KHARTOUM,  (Sundanow.info)  agencies in Sudan began to emerge in the mid-fifties of the last century, with the opening of an office for Reuters in Khartoum. In the sixties, Sudan witnessed the establishment of a number of private news agencies. In the early sixties the African Press Agency was founded, followed by Khartoum News Agency, the Local News Agency, the New Africa News Agency and the Sudanese News Agency which was owned by Abdul Karim Mehdi.

 

The emergence of these agencies was a natural result of the need for the establishment of national media institutions to reflect reality in Sudan, from a purely national standpoint, and to contribute to the projection of Sudan’s image   globally and reflect its aspirations and cultures, and limit the encroachment of Western media upon its internal affairs, and to contribute to exhibit the positive images of Sudan externally.

 

With this vision, came the decision to establish the Sudan News Agency in a speech of the late President Jaafar Nimeiri on 1/1/1970 in El-Obied, capital of Kordufan on the occasion of Independence Anniversary. Its administration was assigned to Mr. Abdul Karim Mehdi, who was the owner of the former Sudanese News Agency that was nationalized with other Sudanese news agencies and newspapers on 08/26/1970. He continued to manage the agency for roughly a year, and then handed its management over to his deputy, Mr. Mustafa Amin, whose term ended with the advent of the Popular Uprising of April 1985.

The Agency started its actual activities in an office, which was located by the Ministry of National Guidance at that time, then moved to a small government building on the Gammaa (University) street, and after then moved to a three-storey building belonging to the Cooperative People's Bank located on the intersection of the Palace and the Republic avenues in Khartoum and then (SUNA) moved by a presidential decree, to its current premises on the Republic street, 1982.

When the May government (1969-1985) nationalized newspapers and the news agencies on August 26, 1970, it became clear for the Nationalization Committee that those agencies possessed no equipment or means for the reception or transmission by wire, radio or telegraph except for some printers.

 

Late President, Jaafar Nimeiri on the nationalization’s decision said (The media in its treatment of the news provide random wrong explanations contrary to the declared objectives and principles of the revolution), referring to the May Revolution. The decision to create the agency was strengthened by a decree nationalizing all newspapers and news agencies in August 1970, when four wireless radio devices attached to the radio department at the ministry were repaired to receive Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Associated Press (AP) services.

On September 21, 1970 the Agency issued the first paper newsletter in Arabic and English. The issue carried the news of the death of the then Egyptian President, Gamal  Abdel Nasser. The news bulletin was originally issued by the Central Information Office of the Ministry of National Guidance.

SUNA was officially inaugurated on the second anniversary of May Revolution in 1971, when President Nimeiri sent a cable to Diallo Tilley, the Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity in May 1971, in which he said: "I am pleased while inaugurating today the Sudan News Agency, that the first message carried by its antenna is addressed to you, to greet you in person and salute the Organization of African Unity, while Africa today celebrates the eighth anniversary of the organization. "

The Agency's activities in that period were limited to meet the urgent needs of the local media, where necessary funds were not provided, except for the minimum essentials, and the media used to publish what they received from the agency without addition or modification.     

On the nineteenth of November, 1973, the first act of the Sudan News Agency was approved stipulating the establishment of the headquarters of the Agency in Khartoum. The Act also gave the Agency the right to establish offices within or outside Sudan. The Act provided that the budget of the Agency was from annual allocations made available by the government, and from revenue of the agency’s internal and external services, and the proceeds of the distribution of bulletins to the public and private sector, and also the income of advertising, or from any contributions or endowments allocated to the agency.

 

The Act specified the objectives of the Agency as follows: -

 

1. Gather news from inside and outside the Sudan, publish and distribute to the competent authorities in the country, and to the public inside and outside the Sudan.

 

2. Access international news from news agencies, radio stations and correspondents and publish and distribute the news within Sudan.

 

3. Distribute and publish news stories against an agreed sum of money or by exchange with other agencies, whether local, regional or global. The Agency may distribute the news free of charge in cases agreed upon.

 

4. Undertake all other media activities and tasks, or any related and pertaining-work thereto, including offering help directly or indirectly to achieve the purpose of the establishment and Sudan News Agency as the official media organ.

 

5. The agency undertakes its mission of news gathering, dissemination and distribution, without prejudice to the high objectives of the State, or the values ??and traditions of the country and its policy objectives.

On the twenty-second of September, 1981, late President Jaafar Nimeiri issued a provisional decree endorsing a new act for the Sudan News Agency. The Agency under this Act became a corporate independent body subject to the direct supervision of the President or whom he may authorize. The Agency before that was under the authorities of the Minister of Culture and Information. Accordingly the terms of service of the employees in the agency were improved and upgraded, when (SUNA) became one of few institutions that possess special privileges in the state at the time.

Sudan News Agency at this stage received great attention from the Government of May, as it was seen as a strategic body, and had excellent work conditions enabling it to perform its work at in a manner that made it records scoop over major international news agencies.

Following the overthrow of the May Regime, the Act 1981, was repealed and the Act  of the Sudan News Agency of 1986, was passed and under this law the previous Agency was  dissolved, and a new agency was established, and reinstated the supervision of the Minister of Culture and Information over the agency. Before that it had been under the direct supervision of the President of the Republic, which reduced  SUNA reduced position and its influence on the media, and led to the retreat of the functional, professional and financial status and the holding up of some of the privileges that were granted to the agency.

In that period, the strategic perspective of state institutions was missing, and the Agency has experienced negligence on the part of the ruling parties, and the Agency was considered as one of the legacies of May. The Agency also suffered from management instability, which impacted negatively on its services, and deterioration began to prevail over the Agency, where external services’ sources were  reduced as a result of close down of the services of Reuters News Agency (Reuters), the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International  (UPI) because of the Agency’s inability to pay the subscription fees. During this period development plans stopped, and damage and defects continued to hit some of the devices and equipment due to lack of spare parts and expiry of utility. During that period all offices external of SUNA, except the Nairobi office have been closed, because of financial problems and the government's inability to fulfill its financial obligations to these offices.

Following the advent of the Government of the Salvation Revolution in 1989, a new Act for the Agency was issued on December 30, 1991 which repealed the Act of the 1986. And the Sudan News Agency received the attention of the Government of National Salvation in the first instance, where officials began to pay due interest in the media sector, and the Agency acquired modern devices for the development of the Soba transmission station. It also acquired a variety of automated devices for use in monitoring some of the regional and national agencies and to expand the Agency's network in the states. The Agency at the of the early years of the Salvation Revolution also managed to renew its agreements with some Arab news agencies, and reactivated co-operation with Agence France-Presse (AFP), when a system has been installed to monitor its services in Arabic, French and English, and also the German Press Agency (DPA) services was monitored. SUNA renewed in September 1992 its agreement with Reuters, and managed through this agreement to use the services of Reuters, in addition the Agency was receiving the services of the Chinese News Agency Xinhua.

In 2000 the services of Agence France-Presse stopped, followed by Reuters due to financial difficulties, and then the rest of the news agencies stopped, except the Chinese News Agency which operated until 2004. The Agency was to rely on websites on the Internet. Due to the conditions and government finance policies, the successive administrations of SUNA tried to place the agency in its avant-garde position at the forefront of the national media in all aspects of the field of news and information industry and the treatment of information related to Sudan and its interests at home and abroad, and worked hard to find new ways to invest to support the Agency's vulnerable budget and improve the terms of service for the staff, through introduction of new services of SMS was. In 2007, Sudan News Agency Authority was established, and thus SUNA entered a new phase to expand its media services introducing multiple media new services (such as audio-visual and video).

 

Information and Research:

A special section was created for information and research at the beginnings of the establishment of Sudan News Agency in the early seventies for the preservation of the collections and publications of the Agency and for monitoring and follow-up of performance. This section has developed into the Information, Research and Library Department. This department became one of the important editorial departments of the Agency, and was the depot of SUNA’s information and reference for all state institutions, universities and researchers, and received appreciation from executive, constitutional and research institutions. SUNA was awarded, twice in 2000 and 2001, the prize for the Best Information Media Center, of the National Council for Press and Publications.

The Agency developed a great documentary heritage, through documentation for different era of the successive governments of Sudan. All the publications and issues of the Agency in the 70th and 80th of the twentieth century were in hard copies. The Information, Research and Library Department, was receiving the bulletins issued by the Agency in both Arabic and English; the Arabic Bulletin (the Home News) in addition to the Supplement, investigations, the World News Bulletin, the Economic Bulletin, The English News Bulletin, World English news publication, the English Weekly Bulletin, in addition to more than thirty local, regional and international newsletters and papers that the Department monitors. It also receives annual reports of government bodies and institutions, United Nations and its agencies and national organizations. The Department has issued a large number of booklets and documentation dossiers for a number of political, social, cultural and religious events, in addition to many calendars and the annual panorama.

In the context of upgrading the effectiveness of the Agency in the field of information storage and retrieval, the Agency set up in 1983 a section of microfilm to facilitate the preservation and retrieval of information and solve the problem of restricted space and inflated paper files. The agency began to think seriously about solving the problem of storage of information and documentation, by introducing of computers for information management and research, and during this period it embarked on a project to extract information from paper files to be entered in the computer, and has divided the project into three phases. But due to financial and administrative problems, the work in this project and the microfilm one were suspended.

Following the development in the news editing network and the transition from paper bulletins to electronic newsletters, a research student in the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Khartoum, Fuad Yassin, at the request of the Agency managed to design in July 1997 an information automated system of indexing information through the use of databases (Oracle) and (MSQUEL) language. Software on Macintosh computers was introduced, and as from that date the Agency started the storage and retrieval of information through entering of the news bulletin electronically by floppy disk, hence integrating the information network with the news network.

In the context of modernization the computer network of the Information, Research and Library Department in January 1997, US Dell computers and a server were purchased to install a network to store information. Internet was introduced officially in June of the same year. This system of automated indexing of information was operating until it crashed in 2001 as a result of disruption of the main server of the system and the lack of adequate protection, and in that period, the system faced a number of problems mainly limited storage space, retrieval and management of information.

SUNA website on the Internet: -

 

 Internet service in Sudan News Agency was introduced in June 1997, the Information, Research and Library Department was the first media institution in Sudan to introduce Internet services and create a website site on the Internet, by Sudanet company, the first service provider of the Internet in Sudan. The Agency’s website was named at that time (suna.net) after a few months of the company's establishment in March 1997. The site is considered the first governmental news website in the Sudan.  The site at the time was updated weekly by Sudanet Company through the storage of news and information by floppy disk on the company’s website, which links it to SUNA site. It contains the Arabic and English bulletins and also information on Sudan News Agency.

SUNA has contracted in early 1999 the Akhwan (the Brothers) Company to develop its website, and the news was in that period are sent by e-mail to the website master, and in the same period the domain name of the site was changed from (suna.net) to (sunanews.net).

In 2001, SUNA contracted the Computer Center at the University of Sudan for Science and Technology to design and implement a new site for Agency on the Internet (Sunaservices.net) and transferred to the (sunaservice.net), the site contents is updated instantaneously via FTP software and managed to add news and information from within the Sudan News Agency Information, Research and Library Department.

During that period the Agency began to deteriorate once again because of its inability to pay the debt to the international news agencies. When Agence France-Presse (AFP) stopped its service followed by Reuters news agency and the German Press Agency (DPA) while only the Chinese news agency Xinhua continued its service.

 

Electronic editing system:

SUNA in February 2002 made an announcement in the daily newspapers for its desire to implement a system to update its News and Information network according to the BOT (Build Operate and Transfer) partnership system by tender. A number of companies proposed to implement the project. After sorting, the National Research and Information Services Limited (NARS) bidding company was chosen to implement the system.

On June 15, 2002 a contract on the modernization of the receipt, processing and distribution of news was signed with the (NARS) company. Under this contract NARS would design and implement a project to update the Agency’s systems for a period of six years, NARS implements the project at its own expense in return for 70% of the income of the project, while SUNA to get 30%. The Agency would retain the ownership of all the components of the project, after the six years period.

NARS is committed to implement the project as follows:

Receive and process the news in all stages of editing, correction and revision.

Receive the edited electronic newsletter in its final form.

This includes all newsletters that have been agreed upon in writing.

 

Distribute the bulletin to subscribers automatically via the Internet and Intranet (internal network).

Modernization and computerization of the Information Center and the establishment of electronic archive, which includes materials stored at the Center including studies, reports and photos, and providing access for those interested in subscribing to the service (not implemented).

 

Design, implement and operate SUNA website on the Internet, including the e-newsletters and other additional services as may be agreed upon between the parties.

 

Any other works to be agreed upon in writing between the parties.

The design and implementation of the project was delayed by NARS for technical reasons related thereto. It has been run in January 2003, with the implementation of part of the system on the update of the news editing and dissemination on the Internet. The part of the system on receiving agencies, indexing and automated archiving has not been completed.

When SUNA contracted NARS in late 2002, it was agreed that NARS would create a new website for SUNA on the Internet to be automatically linked with the editing system where the news and information would be disseminated instantly. The website and the link with the editing system were actually established.

The development of the website:

With the move to create multiple windows, and to highlight the newsletters and the Agency's varied services and the introduction of audio-visual and video service, SUNA in agreement  with a number of companies embarked during 2010 on designing new sites for the Agency, in preparation for the start of the introduction of online services and specialized sites in pursuit of development of vertical services and to attract broader segments of interested people and minimize the risk of piracy in the case of the single window, the Agency contracted companies specialized in editing systems of gathering, processing and disseminating news and information internally and externally. The Agency has begun work to install the system and train editors to work on it. It was in early May a new editing system was installed to enable the Agency to move to the multimedia service of (text, image, audio-visual and video). The MENOS system network has been installed to link the Agency to its sources at home and abroad. Efforts are still being made to improve editorial performance to provide services, publications, news and varied information and update SUNA’s sites on the Internet. Now the Agency’s Editing Sector is divided according to subject into five sub-sectors: 1- Governance and Administrative Sector. 2- Economic Sector. 3 - Institutional and Capacity Building Sector. 4 - Social and Cultural Development Sector.  5 - New Media Sector. This is an effort by the Agency’s senior management for the vertical development to intensify specialized production which targets a specific audience with particular messages tailored to addressing and meeting their needs, at various local, regional and international levels.

 

SUNA Publications:

The Home News Bulletin:

 

Issued by the Department of Home News and covers the activities of the executive bodies, the constitutional institutions, and civil society organizations. The bulletin includes news and detailed reports to reflect the pros and cons of the various bodies and institutions, public and private sector and to highlight the problems and production constraints (it was published in paper twice a day and since 1996 has switched to electronic).

 

The States’ News Bulletin:

At the beginning the publication was produced in paper within the Arabic Bulletin, and turned online when SUNA shifted from paper to the electronic system, on the SUNA website. It carries local news, dispatched by SUNA reporters in the various states of Sudan and is issued by the States’ Department.

 

The English News Bulletin:

It’s an online service of translation into English of the Home News Bulletins including news reports. A distinct service provided by the Agency to government officials and foreign embassies in Sudan. SUNA also provides translation of the files produced by the Agency.

The French News Bulletin:

It’s an online service of translation into French of the Home News Bulletins including news reports similar to bulletins that are published in both Arabic and English.

 

The Foreign News Bulletin:

It includes important world events outside the Sudan, issued twice a day and switched to electronic.

 

The Special Newsletter:

SUNA in the late seventies provided news service especially to the political, executive, military and security organs covering news and press releases which were published on the Sudan in the news agencies and the international press. It covers most important news of brotherly and friendly countries and also a summary of regional and global news stories, in addition to news received from the various regions of Sudan.

Express (urgent) Service:

This service is provided urgently to officials on a particular report on Sudan, which was just broadcasted and published in the international media for the attention of officials and comment on it.

 

Specialized services:

Are specialized publications issued by the Department of Foreign News in coordination and cooperation with other departments within the framework of state-led campaigns in certain concerns.  SUNA plays a leading effective media role, and an example of these publications:

 

The Peace Newsletter: dealing with the peace process in the country and the extent of implementation on the ground of the various peace agreements (Naivasha, Abuja and  the East Sudan Peace agreements) responding to unfair media campaigns.

 

Human Rights Newsletter: to refute anti-media campaign on human rights record in Sudan in addition to this the newsletter is intended to contest UNSC Resolution (1706), the Darfur Peace newsletter and the newsletter on implications of the ICC.

Hot Files: are files and studies issued by the Information, Research, and Library Department covering some events such as conferences and important events and topics, which overlooks the arena, which is in a need to clarify some facts and information about them. SUNA issued many files that covered many topics.

News Photography Unit:

SUNA News Imaging Unit began with the establishment of the Agency in the early seventies of the twentieth century, with competent camera men recruited from the Photography Department at the Ministry of Culture and Information, the unit has contributed to filming most of the news and events coverage at home and abroad.

SUNA Forums:

SUNA Forums provides a venue for press conferences for government officials, public institutions, private and organizations officials, local and international. It offers a great opportunity for them to demonstrate their activities and clarify, issues and objectives, SUNA invites representatives of media outlets and reporters and also those interested in public issues to attend and participate in the Forum.

SMS News service:

Sudan News Agency is considered the first media organ in Sudan to introduce SMS news dissemination service via mobile phones. The venture began in late 2002.

Sudanow Magazine:

Initially published by the Ministry of Culture and Information, in 2003 and was issued in hard copy in English only, and in 2006 SUNA published the magazine in Arabic and English, and then issued weekly in Arabic, English and French. Ceased coming out for some time to republish on line, (sudanow.info.sd).

 

SUNA news Service on the Blue Nile Satellite TV:

In the context of development of news services, and after the success of SMS as a service sent directly to the public, SUNA introduced a new service outlet, in July 2010, providing news service broadcast on the Blue Nile Channel space through a moving news-bar across the screen, which is addressing the most important news, but the service was interrupted for differences over its agreement with Blue Nile TV.

 

SUNA Overseas Offices: -

SUNA opened in the late seventies offices in Cairo, Kampala, Djibouti, Mogadishu, N'Djamena, Nairobi and assigned a stringer in New York. The Agency opened its first office in N'djamena in December 1978 to cover the events of the civil war in Chad. The Office in N'djamena led an important role and scored an international scoop when its reporter sent the first story of outbreak of fighting in the capital N'djamena between rival forces in 1978. The Agence France-Presse immediately reported that the fighting did not break out, and after just one hour, the French Agency news reported a new story saying (SUNA’s report is correct .. The fighting did break out in N'djamena). In 1981 SUNA’s reporter in N'djamena Mohamed Osman Abdul Rahman Alzumh was shot dead during the fighting in N'djamena.

In the early eighties of the twentieth century SUNA opened an office in Kampala for a short period for covering the developments in Uganda during the reign of former President Idi Amin when intense fighting erupted with his opponents supported by Tanzania, then the office moved to Nairobi in 1979 to follow up the developments in Uganda up to the fall of Hajj Idi Amin.

SUNA office in Nairobi has led an important role in giving a voice to the Sudan to the world, at a time the news of Sudan to the outside world was interrupted in the aftermath of the Uprising of April 6, 1985, which toppled the May Regime led by Jaafar Nimeiri. SUNA office in Nairobi, had a pivotal role during the, rain and floods disaster that swept across the country in 1988, where the (SUNA) opened a window at her office in Nairobi via wireless to send Sudan call for humanitarian support.

Following the Uprising in April 1985, most of SUNA overseas offices, except the office in Nairobi, were closed, for technical reasons related to lack of funding. Nairobi office was then temporarily attached to the Ministry of Foreign.

This was followed by the opening of a SUNA office in Addis Ababa in January 1992, followed by Cairo office in 1993, then the Office of N'djamena and in the same year an office in Mogadishu was also opened to cover the events in Somalia.

Through these offices, the Agency was able to cover events in those areas, depending on its correspondents.

In 2000 SUNA had (10) correspondents who continued their work until 2002. Since 2006 and up to 2008, SUNA accredited 23 correspondents around the world. By the end of 2008 a decision by the Director-General ended their assignments until new conditions of work are announced, but some continued to work as stringers.

SUDAN NEWS AGENCY (SUNA) IN BRIEF 

A decree establishing Sudan News Agency (SUNA), as the official news agency, was issued in the early 1970'S during the rule of the late President Jaafar Mohamed Nimiri (1969 – 1985). Before that date, the only news agency was private enterprise and owned by Abdul-Karim Al-Mahdi.

The Sudan News Agency (SUNA) published its first news bulletin, Arabic and English, on September 21, 1970. It  then became the main information and news source in the country and started distributing its services for the local and foreign mass media, research centers and studies institutions as well as the decision-making circles and of course the public in general.

A series of acts were issued, prior to the one upon which the current agency was converted from a Public department into General Corporation, (Act of 1973, the Act of 1981, the Act of 1986 and the Act of 1991 and up to the stage of the Basic Statute of 2007) within the framework of the Public Corporation Act of 2003.

OBJECTIVES OF THE NEWS AGENCY:

The objectives of Sudan News Agency (SUNA) include gathering and dissemination of audio-visual and print news and information in and outside the Sudan, using all available modern technology means. It also is aimed to inform about Sudan internally and externally, seeking to genuinely reflect the various developments in the country thus contributing to creation of public awareness about the country.

SUNA'S ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT:-

SUNA is run by a Board of Directors:  a chairman and nine part-time members. The News Agency has a General Manager who is the top executive official. It has three major sectors, led by the Press Sector which is assisted by the Engineering and the Administrative and Financial Sectors.

SUNA'S CORRESPONDENTS NETWORK:-

SUNA service covers all 15 states of Sudan. The agency provides a comprehensive and round-the-clock news coverage of all activities and developments in the country through its various offices located in the 15 state capitals and via its correspondents and stringers posted at Localities and the administrative units levels, and linked to the headquarters of SUNA in Khartoum through a network of Multimedia Exchange of News over Satellite (MENOS).

SUNA'S EXTERNAL RELATIONS AND NEWS EXCHANGE:-

Sudan News Agency (SUNA) has contributed in the establishment and support of a number of Arab and African news agencies gathering such as the Pan-African News Agency (PANA). Sudan News Agency (SUNA) is a member of the Arab News Agencies Federation (FANA) and the International Islamic News Agency     (IINA).

Sudan News Agency has signed over 50 agreements for cooperation with quite a number of regional and international news agencies in the fields of news and information exchange as well as training. One of the latest agreements SUNA signed in 2010 was an agreement of cooperation in Malaysia on the exchange and publication of information on the South-South Information Gateway (SSIG) Portal, involving more than 170 South-South countries.

SUNA PUBLICATIONS:-

SUNA'S NEWS:

A Continuous and comprehensive influx of local and international news on various issues in the Arabic, English and French languages through the website of SUNA and electronic publications that are coming from different sources via the internal and external networks of the agency.

SUNA'S ALBUM:-

This album represents a bank or an exhibition of photographs and video tapes designed to reflect a full narration of the news story in all stages and with varieties of mediums.

SUNA'S INFORMATION AND ARCHIVE: 

SUNA opens its information and Archive Center to receive all types of news, information and special documents in different forms including texts, photos, audio visual and video that would be easily accessible for different purposes, shortly.

SUNA'S STUDIES, RESEARCH AND ARTICLES:

It includes items produced by SUNA for its own uses and to fulfill its mission, in an attempt to reflect, display, analyze and clarify developments and explain issues in depth. SUNA will provide the same service for the interested parties upon request.

SUNA'S NEWS MONITORING:

A two publications paper and electronic news -bulletin including daily news coverage for the most important local, regional and international events. These are events have direct or indirect link to the Sudan. This service is extended by SUNA to the Sudanese officials who wish to receive it.

SUNA'S SPECIAL AND SPECIALIZED MONITORING:

A Service provided by SUNA to its subscribers dealing with monitoring the various news and reports on Sudan, published by local and international media.

SUNA'S REPORTS:

This service includes publishing of political, economic and social reports, supported by statistics and diagrams.

SUNA'S MOBILE MICROSCOPE:

A service that is provided by SUNA for the Sudanese officials in certain public affairs in order to address or make a dialogue with the Public in a limited geographical area focusing on certain issue or subject matter through the Radio.

SUNA'S MONITORING OF LOCAL PRESS:

A Daily service that is provided by SUNA in order to show the orientations of the Sudanese Press and the most important issues being tackled by Press. This service is transmitted via SUNA's websites in the Arabic, English and French languages.

 SERVICES:

SUNA'S FORUM:

This opportunity is provided by SUNA for the public, private, official and popular institutions in order to speak to group of reporters who will be given a chance to comment and to ask questions on the issued discussed.

SUDANOW MAGAZINE:

Is a weekly magazine that is issued by SUNA electronically in English and Arabic languages in a special website with links to SUNA's other websites. SUDANOW expresses points of view and stances of the Sudanese people toward local, regional and international issues.

SUNA'S SHORT MESSAGES SERVICE (SMS):

SUNA was the first provider of news via SMS in Sudan and the Arab world. SUNA signed an agreement in 2002 with Zain Mobile Company to transmit news via SMS to Sudanese subscribers.

SUNA'S SERVICE ON TV NEWS STRIP:

SUNA has initiated news service in a news strip printed on the screen of the Blue Nile Television, displaying the main headlines of important news.