouflaged. Media these days, tries to eye the news, which could help them to sell the information that is gathered worldwide, so that they could pave a way of success and fame of their respective channels. Fm radios, newspapers, information found on net and television are the mass Medias that serve to reduce the communication gap between the audience, viewers and the media world.
For the sake of publicity and selling, important figures, their lifestyles are usually targeted. Unimportant and irrelevant news, that usually have no importance are given priority and due to a reason or the other, they get onto the minds of the viewers and in this ways many a times, important political, economical and sociological news get neglected and gradually, lose their importance!
No doubt, media has played significant role in making world a global village and to reduce the communication gaps amongst the people living in the far areas but unfortunately, media these days has become a commercialized sector, eying the news which is hot and good at selling.
I believe, if the media identifies its responsibility and work sincerely and honestly, and then it can serve as a great force in building the nation like for instance the South Sudan need monitoring and accurate reporting.
The Author is an Independent Veteran Journalist and Columnist who has written extensively on the issues of Democratization and Human Rights in South Sudan. He is the former Senior Reporter of Citizen Television (CTV) in South Sudan. He can be contact on [email protected] or [email protected].