The Face of Truth | Ibrahim Shaglawi Journalists’ Union.. The Principle of Journalism and the Sins of Politics

One of the fundamentals of the journalism profession is that not every disagreement is bias, nor is every critical reading an alignment with one side against another.

 I recall this principle whenever a discussion approaches areas of polarization, where analyzing a position or an idea becomes enough to label the writer as belonging to one group or another. This happened in a previous article entitled “The National Congress.. From Isolation to Return,” and it almost cost me brothers and colleagues whom I value and respect, because some of them, unfortunately, read the article through the lens of the internal division within the National Congress, rather than through the perspective of the idea that the article sought to discuss.

At the time, I was keen to say clearly, “regardless of who is for or against,” because the function of political analysis is not to champion individuals or currents, but rather to deconstruct the scene and the facts and read what lies beyond events. In philosophy, we learned that discussing ideas leaves a more lasting impact than discussing events, because an event is transient, while an idea lives among people, and it is what shapes positions and lays the foundation for the future.

Today, it seems that we are standing at a similar turning point, concerning the dispute over the position of the Journalists’ Union regarding political alliances, foremost among them the “Sumoud” alliance. It is important here to read the issue away from personal calculations or professional alignments, because the matter is greater than a dispute between two unions or a disagreement within a professional body.

 It concerns the question of the idea and the nation: who possesses legitimacy, and more importantly, who remains steadfast in their position when the scales are shaken. With my appreciation for the General Union of Sudanese Journalists, with its historical foundation and broad representation, legitimacy is not a blank check.

 Positions are measured by the independence of decision-making, steadfastness of principle, and commitment to the nation, not by changing them whenever political alliances and calculations change.

According to Al-Khabar Network, the Council of the Sudanese Journalists’ Union has settled its position on “Sumoud,” confirming that the withdrawal is a principled and final decision, linked to the independence of the union and the unity and diversity of its membership. It is a position that goes beyond disengaging from a political alliance to redrawing the boundaries between the professional and the political. From another perspective, and within the context of the Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue, such reviews may acquire particular importance, as the reality imposes new approaches to reading political positions.

Here, the need arises to distinguish between coordination and integration. The union can cooperate with trade-union, civil, and political forces on national issues, such as ending the war, protecting civilians, freedoms and human rights, and restoring civilian rule, without becoming an organizational party to any political alliance. Journalism is not a political party, and a union is not a political alliance. Its independence does not prevent it from engaging in national action; rather, it protects that action from turning into political alignment.

This distinction is important for the profession. The independence of the union does not mean isolating it from public affairs, just as its presence in public affairs does not justify its subordination to a political alliance.

 The danger begins when it loses its ability to represent journalists and transforms from an inclusive framework into the voice of a particular direction. From this perspective, the explanations of the union’s council regarding the procedures for preparing the final statement of the fourteenth session, and what was raised concerning its political recommendations, can be understood. The matter goes beyond this to the independence of the union, so that its reference remains grounded in the will of its members and institutions, rather than in changing political alignments.

If the union has chosen independence, then it must, in return, bear the full consequences of this choice; that is, it must be more present in national issues and more capable of criticism and counter-criticism. True independence does not mean neutrality toward national causes; rather, it means possessing the professional and ethical distance that allows it to criticize everyone when they are wrong and support everyone when they are right, without turning into an arm of parties whose will is not independent.

From this perspective, the value of the union’s distancing itself from “Sumoud” does not lie merely in organizational disengagement, but in shedding the political burden that pushed it to adopt the narrative of “the war between two generals.” The war is not an equal conflict between two sides, as much as it is aggression and rebellion fueled by ambitions for the country’s resources and by the interests and influence of regional powers, while the Sudanese Armed Forces are performing their constitutional and legal duty to defend the country, restore security, and bring the rebellion under the authority of the state. This places the war in its proper context, away from blackmail or equating the state with the rebellion.

The genuine review is neither an apology for the past nor a victory for one union over another. Rather, it is the liberation of the professional institution from the captivity of political alignment. Journalism monitors authority, criticizes the opposition when it becomes dependent on external forces or makes the national decision subordinate to a cross-border agenda, and reviews its allies with the same rigor with which it scrutinizes its adversaries. When an ally becomes the standard of correctness and an opponent the standard of error, the professional institution no longer monitors politics; it practices politics from behind the curtain of journalism.

 Here, the sins of politics are exposed before the principle of journalism when they infiltrate the values of the profession. Journalism stands with truth and the nation, not with parties, and its mission is to monitor politics, not to become a tool within it.

Wishing you continued health and well-being.

Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

Shglawi55@gmail.com