The Mobile Phone is King of the Media

Ali Balunywa in Gulu, Uganda

Moses Akena is a freelance journalist who joined the Monitor early this year 2009. He is a graduate of Literature. The Monitor is Uganda’s other second daily newspaper. It is an independent daily founded by a group of journalists. Currently, it is owned by East Africa’s biggest media house, The Nation Group of Companies that publishes the biggest circulating newspaper in East Africa. It also owns radios and televisions in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

The first thing he does in the morning is to send stories generated the previous day to Kampala. The deadline for upcountry stories is 10.00am. So stories that are collected after that are sent the next morning unless they are breaking news stories. 

Moses goes out in the field in search of news after mailing Kampala. Later in the day, he attends an editorial meeting chaired by the bureau chief. After the meeting, Moses types his stories. There is no network at the bureau offices, so stories are transferred using flash disks. Stories get peer review and then they are sent to the bureau chief before emailing them to Kampala.

Moses being a fresh graduate makes limited use of the New Media. He does not belong to any social networking site, does not blog, does not use a digital camera nor can he edit photos. However, he use the computer for typing in stories, editing, Googling and emailing.

He also constantly uses his mobile phone for receiving instructions, texting, interviewing and reporting. He thinks the mobile phone is the king of the media and the best tool that has revolutionized the media.

“Provide New Technology to Reporters”: Felix

By Ali Balunywa in Mbarara, Uganda

The New Vision (www.newvision.co.ug) and the Daily Monitor (www.monitor.co.ug) are the two leading newspapers in Uganda. Journalists are proud to work for any of the 2. There is constant movement of staff between the 2 papers. Felix Basiime is one such a journalist. He worked with the Monitor for 10 years and in July 2008 joined the New Vision as a reporter based in Mbarara in Western Uganda.

Felix gets to the New Vision office at 8.30am everyday. He peruses the newspapers, checks his emails; New Vision, Gmail and Yahoo mailboxes. Thereafter he attends a brief editorial meeting where they share tips and receive assignments. He then works the phones looking for tips from the public, professionals like environmentalists and teachers or conducts interviews.

On his use of ICT, Felix thinks there is no way modern journalism can exist without it. For example, he charges his mobile phone everyday, because he uses it all the time. At times he gets some tips through text messages. He also subscribes to the mobile alerts where he receives breaking news alerts instantly on his handset. It costs him the equivalent of 15 Euro cents per text message. Sometimes he uses the phone for interviewing people.

Another ICT Felix uses is the computer. He uses it for typing in stories, Internet and email. Throughout the day, he constantly keeps on checking his mailboxes. He also sends his articles to the editors via email. After reading the articles, editors can either send it back via email for clarification or use the mobile phone. Felix also uses the computer for spell checks and finding synonyms.

Before the advent of the new media, stories could take a week to reach the editor through the post office. Likewise for photography which had a longer process of developing, then printing and finally posting the physical photos to the editor. Today he uses a digital camera and instantly sends the photos to the editor in Kampala.

The search engines; Google and Yahoo are a real blessing. Stories can be easily beefed up using search engines. Facts and figures can also be checked or confirmed by these tools.

Felix is the public relations officer of the blog; www.akayo.blogspot.com. He also contributes articles to the blog. It is a blog for journalists who report from upcountry.

Felix however thinks his employers should provide reporters in the countryside laptops and mobile Internet facility to make their work easier. The reporters would pay for the technology in instalments. This would make them more efficient and process news much faster without having to physically go to the office to type in a story then emailing it to the editor.

A date with a Monitor Editor

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

The Monitor is Uganda’s other second daily newspaper. It is an independent daily founded by a group of journalists. Currently, it is owned by East Africa’s biggest media house, The Nation Group of Companies that publishes the biggest circulating newspaper in East Africa. It also owns radios and televisions in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

My first date at the Monitor was with Mr. Fred Masiga, an associate editor, Business. He joined the Monitor in the year 2001. In addition to having a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication, he also holds a Masters of Business Administration degree. 

Fred’s typical day at the Monitor is as follows:

5.30 AM: Wake up

6.45 AM: Drive to office

At the office go through the BBC, New York Times, Financial Times, Manchester Evening News, Reuters and other news websites. 

7.30 AM: Peruse through the day’s local newspapers and also the Monitor to                        identify any errors. He also carefully scrutinizes the nearest competitor,                The New Vision for any news that the Monitor could have missed

8.30 AM: Attend an editorial meeting that lasts approximately 30 minutes

9.00 – 11.00 AM: Assign journalists work, give briefings, make phone calls, sub available stories for pages that go to bed early and generally supervise the ongoing work.

11.00 AM: Attend the editors meeting which carries out a postmortem of the day’s paper and also check the docket drawn by the news editor from the early morning meeting chaired by the managing editor.

12.00 Noon – 3.00 PM: Start receiving stories from reporters; receive draft copy of the designed paper as subbing and passing pages is being continuously done

3.30 PM: Attend editors meeting for 30 minutes to decide what story should lead and passing of pages is agreed.

7.00 PM: Gather at the desk of the chief subeditor to agree on the headlines

8.00 PM: Leave for home.

Fred says some days he can attend up to 10 meetings and on others go out to meet a source or follow up a story. He works for not less than 12 hours everyday, 6 days a week. Monday is his only day off. 

On New Media use, Fred claims the computer is now an integral part of the media business. Typing and sending stories, email, the intranet, researching and many other wonders of the computer have made things easier for print journalists. He quoted for me the incident of the terrorists attacks on Hotels in Mumbai when he used the Voice Over the Internet Protocol (VOIP) with an Indian colleague to get instant updates of story as it was unfolding. Further still, the Monitor is in the process of upgrading its system to enable the journalists to blog.

Fred also praises mobile telephony. To emphasize its importance, the company provides official mobile phones and credit to most journalists. In turn these phones are supposed to be on 24/7. The phones usually have added services like the SMS, MMS, camera, Internet and recording.

 

 

 

 

 

“The buck ends here”, Chief sub

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Ben Opolot is the New Vision’s chief sub editor. He joined the New Vision in 1994

Interview

Ali: What does your job involve?

Ben: My job is basically a quality control job here. I am responsible for maintaining the New Vision house style, which includes the visual, photos, grammar, language, content, and accuracy and general standards. My job cuts across all sections; sports, supplements, magazines and the like. Though my major focus is on the daily, I also offer supervisory and monetary oversight for the Saturday and Sunday editions. I do this through a weekly review postmortem with the staff. 

What does the staff under you do?

There are 35 subeditors. On average each subeditor lays out 2 pages per day. They receive stories from the editors through the intranet and depending on what pages they are doing follow an established layout format. After laying out the pages they physically print out the pages and pass them on to me. Currently after all corrections are made, I send them to pre press department through the network to the computer to plate process. We have been promised in the near future to get technology, which will eliminate prepress and transmit files from editorial direct to the press. 

We have however, not harnessed the available ICTs to create efficiency and a better product. There is a lack of managerial focus and drive to effect this change. We require new software to solve some few editorial snags especially automating the uploading of the website. We should be in a position to send data to the press at the same time automatically uploading the website.

Where does the buck end?

The editor in chief delegated the responsibility of the final product to the chief subeditor. So, well as the buck should end at the editor in chief’s desk, in reality it ends here.

What role does the New Media play in your day-to-day work? 

I can’t imagine the days before the advent of the computer. Editing used to be done on paper. Reporters wrote their stories by hand and used typewriters to type. Layout used to be done by cutting and pasting physically. Today, the computer does the whole process; inputting, editing, typesetting, designing, photos are all PDF-ed and sent by mail to the pre press to ready for printing without going through the darkroom!

The computer and Internet are powerful tools for grammar, spell check, Google; for verification, searches, historical context and research. Email too, has eased communication. A few years ago, information from the field used to take days to arrive at the news editor’s desk. Today, files are instantly forwarded electronically. Personally, I completed my Masters degree online. I took off just a few weeks to interact with my professors in South Africa. Other young people are also doing the same. The computer has enabled us to perform multiple tasks at the same time. It has therefore helped to retain staff that would have had to resign in order to pursue further studies.

We now have a better skilled staff that learns more about journalism online. The computer is a knowledge and resource centre. It provides us with wired news from agencies. This keeps the cost minimal. It also provides graphic services important for the design of the papers. Uganda has no libraries, so the computer/Internet is the point of reference. 

Mobile telephony cuts costs, is efficient and easy to use. We can access reporters and editors anytime while working on their stories.

As for blogging, I don’t individually blog or even read them. I feel blogs lack peer review and therefore are too opinioned. However, we can use them as sources of news stories and tips. 

Like the blogs, I find the Social Networking Sites (SNS) just exhibitionist. I know it is a tool of communication and it encourages citizen journalism. People are allowed to explore themselves and to listen to what others are saying. It is here that you get the pulse of the people without the rigid structures of newspapers. It liberates to reader.

Any other New Media tools you use? 

We also have the discussion board on our website. It is very important to the New Vision and we periodically run it in the newspaper. It is one of the places where our readers interact with the writers and also give us their opinions on contemporary issues.

The organization is in the process of developing a Short Message Service (SMS), which will integrate all our products. A significant amount of people’s lives is shifting to the mobile phone and as a leading newspaper, we must take advantage of the mobile phone especially the SMS technology to reach out to our readers and also get new ones. We therefore have to find new ways of delivering our content particularly the young people and women. Traditionally, newspapers are for men who decide when to buy it. But now with the mobile phone the woman can now enjoy the benefits through it. So the mobile especially the SMS will help to keep readers and even get many more if we can deliver the content in a way that is convenient to them. This means the business must be rearranged and skills and processes must be tailored to fit the new technologies.

 

 

New Media Supported Printing

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Samuel Kyagulanyi is the New Vision Production and operations manager. He studied statistics at the university and has a post graduate qualification in project planning and management.

Samuel assured me that the responsibility of printing all the New Vision’s publications lies squarely on his shoulders. This also includes external works from other companies and individuals. He is also responsible for machinery, materials and manpower.

Newspaper production

A web offset machine called “Goss” is the major press used in printing the newspapers. From the editorial, the dummy is transmitted via the intranet to the pre press for plates to be made. The Computer to Machine (CTP) machine burns images onto the plates, which are sent to the Goss for printing. The Goss prints and folds the newspaper and conveys it to the inserting room where it is bundled and parceled for the market.

The new factory that is being built will house a top of the range printing press. It will be able to print 64 pages at once in color, 40,000 copies per hour. It will have an insertion machine appended. 

Presently, the New Vision prints dailies from Southern Sudan like “Southern Eye” and “Yumbe”.  Umuseso, Umwezi and Umurugizi publications from Rwanda are also printed from the New Vision.

New Media 

All communication at the New Vision is via intranet including transmitting copies for printing. Regional offices upcountry also sends their printing material via email. After layout, they PDF the documents and email them to production. Uganda’s weekly observer and Business Week newspapers are also printed at the New Vision using similar means of transmission.

The computer is used to plan all jobs and schedules are printed out for the job allocation. The computer is an integral part of the production process. All the machinery is automated therefore uses inbuilt computers to control the process including quality.

In the unlikely event that the machine breaks down, communication is by email or mobile phone. Actually at the New Vision, it is a crime to switch the company mobile phone. Responsible officers where given Blackberry mobile phones to ensure their availability on telephone and email at all times. Calling within the network is free of charge; therefore there is no excuse for one not to fulfill his duties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Technologies in the photo world

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Mathias Mugisha is a veteran photojournalist who joined the New Vision in 1999. He holds a diploma in photography and journalism. He works for the different New Vision magazines and the Sunday Vision as a writer and photographer specializing in travel and adventure.

Interview 

Ali: Mathias, tell me about your work.

I am a general photographer at the New Vision though 75% of my work is self-generated. I do some travel writing also. Life is much easier with new technology. Before the advent of the digital camera, we used to shoot photos, take them for development into film and finally print them on paper. Today we shoot digital photos, which are instantly accessed via the computer. I use a Nikon D300 digital camera. It is a mid range professional camera with 12 mega pixels. 

How do the new technologies help you in your work?

Today I type in all my stories on a computer, which is accessible by my editors. New technologies make it easier to beat the deadlines, which are very strict at the New Vision. Since the abandonment of the dark room, the computer is used for cleaning up, retouching and storing photos using Photoshop programme. 

I own a digital voice recorder that is very helpful for interviews. After conducting an interview, I copy the recorded interview onto my computer for further analysis before writing the story.

I also use the Internet a lot. Actually, I am in the process of establishing a website where I will place all my photos that I take. I will also use it for marketing, such that those who wish to buy my photos can do so online. 

I too, use the Internet for sending stories and pictures. It is fast and convenient. While upcountry, I can write my stories and take pictures, which I instantly send to my editor for publishing.  I also use the Internet a lot for researching and enriching my stories.

Furthermore, I use Yahoo messenger for chatting – relaxing and enhancing my work by way of networking with other photographers around the world. Sometimes I consult them on technical issues like the best way of setting a camera, lighting and other things. They also consult me on the same issues. We also share new technologies in our field.

I have very high respect for mobile telephony. I don’t like the quality of the photos they deliver, but sometimes in the absence of professional photos, we make do with that. However, sometimes, I receive assignments via the mobile and also report or consult via the same. I can file stories or interview people, call contacts and vice versa using the mobile phone.  I in addition use the mobile phone to send a summary of my story by SMS, use it as a recorder, radio, torch, time (I have no watch), appointment making, date and calendar, alarm and store for my information.

 

“I cannot do without New Media,” Barbara

                                Barbara Among, Senior reporter, New Vision

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Barbara Among is a senior reporter at the New Vision. She is a prolific writer, blogger and New Media user. She was recruited in 2008 after working at the Monitor and The East African newspapers.

On the Internet; 

Barbara said she uses it all the time for her research. She uses many search engines including Google and Yahoo. She also subscribes to Google alerts on conflict in Uganda, Kony, Museveni, and oil refinery topics among others. She also subscribes to Africa Intelligence.com; AllAfrica.com, BBC News, The UN website (On conflicts) and Al Jazeera news feeds.

She prefers Mozilla to Internet explorer and uses the Alta Vista programme to search for news.

On mobile telephony

She is full of praises for her mobile telephone and Zain, her mobile telephone operator, through whom she has mobile access. Her phone has modes for reminders, internet for receiving jokes, horoscopes, ring tones, banking rates, stock rates and other information.

On writing stories

Barbara no longer uses pens and paper. She claims she types in her stories direct even while interviewing some one. After typing in and correcting the grammar, she sends the story direct to the editor through the intranet. Before the new system was in place, reporters used to type in stories, print them out then take to the editor hard copies, which would be used for editing.

On what New Media is close to her

She claimed that every morning she ensures that her bag has her mobile telephone, a notebook, a digital camera, a digital voice recorder and laptop.

On ICT role

Barbara claims to use different ICTs as she does her work. For example she says sometimes she conducts interviews via Yahoo chat online. Thereafter she copies and pastes and feeds the interview into the system.

She also uses social network sites like face book, LinkedIn, Yahoo Messenger, Skype,Gmail, chatting and generally to meet people.  Barbara also frequently blogs via www.bamong.blogspot.com 

Last word

Barbara passionately reminds me that she cannot do without the New Media and that if everyone could be logged in all the time, the world would be an easier place to live in and the work would not be difficult to do.

 

 

New Media at the New Vision

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

 

After finalizing the formalities with the administration, the human resource manager of the New Vision handed me over to the Mr. Ben Opolot, the Chief sub-editor. She made for me an appointment to meet him (Ben) on Monday 20 April 2009 at the New Vision head office.

I was there at the agreed time of 10.00am. I explained to Ben how I wanted to do my research. Since all permissions had been granted, he thought all we needed was to let the editor in chief know and off I start.

He accompanied me to the chief’s desk. To her amazement, I greeted her in Dutch as an icebreaker! The editor in chief is Ms Els deTemmerman, a Flemish from Belgium. I explained my mission and she accepted to extend her cooperation and help whenever necessary. 

Ben went ahead to introduce me to journalists who were around, allocated me a desk and asked me to draw a programme for the entire period I will spend at the New Vision. 

My first impressions at the New Vision were the modernity of the working environment. The editorial offices are situated in a modern building with open office floor space. Departments like Newsroom, subeditors, features sports and business divide the office. All desks are equipped with the latest flat screen computers, printers and air conditioning.

On each desk are a number of fixed and mobile phones. When I asked why one should own more than one phone, they explained that same network calls are always cheap, so it is advantageous for one to be connected on each network. 

The editorial room is a beehive of activity. I was told that because of the strict deadlines, journalists and editors have to move with haste all the time. On the walls of the newsrooms you find a notice saying: “DEADLINES – OR YOU ARE DEAD”! Almost all journalists have a flash disk either on a keychain or dangling on a string or necklace around the neck.

Access to the New Vision is restricted. To access any office one needs a security clearance or a smart card. Security at this hi tech organization is paramount so, it is not taken lightly. For a visitor, someone must at all times open the door whether to get in or out!