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.

 

 

 

 

 

American Journalist Reporting for Vision

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Rebecca Jane Harshbarger is an American journalist who freelances at the New Vision newspaper. She has a BA in African Studies, a Masters in Journalism and specialist in print and web reporting, podcasting and blogging. Last summer she was an intern at the New Vision for 10 weeks and since March this year became a freelance reporter. 

The New Vision Group 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)

Rebecca is a freelance journalist at the Saturday and Sunday Vision’s business desks. Usually her editor gives her a story idea and she follows it up in the field. She has many contacts in the field that supply her information. Her contacts are based in companies, the stock exchange and other sectors of the economy.

Rebecca reads a lot, watches television and asks her contacts many questions to expand her information base. She has also written several articles outside her expertise like:

-       Recovery centre in Gulu for sexual violence survivors

-       Men and fitness

-       Wetlands

-       Youth offenders

On a normal day, Rebecca takes notes as she chases a story. She also uses a tape recorder, reads a lot and makes many follow-up phone calls. She later types in her story and sends it to the editor. She has not yet had a story rejected, but sometimes she re writes it.

On her use of new media tools, Rebecca admitted that they assist her a lot during her day-to-day beat.  She always has a digital camera with her to take pictures for her stories.

She uses the Google search engine a lot for research and beefing up stories. She also uses BBC, Washington Times, The Independent and other news websites for background information.

Face book is her best Social Networking Site. She has over 300 contacts in East Africa. It helps her for interviews, consultations, searches expert contacts for comments on current subjects for example if she is looking for a comment from the man on the street, she just asks her contacts. She is also a member of Twitter and LinkedIn.

Within the editorial the internal network: the intranet is used for communication and editing and correcting stories. The mobile phone is also another communication gadget that is used for both internal and external communication. Texting is more convenient for Rebecca, than calling. She also claimed she liked the way Ugandans use text messages for communication. Sometimes, journalists receive text storylines and set time to talk.

Rebecca’s blogs are ugandabeatslivejournal.com and ugandabeatswordpress.com. She uses them for searching and story ideas. She uses her computer at home to video podcasts. It helps her to get in touch with international news and to download American programmes. In the morning or late at night I sometimes log onto the New Vision system because then it is not to busy and can be quite fast. 

I have 3 email addresses, which I never close. I check on them from time to time, I never log out. I receive news stories, press releases and contact information through my email addresses.

 

 

 

 

 

Diary of a News Editor

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda 

Hellen Mukiibi is the deputy news editor at the New Vision. She joined the media house way back in 1989 as a reporter. She is one of the most senior journalists. The New Vision Group 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) 

Hellen wakes up at 5.00am and switches on the radio to listen to the news. She tunes from one radio to another looking out for any breaking news story or tip. She quickly checks the Internet for stories from Kenya, Rwanda, AFP, Reuters and BBC. These are the major sources of news from the Diaspora. 

7.30 am:  She peruses the local dailies and weeklies if out. She would be looking       out for what the New Vision could have missed or how the competitors       can be beaten. 

8.30 am:  She or the news editor chair the daily editorial meeting to do a                postmortem of the day’s paper and to deploy reporters on different          beats

9.00 am:  Section meeting with other editors and editor in chief to discuss the           photos and stories. The editor in chief shares out stories among the           sister papers.

9.30 am:  Make phone calls, briefings, assignments supervise imprest for transport     and if there is a breaking news story alert the website editor and the FM     radio stations.

             From this time to 3.00 pm, liaise with writers to prepare stories for           editing.

3.00 pm:  Major outlook of the following day’s paper is ready. Consult throughout       the day with editors and writers.

4.00 pm: Arrange what will be in the meeting as we continuously enrich the              content

4.30 pm: News editor takes the line-up of the stories to the editor in chief who         together with chief sub editor and photos editor meet to agree on line up.

6.00 pm:  Sign out, but continue consultations by phone and email.

“Basically all days are like above. I supervise the newsgathering process, which begins with making the diary. The diary consists of what is in store and what we want to gather. We find out from the international and local news agencies what is happening and see how we can follow it up. We also go through the local diary of invites to see what we must cover among the several functions. There is also a diary for follow-ups and a diary for news from other media houses”, says Hellen.

“The progress in the newsroom is continuous up to the time the paper goes to bed. However, as editor I must help the reporters to polish the story and edit it and hand it to the news editor or the other way round. All stories and photos can be accessed on the network even when they are being worked on. This makes it easy for us to link the photos to the stories”, she added.

New Media tools

1.   Mobile telephone: Used for local and international communications. It is used to coordinate and consult with reporters in the field. The SMS is also very frequently used for the same purpose. 

2.   Television and FM radio: For listening to news and other programmes

3.   Internet: This is the most effective news gathering tool.  Examples include; Google search engine, news alerts, breaking news, SMS media and email. For instance, the Uganda Media Centre invites journalists to attend press conferences via SMS media. 

4.   SNS: The social networking sites makes a news editor lazy and they are difficult to follow-up given the amount of work an editor has to accomplish.

5.   Blogging: Hellen blogs, but she is too busy to keep her blog updated.

6.   News@newvision.co.ug: The easiest way to access the editorial

7.   Content Management Software: Saves time and paper and makes work less laborious.