Ali Balunywa in Mbarara, Uganda
Uganda does not have many specialist journalists, so when I met Ebenezer T. Bifubyeka in Mbarara, Western Uganda and he told me he was an environment correspondent for the New Vision I was pleasantly surprised.
The New Vision newspaper is a member of the New Vision Group of companies and it is the biggest multimedia house in Uganda. It publishes 8 newspapers and 5 magazines. It owns 3 FM radio stations and a television network. (www.newvision.co.ug)
Ebenezer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences. He joined the New Vision in the year 2000. He is now its environment correspondent.
His typical day starts every morning by listening to radio. He tries to sieve out environment issues to provide him with tips for the day’s newsgathering. He arrives at the office at 9.00am and proceeds to read the newspapers especially the New Vision. He looks out to those stories that he can react to or use as tips for new stories.
Most of the time he assigns himself leads to follow. However, once in a while, the editor assigns him stories to follow up. His articles are always well researched and take time to complete. After completing an article he emails it to the editor in Kampala and also uploads it on his blog; www.tenbifubyeka.blogspot.com.
Apart from the computer and blogging, Ebenezer uses other ICTs in the course of fulfilling his journalistic duties. He uses his mobile phone for communication. He also uses the Internet’s search engines like Yahoo and Google.
He further uses the Internet’s social networking sites like Panos to share experiences and ideas with his peers. He is also a member of the online Mbarara environment journalists association
He is additionally a frequent user of Yahoo messenger to source tips, generate ideas and exchange information
Other new media he uses include the digital camera, spell checker, fm radio and television for tips. Lastly he subscribes to online bulletins on the environment.
Finally during his free time, Ebenezer writes novels. He has to date written 6.
2 comments:
Thanks for the story.
However, I hold a bachelor's degree in mass communication not social sciences as said in the article.
Thank you so much.
Blessings.
The above comment is from Ebenezer T. Bifubyeka.
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