John Hopkins Middle School hosted International Journalist Day on April 18^th giving students from John Hopkins Middle School and Lakewood High School a chance to meet journalist from all over the world. One of those journalists was the Head of Digital Content at Capital Radio, Elaf Elhaj.

Elhaj is a producer for Capital Radio in Khartoum, Sudan. She has worked as a journalist for the past nine years after climbing the ranks of Capital Radio. She began in digital advertising and shifted to entertainment radio and is now the head of Digital Content.

As the Head of Digital Content her duties are to direct the editorial mission and strategy. She plans the production and develops new ideas. But to get to this place it takes a lot of work, and she has perfected the essentials of about how to be a good journalist like, having people skills and a sense of justice.

“Your sources are your favorite thing,” Elhaj said.

Elhaj has also had some turbulence throughout the way. Sudan is struggling in terms of freedom of speech and press, which in turn had led to Capital Radio getting shut down for three months for violating their laws.

Sudan is going through a very rough time right now and is experiencing a civil war which can make journalism very dangerous.

“It’s frustrating because you want to go out there and cover stories,” Elhaj said.

As the Head of Digital Content, she is in charge of which stories make it to the front page. A constant saying in this line of work is “don’t be the story.” However, the severity of the civil war can make it really difficult to follow this rule.

“My people don’t have a lot to believe in,” Elhaj said. Which is why she thinks journalism is so important during the tough times her country is going through.

She believes that through journalism she can hold the people in power accountable and can hopefully make her country a better place.

“It’s very important to me that they can trust me,” Elhaj said.