State, media should uphold values

By Jerry P. Lanier

Press freedoms are the modern day indicators for measuring the health of a democracy. In the old days, coal miners would take a canary into the mine as an early warning system.

If the canary died, miners knew the air was not safe and evacuated the mine. Press freedom operates in much the same way in democracies today - if press freedoms are undermined or threatened, then everyone understands that something serious is amiss with the overall democratic climate.

Uganda has hundreds of private radio stations and numerous print media outlets. A quick scan of local newspaper headlines, with tales of corruption scandals and alleged financial misconduct by government officials, would suggest that Ugandan media is free and unimpeded. But beneath the surface, all is not well.

In 2011, local human rights groups recorded more than 100 attacks against journalists in Uganda, and in January 2012 Uganda plummeted 43 places on Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index, dropping from 96th to 139th place.

Nearly two dozen Ugandan journalists are saddled with various criminal charges ranging from promoting sectarianism to criminal defamation and so on. Many of these charges seem to linger forever, serving as a check on the reporting of those charged and a not-so-subtle reminder to others of the consequences of criticizing Ugandan leaders too strongly. Two journalists are currently in Ugandan jails, charged with treason.

Other’s face no official charges but are nevertheless prevented from performing their journalistic duties in retaliation for criticizing the Ugandan government during the September 2009 riots.

Police have called many other journalists in for questioning for stories published in local newspapers or statements made over radio or television airwaves. Still, other journalists complain of receiving threatening phone calls.

Uganda’s police force dedicates significant resources to its “media crimes unit” to monitor journalists’ reporting even though most of the cases referred to prosecutors by this unit are eventually dropped for lack of evidence and none has resulted in a conviction.

More recently, several local journalist associations have documented cases of Police violence against journalists.

Violence, intimidation, harassment, spurious questioning by the Police, threatening telephone calls, and frivolous criminal charges against journalists are not acceptable in a democratic society.

When these events occur, and then pass uninvestigated by authorities, democracy is diminished.

While no journalist should be subject to violence, threats, or intimidation, this is not to say Ugandan journalists do not have serious work of their own to do with regard to improving the quality, accuracy, and fairness of their reporting.

I know because I too have been a victim of false and misleading reporting from Ugandan journalists. This does not bother me personally, but it is a serious affront to Ugandans and Ugandan democracy to misstate, exaggerate, or convey any false meaning to a public simply trying to understand the facts of what is happening.

Local media has an obligation to ensure that reporting is as accurate as possible, to avoid disingenuous and sensational headlines, and it should have the professionalism to correct the record when reporting falls short.

Ugandan journalists and local media outlets need to do more to ensure that their reporting attains this standard. Again, these professional challenges, in no way justify the government intimidation, harassment, or mistreatment of Uganda’s press corps.

Citizens need accurate, timely, independent news they can trust. So do businesses and markets. And so do governments. When the free flow of news and information is cut off, individuals suffer. Societies suffer. Economies suffer.

When journalists are threatened, attacked, jailed, or disappeared, other journalists self-censor. Fear replaces truth, and all of our societies suffer.

As we mark international press freedom day, I urge Uganda to take greater steps to protect and defend press freedom, and to hold individuals who violate this freedom accountable, and for members of the press to make certain their comments can be trusted as fact.

The writer is the US Ambassador