You should quit, Shummo!

Shummo

Circulating news reports indicate that the chief of Press and Publication Council, Ali Shummo has criticized the performance of the local newspapers, attributing the low distribution of newspapers to the irrelevance of their content to citizens' interests.

Shummo stressed the need for reconciliation between the government and the laws organizing the press in the country, noting that the culture of the internet has become another outlet for publishing ideas and opinions.

 In a seminar organized by the Sudanese Embassy in Rabat last week, Shummo indicated that the Sudanese press suffers from several problems, most notably administrative problems,

"Despite its development and increasing number, where it counted to (46) newspapers now; the rate of distribution is still very weak which is about (500 thousand copies) compared to the Sudanese population” Shummo said, attributing the reason behind the weakness of distribution to lack of the sense of the ordinary citizens toward the journalist who writes on behalf of them and tell their own stories and problems.

Shummo went on to say that it is very important to listen to all parties, including citizens and involve them in the formulation of the law in order to avoid the result of the problems around it.

Between the lines:

When the reader goes through the above story, it comes to his/her mind, for a moment that the man is very keen on protecting journalism in the country, taking into account that the man (Shummo), who is the head of the Council, the official regulator of the print-media sector, has bitterly admitted, in an interview published by Al-Sudani newspaper on 11 March, that his body’s mandate is overpowered by the intervention of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS)!

Is that all he can do toward defending the profession of journalism in the country!? Why doesn’t he quit his post if he is unable to find solutions for the intervention of NISS in the work of newspapers? At least to take a stand against this intervention! And then his resignation would be better than remaining in a post without authority and functions!

It seems that the officials in the government know nothing about the culture and concept of resignation, so that they, instead, admit their failure and remain in their posts!