Editors fault Media Council on fresh demand to register journalists

The African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) and Editors' Guild Uganda have faulted the Media Council for attempting to register journalists covering campaigns, weeks before the general elections in January.

The Editors' Guild Uganda, is an association of the industry's senior content managers and it was formed to increase journalists' fellowship at the senior level, increase public trust in the profession and defend journalists across the board.

The Media Council directed on December 10 that all practising journalists in Uganda should register for accreditation or risk losing the right to cover the 2021 elections and other official events.

The same statement by the regulator said all foreign journalists intending to cover the forthcoming elections are required to get new accreditation cards and obtain a special media pass from the Media Council, "showing particular geographical or thematic areas of intended media coverage".

However, ACME and the Editors' Guild Uganda say that much as they recognise the mandate of the Media Council in regulating the practice of journalism in Uganda and promoting standards, "The timing of the latest guidelines on accreditation is not only questionable but was always bound to raise suspicion." 

ACME said: "Coming at a time when both local and foreign journalists covering the election campaigns have documented several cases of illegalities and excesses by police and state functionaries as they go about regulating public meetings and rallies by opposition candidates, the new directive on accreditation easily comes off as a move to stifle media scrutiny of this conduct as well as critical and independent journalism generally in the run-up to the 2021 elections." 

"Ironically, the guidelines were released on December 10, the International Human Rights Day. The Media Council said the accreditation of local journalists was in accordance with Section 1(d) of the Press and Journalist Act, which provides for "promotion, generally, of the (flow) of information." 

ACME's executive director Peter Mwesige in a statement added: "We are afraid the move has the potential of doing exactly the opposite at a time when citizens need access to reliable and timely information to make informed political decisions."

"In any case, we are not sure of the legality of registering journalists without following the procedures prescribed in the law. Moreover, the provisions of the Press and Journalist Act on licensing of journalists are controversial and still the subject of litigation in the Constitutional Court," he added.

ACME said according to the law, the Media Council is supposed to issue practising certificates to journalists who have presented certificates of enrolment issued by the National Institute of Journalists of Uganda (NIJU). 
The Council's job is to enter the enrolled journalists on the "register of journalists of Uganda" after which those who have paid the prescribed fees are issued with practicing licenses.

"As far as we are aware, NIJU has been moribund for more than 15 years, and, therefore, it could not have issued any certificates of enrolment on which the Council would base its decision to issue practicing licenses."

ACME said the law does not provide for accreditation of local journalists. 

"Regarding foreign journalists, the Media Council is indeed mandated to issue them accreditation cards allowing them to work in Uganda. The foreign journalists working here already had accreditation cards, which typically allow them to cover any type of story, including those on the electoral process. Asking these journalists to acquire special media passes to cover the elections introduces unnecessary roadblocks."

At any rate, the Media Council could have done a better job explaining the timing and rationale for its new accreditation guidelines." 

The Media Council claimed they were responding to the infiltration of the media industry by "quacks" and "recent events of election coverage" that have shown that "reporters/media practitioners are exposed to a lot of danger from all sides of the divide". 

They added that accreditation will allow "free movement and access by media practitioners to important events, in particular during this election period, without undue harassment".

"Indeed, recent physical attacks on journalists are regrettable and should be condemned by all, but we don't think they were occasioned by lack of identification on the part of journalists," Mwesige responded. "As Uganda's Supreme Court has said, the primary objective of media law and regulation should be to promote the right to freedom of expression, not to limit it." 

Editors' Guild Uganda says

The Editors' Guild Uganda in a statement, released yesterday said: "We also note the very short time allows for this (registration of journalists) and are concerned with recent refusals to accredit foreign journalists wishing to cover elections in Uganda." 

"Besides, we note that while the current law, which is more than two decades old, provides for registration of journalists, it might have been overtaken by developments on the ground, including the emergence of social media, citizen journalism, and under-generated content." 

Based on these grounds, the Editors Guild, requested the Media Council, "To hold more consultations with different stakeholders to ensure the Constitutional right of citizens to receive and disseminate information is not unduly harmed by these regulations".

The Guild expressed its willingness to meet the Media Council for a discussion.