Country's paper press needs boost

Sudan’s Minister of Culture and Information, Dr Ahmed Bilal Osman, has urged officials to pay greater attention to the country's paper press and find a solution to the problems faced by the industry. The official even called for a workshop that would address how to diagnose the process and establish its duties and rights. Bilal said during a meeting with information ministry on Tuesday that the Sudanese media needed a lot of effort, unity and coordination to produce a strong and effective tool that can influence domestic opinion. He stressed the importance of an authority to coordinate and arrange these things. "Such authority should be legally developed and have full power to perform its role, and expand its circle of interests," he said. He reiterated the ministry's keenness to develop the state's information capabilities to keep pace with the events in Sudan, and achieve a strong Sudanese media at both regional and global levels. The minister urged workshops on means of communication and foreign media and what was required of the current stage, in addition to preparing papers, dealing with local media topics which help in making decisions to push media work in the country forward. Bilal met in a lengthy meeting with newspaper editors, owners and publishers. The meeting reviewed the problems of the press, such  as the high costs of printing and paper prices in addition to high taxes. The minister pledged to participate in finding solutions developed by all parties.