Have we defiled journalism?
May 05, 2011
AS we celebrate the World Press Freedom Day, these are some of the headlines that have made news in Uganda in the past few weeks:
AS we celebrate the World Press Freedom Day, these are some of the headlines that have made news in Uganda in the past few weeks:
Fifty-five Ugandan journalists attacked last year;
Female journalist hit with rubber bullet;
Eight journalists injured in “walk-to-work†protest;
ISPs harassed, told to shut down Facebook and Twitter for 24 hours
Journalist charged under abolished “false news†law.
These are the challenges we face in dispensing our day-to-day responsibilities and I salute you members of the Fourth Estate for your contribution to building Uganda into a democracy with a vibrant economy.
Though we do not always get it right, on the whole, I would say, we have done a great job within the limitations.
Today we salute the courts of law for out-lawing both the law of sedition and the law on publishing false news which greatly hindered our work in the past.
We would also like to congratulate the Parliament for passing the Access to Information law though we have waited for ages for it to be operationalised. We still have many limitations in accessing information and many stories are half-baked or never see the limelight due to lack of basic information.
For the sake of democracy, we demand that the Freedom to Access Information Act is operationalised so that we can do a better job of informing, educating and influencing our country.’
On a day-to-day basis we face a myriad of challenges from the corporates and multi-national businesses who withdraw or threaten to withdraw advertising when we step on their toes.
I know that the majority of us are poorly paid and facilitated and yet expected to produce good journalism.
Today, however, I would like to engage you, my colleagues, on what I consider the biggest challenges of the press in Uganda today — professionalism.
In the 20 years I have been a journalist, for 16, I have been a senior editor and in all these years, in spite of all the crippling media laws and interference from politicians and business owners, we have rarely been in real trouble for an accurate story. Of course, justified or not, every day we receive complaints from influential circles and from the public, but when we have our facts the complainant always backs off. The times we have been in real big trouble, it has been because there was a slip in our professional standards or judgement.
We are at the brink of a mass media revolution. The mass media revolution in North Africa and the Arab world has been celebrated internationally as a tool to foster democracy, and indeed the Internet with the social media has led to the fall of notorious dictators. Whether that will lead to true democracy or not is another issue.
In Uganda and in the rest of Africa, it is predicted that we shall see similar trends on the cellphone. The internationally-funded experimental sms projects on health, agriculture and education coupled with the home-grown mobile money projects will certainly foster economic and social development and also culminate into massive political dialogue on the cellphone.
This is inevitable and I do not think any government should even lose sleep trying to regulate that because it is like closing a flood gate. However, I believe there is need for all stakeholders to educate the citizenry and the audiences on their roles and responsibilities.
I agree with Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO that all principles of journalism should be brought to the online and digital world. It is imperative that now, more than ever before, those of us who know the power of the media propagate and support a professional media. Otherwise posterity will judge us harshly. It is only a responsible media that can be a stimulus for democracy and economic progress across the world.
Yes, sustainable democracy greatly hinges on a free media and a free neutral Internet, but I would add that it equally hinges on a professional and responsible media. This is probably more crucial in Africa and in the rest of the developing world where due to illetracy many people still think that if something is broadcast or published, it must be true. A single untrue rumour published or broadcast can destroy decades of civilisation, and I am not sure that this is what a democratic media is supposed to achieve.
Uganda today has 10 or so mass media educational institutions and yet most of our media houses are littered with evidence of lack of skill and professionalism.
Often I read a story about a function I have attended or an incident I have witnessed and I am ashamed by the levels of inaccuracy. Sometimes I watch colleagues at work and I wonder what happened to the old-cherished notebook.
I think if there is an enemy we need to address as the journalist fraternity or any area we need support on, from the stakeholders, it is our professionalism.
I will give just one example from our recent past: Uganda, September 11, 2009. “Ugandan capital Kampala was yesterday on fire with clashes between security forces and supporters of Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi that ended in riotous incidents, vandalism, looting and indiscriminate killings. At least 10 people were confirmed dead while another 45 were seriously injured. The Government reacted by closing four independently-owned radio stations and suspending their operating licences for what it called ‘airing inciting messages’ and promoting sectarianism aimed at bringing hatred against President Yoweri Museveni, his Government and against other tribesâ€.
By any standards, Government acted high-handedly and we hope we never see a repeat of this. On the other hand, the charges against the media contained in this report are too grave to be ignored.
I do not intend to discuss if they were true or not because I do not know. What bothers me though is why all of us the professionals, loudly cried wolf against the Government and yet never stopped to explore whether anything went wrong professionally.
I am sure the recordings of September 11 are still available somewhere, and if the media practitioners are too self-righteous to do a soul search, our good professors in the schools of journalism should take on this as a scholarly project. Otherwise how else shall we ever know what exactly happened? Were the accusations justified? Did we in any way defile our profession? What are the key learning points?
Another issue we are faced with is the ‘brown envelopes’. Time fails me to delve into the details of the practice, but often we get complaints from sources, politicians, business people, civic organisations and the public that a journalist has taken a bribe from them to publish a story. How shall we expose corruption when we ourselves are slaves to the brown envelope? How shall we play the watchdog role when we ourselves need to be watched?
I await the day when the media shall have our own truth and reconciliation commission on these issues and other issues that bog down our profession today.
Writer is Editor-in-Chief, Vision Group
These are the challenges we face in dispensing our day-to-day responsibilities and I salute you members of the Fourth Estate for your contribution to building Uganda into a democracy with a vibrant economy.
Though we do not always get it right, on the whole, I would say, we have done a great job within the limitations.
Today we salute the courts of law for out-lawing both the law of sedition and the law on publishing false news which greatly hindered our work in the past.
We would also like to congratulate the Parliament for passing the Access to Information law though we have waited for ages for it to be operationalised. We still have many limitations in accessing information and many stories are half-baked or never see the limelight due to lack of basic information.
For the sake of democracy, we demand that the Freedom to Access Information Act is operationalised so that we can do a better job of informing, educating and influencing our country.’
On a day-to-day basis we face a myriad of challenges from the corporates and multi-national businesses who withdraw or threaten to withdraw advertising when we step on their toes.
I know that the majority of us are poorly paid and facilitated and yet expected to produce good journalism.
Today, however, I would like to engage you, my colleagues, on what I consider the biggest challenges of the press in Uganda today — professionalism.
In the 20 years I have been a journalist, for 16, I have been a senior editor and in all these years, in spite of all the crippling media laws and interference from politicians and business owners, we have rarely been in real trouble for an accurate story. Of course, justified or not, every day we receive complaints from influential circles and from the public, but when we have our facts the complainant always backs off. The times we have been in real big trouble, it has been because there was a slip in our professional standards or judgement.
We are at the brink of a mass media revolution. The mass media revolution in North Africa and the Arab world has been celebrated internationally as a tool to foster democracy, and indeed the Internet with the social media has led to the fall of notorious dictators. Whether that will lead to true democracy or not is another issue.
In Uganda and in the rest of Africa, it is predicted that we shall see similar trends on the cellphone. The internationally-funded experimental sms projects on health, agriculture and education coupled with the home-grown mobile money projects will certainly foster economic and social development and also culminate into massive political dialogue on the cellphone.
This is inevitable and I do not think any government should even lose sleep trying to regulate that because it is like closing a flood gate. However, I believe there is need for all stakeholders to educate the citizenry and the audiences on their roles and responsibilities.
I agree with Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO that all principles of journalism should be brought to the online and digital world. It is imperative that now, more than ever before, those of us who know the power of the media propagate and support a professional media. Otherwise posterity will judge us harshly. It is only a responsible media that can be a stimulus for democracy and economic progress across the world.
Yes, sustainable democracy greatly hinges on a free media and a free neutral Internet, but I would add that it equally hinges on a professional and responsible media. This is probably more crucial in Africa and in the rest of the developing world where due to illetracy many people still think that if something is broadcast or published, it must be true. A single untrue rumour published or broadcast can destroy decades of civilisation, and I am not sure that this is what a democratic media is supposed to achieve.
Uganda today has 10 or so mass media educational institutions and yet most of our media houses are littered with evidence of lack of skill and professionalism.
Often I read a story about a function I have attended or an incident I have witnessed and I am ashamed by the levels of inaccuracy. Sometimes I watch colleagues at work and I wonder what happened to the old-cherished notebook.
I think if there is an enemy we need to address as the journalist fraternity or any area we need support on, from the stakeholders, it is our professionalism.
I will give just one example from our recent past: Uganda, September 11, 2009. “Ugandan capital Kampala was yesterday on fire with clashes between security forces and supporters of Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi that ended in riotous incidents, vandalism, looting and indiscriminate killings. At least 10 people were confirmed dead while another 45 were seriously injured. The Government reacted by closing four independently-owned radio stations and suspending their operating licences for what it called ‘airing inciting messages’ and promoting sectarianism aimed at bringing hatred against President Yoweri Museveni, his Government and against other tribesâ€.
By any standards, Government acted high-handedly and we hope we never see a repeat of this. On the other hand, the charges against the media contained in this report are too grave to be ignored.
I do not intend to discuss if they were true or not because I do not know. What bothers me though is why all of us the professionals, loudly cried wolf against the Government and yet never stopped to explore whether anything went wrong professionally.
I am sure the recordings of September 11 are still available somewhere, and if the media practitioners are too self-righteous to do a soul search, our good professors in the schools of journalism should take on this as a scholarly project. Otherwise how else shall we ever know what exactly happened? Were the accusations justified? Did we in any way defile our profession? What are the key learning points?
Another issue we are faced with is the ‘brown envelopes’. Time fails me to delve into the details of the practice, but often we get complaints from sources, politicians, business people, civic organisations and the public that a journalist has taken a bribe from them to publish a story. How shall we expose corruption when we ourselves are slaves to the brown envelope? How shall we play the watchdog role when we ourselves need to be watched?
I await the day when the media shall have our own truth and reconciliation commission on these issues and other issues that bog down our profession today.
Writer is Editor-in-Chief, Vision Group