Uganda Riots, a Postmortem

     Police and army practicing their training on a civilian

                      The Monitor photo by Muziransa

It was rumoured that the King of Buganda, his highness, Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, was under house arrest, but this was denied by the Inspector General of Police Major general Kale Kaihura at a press conference he held at the Media centre in Kampala at the weekend.

However, during the fracas, a total of 550 people were arrested over rioting and on Monday 14 September 2009, 122 were arraigned in court and later incarcerated in Luzira prison until 23 September when their case will be heard again. There reports of 103 deaths, though it is thought that the figure might be higher. The Monitor newspaper has set up an investigation desk to come up with a near accurate figure. According to the police spokeswoman, Judith Nabakoba, a Democratic Party MP arrested while in the middle of the church mass. Mr. Issa Kikungwe was arrested in connection with the riots that started in Kampala. “According to information available so far, he (Mr. Kikungwe) is one of the ring leaders who incited violence in Kampala,” Ms Nabakooba told Daily Monitor by telephone.

There are conflicting reports over the number of wounded. However, reports compiled by the Monitor from hospitals around Kampala put the wounded number at over 100. But many more injured people did not seek medical attention. The exact figure though might never be known but could be in the range of 500.

Other casualties include 5 radio stations forcibly shut down by the government. The reason given was that they were inciting people to riot and destroy property. Eyewitnesses claim men dressed in military uniforms climbed the masts owned by CBS to remove the transmitters. It was only after that that the Broadcasting council came up with a statement suspending the operation licenses of both kingdom radios. Other radios whose broadcasting licenses were suspended are: Radio 2, the Catholic Church owned radio Sapienta and Ssuubi radio.  The government’s condition to reopen the radios is that they should promise to stop their negative campaign against the ruling NRM party and inciting the Baganda tribe against the police in conjunction with the opposition leader Dr Besigye.

Not only radios were closed, but also a popular radio presenter was among those arrested. Journalist Kalundi Serumaga, a presenter with Radio one was arrested after participating in a television talk show. It was reported by the Monitor newspaper that Serumaga is presently in hospital where he is nursing wounds allegedly inflicted by the police whom he claims tortured him. Serumaga was arrested over statements he allegedly made while appearing as a panelist on Kibazo programme on Friday on television. The Broadcasting Council on Saturday also halted the airing of a Radio Simba talk show ‘Gasimbagane ne Bannamawulire’ and WBS television programme ‘Kibaazo’. 
 

The coalition of Makerere’s department of mass communication, Eastern African Media Institute, Independent Media Council of Uganda, and Uganda Media Development Foundation and many others in a statement yesterday, said Government’s actions “undermine the independence of journalism, freedom of expression and free flow of information.” 

They called upon the Broadcasting Council and security agencies to desist from exercising their mandate arbitrarily, excessively and selectively. 

“They should stop acting outside the constitutional framework and broadcasting regulations,” the coalition’s interim boss, George Lugalambi, said. 

The coalition also called for the release of Serumaga (The new Vision 14 September 2009).

Out of the ashes of the riots are lessons for both the government and the opposition. Over the last 20 years the government has amassed equipment for both the army and police for quelling down any internal dissent. Mamba trucks, tear gas, water canons mounted on tankers, arms and ammunition are in full stock. However, the government did not envisage the riots coming. They were ready for any eventualities in Kayunga and didn’t expect any problems elsewhere. For the first time in the history of Uganda, riots simultaneously broke out in 6 different districts. Since the police had heavily deployed in only Kayunga district, riots were able to continue for 2 days elsewhere. Rumours are rife that there was no more tear gas and bullets for the police! This means that even after spending colossal amounts of money to equip the police and to militarize it, it has no capacity to put down a nationwide strike.

For the opposition who used to think that Ugandans are passive must have received a wake up call. They should now note that with proper organization and a proper cause, the Ugandans will not sit back and allow elections to be stolen again. It is therefore important to ally with traditional rulers and explain the outcomes of a stolen election properly to the masses. They will protect the ballots with their lives as they did for their Kabaka.

 

 

 

 

“The Internet is the Most Important Media Tool”, Cissy

Ali Balunywa in Gulu, Uganda

The Monitor office unlike the New Vision’s in Gulu has several female reporters and correspondents. Cissy Makumbi is one of them. She joined the Monitor in 2007 as a correspondent. 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.

For Cissy, a typical day depends on what is happening in the region. However, she is always at the office by 8.00am to attend the editorial meeting. Thereafter she goes to the field in search of news, following up tips or to conduct interviews.

After getting her stories, she goes back to the office and discusses them with her boss before typing them. The discussion involves establishing what angle the story should take. The computers are not networked, so Cissy uses a flash disk to pass the typed story to her colleagues and bureau chief, before sending it to the Monitor in Kampala.

To Cissy, the Internet is the most important new media for journalists. She uses it for communication via email, yahoo and messenger. She also uses it to access news from other sources and to beef up her stories with the Google search engine. She does not blog, nor belong to any social networking sites, but she relaxes with the Solitaire computer game.

The other tool Cissy uses most is the mobile telephone. Her phone has a camera, recorder, radio video and texting in addition to making and receiving calls. She is a proud user of all the functions of her telephone.

Corresponding for New Vision

Ali Balunywa in Gulu, Uganda

Cornelius Lubangakene is a freelance journalist with the New Vision in Gulu, Northern Uganda. 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).

Cornelius arrives at office every day at 8.30am. He attends a brief editorial meeting where tips are shared and assignments given. Invitations for functions are also allocated to different journalists. Cornelius then listens to the radio to get more news tips. He also goes out to the police station or the court or market in search of news.

He uses motorcycle taxis or boda boda as they are locally called. He always carries with him a notebook, camera, mobile phone and pen. After getting his stories, he returns to the office, types them on computer, downloads photos and mails it to Kampala.

He regards the computer as his main new media tool. He uses it for typing stories, spell checking, email, Google, Gmail and chatting to source stories. He however doesn’t use any social networking sites. The mobile phone is the second best tool to use in news gathering and reporting. It is used for receiving assignments, texting and interviewing sources.

Cornelius also uses the radios for sourcing news tips. 

Rural Journalists Using ICT

Ali Balunywa in Mbarara, Uganda

The New Vision Mbarara bureau chief is called Deus Ruhangariyo. 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). Deus is a holder of A Bachelors degree in Social Sciences and various certificates in Journalism.

Deus’ typical day finds him at the office at 7.30 am. He first peruses the daily papers checking on the regional stories to establish what was run. He then starts compiling the line up of stories for Orumuri, New Vision’s sister newspaper published in the local Kinyankore language.

At 9.00 am, he chairs the editorial meeting which is attended by his deputies and journalists. During the meeting, they share tips and assign journalists work for the day.

In the afternoon, he calls stringers and correspondents from the outlying districts to coordinate stories that came out from other papers or to follow up assignments. He advises on what angles to take and what details to look for.

On Mondays, Deus chairs the operations committee meetings, which involves all heads of department. An assessment of the previous week’s work is made and a time frame of what is to be done in the new week is made. There is always a secretary who takes minutes and later shares them with headquarters via email.

On Wednesdays a planning meeting for the Orumuri newspaper sits. The meeting looks at the product, reviews the product on the market and brainstorms on the challenges faced while doing it. Possible solutions are also provided. Forecasts of what to include in the next issue is also made.

After all correspondents have filed their stories, an editorial meeting is held to select stories to be used in the paper. Subeditors have the mandate of deciding which stories to be carried on specific pages for example; a page runs on average 10 stories without adverts. It is also important to incorporate stories from outlets, which have high news sales returns.

After laying the pages the subeditors submit them to the bureau chief. He checks the flow in stories, cross checks facts, libel, defamation and grammar. If there is no problem he okays the pages, which are PDF-ed and sent to prepress to ready it for printing.

ICT use

The computer is the most used technology today. All stories from the outlying districts are received via email. The Internet is used to gather foreign news and Google for background information. Digital photos are fed into the computer, digitally edited using Adobe Photoshop software and integrated in the story using QuarkXPress programme. Previously, the PdFs used to be physically taken to Kampala for printing on a floppy or CD, now however, it is different. The PDFs are sent by email instantly.

Deus has 3 email addresses; the New vision mail, Yahoo and Gmail. He however doesn’t chat or use any social networking site. He is part of the Closed Mobile Group, which makes free calls within the group.

Finally he uses the FM radio to get news tips and to advertise headlines for a new paper.

Monitor’s Internet Geek

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda 

Grace Natabaalo is the Monitor’s Internet/Online subeditor. The Monitor is Uganda’s other second English daily newspaper. (www.monitor.co.ug) 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. 

Grace is a graduate of Mass Communications. She joined the Monitor in 2006. Her work involves moderating comments from online readers and mobile phone text messages.

First thing in the morning she checks out the radio websites for stories not run in the paper, which she uploads, to the online edition. She then gathers incoming news from reporters and updates the website. She continues doing that during the course of the day. Grace uploads the website manually story-by-story. 

Grace subscribes to the Monitor Mobile alerts. A subscriber receives an SMS text with breaking news or headlines for the next day’s paper.

Grace is an ardent blogger and her blog name is: www.nattygrace.wordpress.com. She also uses Social Networking Sites like Twitter, Face book and Skype. She subscribes to the CNN news alerts for international news. She also belongs to Digbsy, which combines all chat clients like Yahoo messenger, MSN and Gmail.

In future, she said the team of Internet reporters will give readers a different content from the print version. Today the whole print version on the Internet is found at; www.epaper.monitor.co.ug 

With the coming of fibre optics cable and accompanying bandwidth expansion, the Monitor’s website will be put to maximum use. All editor’s and writers will be expected to have personal blogs. The website will also incorporate  audio and video components to make it fully interactive.

 

 

 

Graphic Designing at the Monitor

By Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Under editorial department at the Monitor, you find the Creative section where Graphic designers sit. The Monitor is Uganda’s other second daily newspaper (www.monitor.co.ug). 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 

Janet Akong is one of the designers at the Monitor. She studied Industrial and Fine Art at Makerere University and joined the Monitor in 2004. She works on the magazine insertions: Full Woman, Sunday Life, Rainbow the Children’s magazine, Health and IT.

Janet wakes up at 5.00 am every morning to pray and prepare herself for work. She leaves home at 7.30 am and by 8.30 am she is at the office. She receives material from the product editor organized in a folder with a particular date when the magazine will be printed.

The pages are laid according to the stories coming in plus the pictures. Janet discusses with the product editor the final design of a particular magazine. She also liaises with the editorial team on the design. The creative section has 3 staff including Janet.

The designers use new Media tools in all their work. They receive raw material in soft copy through the intranet. They use QuarkXPress to design and layout the pages. They send the PDF copies to printers via mail. They subscribe to www.Photos.com for quality pictures they use to illustrate the stories.

They also Google for story ideas, research, inspiration and page formats. Mobile telephony is also a tool designers cannot do without. It is used for communication with editors, writers, printers and the head office in Nairobi, Kenya. Clients to receive news alerts or breaking news from the Monitor also use it. Further still it is used for texting, photography 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.