In the midst of all this anticipation and change, the Juba Post walks an ethical tightrope. Many of its editors support the secession, what is colloquially referred to as the “divorce.” Their challenge is to keep that sentiment out of the reporting. “We try not to get carried away,” said Amanjur. “It is not our goal to lead South Sudan into independence.”

The southern press has had its share of outspoken entanglements with the national government. The Juba Post, for example, has been charged with defamation and libel for running a press release that accused a prominent southern minister of land grab. And while southerners are exempt from being tried under the North’s laws, because there are no media laws in the South, such defamation and libel cases go to Khartoum. (To boot, most judges do not know how to handle journalism cases. “It is difficult to explain to them what an editorial policy is,” said Amanjur.)

The passage of a media law in the South, however, is lower down on the priority list, according to Moi Igga, an official in South Sudan’s Information Ministry. “We are only a three year old nation. Virtually every section of society is operating without law,” he said.

It is, however, in everybody’s best interest to get the law in place. “Many of the reporters are not trained and they need guidance,” said Igga, noting that reporters do not always back charges against politicians with facts. “They have no idea about journalism ethics.”

Even so, the southern press has more freedom relative to its northern counterpart. In the North, for example, papers published outside the country are not allowed to be circulated. Also, despite the government inspections of news content, the inspectors, it is believed, don’t stomp out criticism of the southern government quite so thoroughly. And the Post, for one, carries mainly southern news, so it gets by with random checks every few days, rather than daily. Explaining why he doesn’t mind being occasionally summoned to court, Post publisher Surur said, “Sometimes real news gets through.”

With secession talk in the air, South Sudan is preparing itself for a new beginning—in part by building up a more robust press. But it is unclear how much press freedom an independent South Sudan will bring. “There will be no censorship in the South,” declared Igga. In the next breath, he added, “You are expected to write what is decent culturally and politically.”

Waiting in the wings is the dream of a journalism school in Juba City. Last year, one of the few brick and cement buildings in the city was proposed as a possible site, but the building was declared unsafe. Surur, meanwhile, is on the hunt for a “bigger and better building” for the Juba Post, pushing to get more news out through the Web, where official inspections are less frequent, and chasing after government funding for the school. “It will,” he said, “make journalism a constant force.”

  • 1
  • 2