Mass Media In Sudan

As of the early 2000s, Sudan had one of the most restrictive media environments in Africa. Sudan’s print media since independence generally have served one of the political parties or the government in power, although there occasionally were outspoken independent newspapers.{{citation-attribution, 1={{Cite encyclopedia , title=Information Media , encyclopedia=Sudan: a country study , publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress , location=Washington, D.C. , url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Sudan.pdf , last=Shinn , first=David H. , date=2015 , editor-last=Berry , editor1-first=LaVerle , edition=5th , pages=271–275 , isbn=978-0-8444-0750-0 Though published in 2015, this work covers events in the whole of Sudan (including present-day South Sudan) until the 2011 secession of South Sudan.

There was more press freedom under civilian governments than during military regimes. Radio and television were always under much firmer government control, irrespective of the type of government.

Legal framework and censorship

The Interim National Constitution of 1986 provided an unrestricted right to freedom of expression, dissemination of information, and access to the press without prejudice to order, safety, or public morals “as determined by the law.” It added that the state guaranteed freedom of the press and other media “as shall be regulated by law in a democratic society.” Finally, the constitution stated that all media must abide by professional ethics, refrain from inciting religious, ethnic, racial, or cultural hatred, and must not agitate for violence or war. The constitution clearly left most of the implementation of press freedom to the passage of laws.

In 2003 President Omar al-Bashir proclaimed the lifting of censorship and the transfer of responsibility for monitoring the media from the National Security Organization to the 21-member National Press Council (NPC). The president of the republic selected seven members and the National Assembly chose five members. The Journalists’ Union elected seven members and leaders of the union selected the final two members. Transfer of responsibility for monitoring the media resulted in only marginal improvement because state security officials circumvented the NPC by relying on the government prosecutor in charge of subversive crimes. The Sudanese government continued to censor print and broadcast media, and journalists also practiced self-censorship.

Radio

As of the early 2000s, the government directly controlled radio broadcasting. In a country as large as Sudan, radio was especially important in disseminating information.

The Sudan National Radio Corporation, which dated back to 1940, broadcast a mixture of news, music, and cultural programs through national and regional networks in Arabic, English, French, and Swahili.{{Citation, title=Sudan Profile; Media, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14095119, year=2012, publication-place=United Kingdom, publisher=BBC News, access-date=13 September 2012 There was only one private radio station in Northern Sudan; it was an FM station that broadcast music in Khartoum.

As of the early 2000s, several opposition and clandestine radio networks were in operation. The Voice of Sudan, operated by the opposition NDA, broadcast shortwave intermittently from neighboring Eritrea beginning in 1995 until the parties that made up the NDA returned to Sudan. The New Sudan Council of Churches had a weekly broadcast called the ''Voice of Hope'' produced in studios in Uganda and the Netherlands and transmitted via the Radio Netherlands relay station in Madagascar. In 2010, Sudan suspended the BBC’s license to broadcast in Arabic on local FM frequencies in four Northern cities, including Khartoum.

Another clandestine radio station, Radio Dabanga, began broadcasting in December 2008 using shortwave transmitters of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Government-run Radio Omdurman ran jamming signals to attempt to interfere with reception during Radio Dabanga's broadcast times, but these jamming efforts were ineffective, in part because Radio Dabanga used two shortwave frequencies.

The Sudan Radio Service, developed by the Education Development Center, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, began broadcasting from Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2003. Sudanese producers broadcast programs in 10 Sudanese languages, focusing on civic education, health, agriculture, and education, as well as on music and entertainment.

Capitol Radio FM is a private, Khartoum-based music radio station, broadcasting only in English.

Television

{{main, Television in Sudan
Sudan officially began television transmission in 1963. In the early years, it only reached a short distance from Khartoum. As of 2011, the Sudan National Broadcasting Corporation

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