This is not a response, but a ‘flashlight’ on how an individual who accuses us of writing half-baked information goes on to commit the same literal blunder by insinuating our connection to the government and Talk of Juba.
John Pen de Ngong -a once feared, respected/admired and linguist of our time -has officially categorized Hot in Juba a nemesis of talent in South Sudan.
Pen’s misdemeanors to the government has for the last 3 years made him assume that anything that is less of an attack on the government is not positive criticism -especially if it is something done better than his defunct Younique magazine. Some of you HIJ readers won’t even know what that magazine was.
This blogger acknowledges John Pen’s experience and talent in writing and advocacy for equal rights. He is one outright “truth” teller that never minces his words against any politician. I use to admire his writing on Sudan Mirror back in the days. Infact, I would only buy the paper cos I wanted to read his column “Toe-teller.” But that was then. Now I don’t appreciate his idea of having everyone talk about politics –all the time.
A month ago, John Masura wrote an article on Aheu Deng’s alleged involvement in a corruption scandal with some officials at the Ministry of Defense. Masura didn’t just go public with the intention to defame anyone, because he had given the former model several opportunities to comment or respond, but as usual, the Junubi way, Aheu turned down Masura’s request for fairness. To me, refusing to comment is slightly an admission of guilt, cos even a sentence “it’s a lie” would have served the article right.
John Pen counter to that article has maliciously associated ‘Hot in Juba’ to ‘Talk of Juba’, and even claim that the blog is an agent of the Office of the President, because we don’t run political stories.
Here is an extract from that article on his: https://weakleak.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/on-the-case-of-aheu-deng-kudum-who-is-bringing-down-youth-talents-in-south-sudan/
ON THE CASE OF AHEU DENG KUDUM: WHO IS BRINGING DOWN YOUTH TALENTS IN SOUTH SUDAN?
“Little is known about the ownership and objective of ‘Hot in Juba’ blog, but it falls under the tabloid propaganda machinery of the current war. What puzzles is why those anonymous brothers running this blog have turned their weapons against our upcoming sisters. My concern about this social media house is that it concentrates on individuals’ – mostly female – weaknesses amidst glaring political blunders now bedeviling our new country. It also rarely touches bigger scandals of the known magnitude in Juba.
When I asked about a little background of the ‘Hot in Juba’, somebody intimated it to me faintly that this anonymously owned and run website sprang up during the days (2014) when Ateny Wek Ateny and other government media outlets called for government supporters to counter the cyber warfare that was harsher on the government. Whether ‘Hot in Juba’, like its sister blog ‘Talk of Juba’, has such background relationship is a secret yet to be revealed. Well, unlike other blogs like Paanluelwel, Nyamilepedia, Weakleaks, etc. that are political and public in objectives, the Talk-Hit-Hot-blah-blah-in-Juba media rarely condemn the political messes on the masses, but concentrates on social evils of the struggling celebrities.”
Wait, did you say the three blogs you mentioned are political and public in objectives? Okay, fine. I will leave that to the public to discuss their objectivity. HIJ has its own readership, and they know what we are all about.
But honestly Pen, you of all people should know what a “Gossip” agency means. HIJ is an entertainment site for the youth. It focuses on the life of any young Junubi who has decided to become a public figure.
Our intention is to nurture good deeds from the start, so that when these individual grow up, they will know what public scrutiny will do to them. We highlight on blunders and unique activities of the youth.
By writing these stories, we are developing a culture of tolerance among the youth, cos something that they are used to -becomes obsolete.
We are also into positive stories. We have stories from Bright Stars winning to Guor Marial in olympic, to brothers saving life in Australia to artists winning awards.
Now you accuse us of being agents of the government and being a sister to Talk of Juba. That is the real half-baked information. You should do your research carefully before going online, cos that’s exactly what you claim to be accusing HIJ blogger Masura of.
We have left politics to you brother. Make your change in that political sector…and we will try our best in our sector. It’s a diverse country.