Amsterdam Celebrates Uganda Independence

The Uganda Independence cake

Ugandans danced the night away to local Uganda music on 9^th October 2009 at Grand Café in Amsterdam near Arena. His Excellency Stephen Katenta Apuuli, Uganda’s Ambassador to the Netherlands and European Union based in Brussels graced the evening. Grand café is a famous nightclub patronised mostly by African immigrants living in Amsterdam.

The Kenyan Dance Troupe preparing their equipment

The event was organised by UTAKE in conjunction with Pearl of Africa Organisation. UTAKE is a synonym for Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya music in Europe. It is headed by Steve Mbaziira; a Ugandan who also spins discs as a DJ at the club. 

The night started on a slow note. Patrons started trickling in at around 10.00pm, the time the Ambassador entered. Between 9.00pm and 11.00pm, all drinks were free. The MC of the day was Ibra Ndaula, also the secretary to Pearl of Africa Foundation, which brings together Ugandans living in the Netherlands. First item on stage was Sami Githu’s youthful Kenyan dance troupe, which mesmerised the guests. They were acrobats, singers, drummers and generally entertainers. 

               Smiles as the independance cake is cut

There was a young man who danced like he had no bones. He could roll into any shape, upstairs, downstairs and performing all those rare somersaults and stunts you can think of. He was the star of the evening.

Several Ugandan leaders were called upon to greet the people before the ambassador gave the keynote address. Christine van Der Pluijm, the chairperson of Mama Watoto organisation, Robert Kisitu of Nedas and Lucy van Teuling, the programme officer in charge of East Africa at Oxfam Novib.

In my capacity as chairman of Pearl of Africa, I invited the ambassador to address the guests. He started of by asking the Diasporans to unite and invest back home. He assured us that Uganda in 3 years time will be an oil exporting country and that kyeyo (odd jobs workers) will be running to Uganda from other countries for work and not the reverse as it is now. He talked of the East African community, which will soon be one political union. “Ugandans are soon falling in things when Uganda starts earning big with oil”, he said. 

Ali Balunywa and Ambassador Katenta Apuuli

He warned us to stop thinking about small issues like Mabira forest, Omukama, Kabaka or Kampala city expansion. With oil Uganda will undergo a transfiguration. Suddenly Uganda will be rich. He ended by quoting JFK’s famous quotation not to ask our country what it should do for us but what we can do for it.

After his speech, the ambassador was helped by some dignitaries to cut the independence cake. Champagne was popped and he officially opened the dance. The party went on up to 4.00am the next day.

A very good party was almost spoilt by overzealous bouncers. Around 2.30am, the Kenyan dance troupe was ready to leave. They asked me to help them take the band and other instruments to their van. After a few trips to and fro, we were done. However, on re-entry, the bouncer refused to allow me back. I tried to call the owner of the clubhouse, but he could not pick. Someone advised me to use the back door, which is the normal entrance for club goers. I found a short line with about 5 people. Out of the blue came a group of girls who did not line up, but were allowed in by the bouncer. I asked the fellow to measure up to his job, and let everyone line up as the regulations demand. The fellow got embarrassed because all the people around agreed with me. He lost his cool and threatened to lock me out. I dared him to go ahead. He did exactly that and swore that I would only get in over his dead body.

I called an assistant manager who tried to convince the fellow in vain. I asked for my bag and jacket to go home, but the assistant manager could not hear of it. He asked me to use the front door. After some negotiations, I re-entered the club but my mood for an evening out all but spoilt by the bouncers. However, the rest of the people partied until the next day.

 

Book Review: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Development Challenges

The Book                                                                   

Author: Oscar Kimanuka

Title: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Development Challenges

          A case study of Rwanda’s post genocide experience

Publishers: Palgrave Macmillan, New York 

Year:  2009

Reviewed by: Ali Balunywa, a Media Consultant; Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Oscar Kimanuka has been until recently, the head of ORINFOR, Rwanda’s National Bureau of Information and Broadcasting and before that the speechwriter for Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame. He has also written extensively on development issues on Rwanda and Africa in different news articles 

His 176 page hardcover book is written in a formal academic style. The approach can be easily mistaken for a thesis or dissertation. There is a list of abbreviations and acronyms at the very beginning of the book and at the end an appendix, explanation of notes within the text, references and an index.

The aim of the author in writing this book is to share a perspective on Africa’s development challenges in general and Rwanda’s unique post genocide experiences in particular. It offers lessons in post conflict management and it is written mainly for policy makers 

The literature reviewed for his book focuses on secondary sources since it publishes material publically available like newspaper articles and policy statements.

The book examines the challenges facing development in sub-Saharan Africa today and an insight of Rwanda’s post genocide experience. It mainly concentrates on the reforms carried out by Sub-Saharan countries in their bid to develop their economies. He mentions the common reform initiatives as being decentralization, privatization, public sector reforms, performance based contracts and rapid results initiatives.

The book is divided into 6 chapters. The first chapter is the introduction where Oscar examines the background and origins to the Sub-Saharan development challenges, the Rwandan experience objectives and the conceptual and theoretical framework of the study.

The next chapter covers public sector reform programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Reforms of the 80s and 90s are brought in the limelight because they did not achieve a lot in most countries. The policies were imposed by the donors and provided no scope for ownership by domestic leaders and people.

However, he mentions Tanzania, Ghana and Uganda as countries, which undertook reforms successfully. And as for Kenya, the post election violence reversed all its earlier achievements. A special            

mention of Malawi was made because it was stable 

from independence at the cost of individual freedoms. With a more democratic leadership, reforms are now being carried out.

To explain failures in the French speaking West African countries, he quotes Davidson (2001) who analyzed the economic and institutional reforms in West Africa and established that economic performance measured by per capita income was not encouraging despite the far reaching reforms like privatization, liberalization and regional integration.

The 3rd chapter dwells on reforms in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. The chapter’s preamble is a quotation from Gen Romeo Dallaire’s 2003 book;

“...betrayal, failure, naiveté, indifference, genocide, war, inflammatory evil…” 

capturing what happened during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. 

Oscar introduces ‘Vision 2020’ as the framework the government of Rwanda put forward to transform the country from an agricultural based economy to an information rich, knowledge based society and economy within the next 20 years. One key objective is to turn the country into an ICT centre of excellence in the region. 

The book looks at the historical perspective of Rwanda from the creation of artificial divisions by the colonialists – Belgium – by rewarding injustices against the Batutsi. Thereafter, wars, floods, landlessness and famine became constant features in post independence Rwanda. 

The chapter elaborates on how the economy of Rwanda has evolved since the colonial times up to now. Emphasis is given to the present day reforms and the results that are all too clear to be seen. The reforms have focused on supporting facilitation of creation of wealth and they are result oriented. They also envisage a stable, efficient, effective, impartial and transparent public service responsive to the views of the people.

Oscar keeps on hinting at how the Rwanda experience should be duplicated elsewhere in post conflict situations. He is confident that Rwanda is on the right path and that hers is an example that can be replicated elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

The next two chapters of the book give us an insight on the role of ICT in the process of reforming the public sector and in Rwanda’s development. It is envisioned that in 8 years, Rwanda will become the focal point of ICT in Africa to be the silicon valley of Africa. Already all cabinet meetings are paperless. All the Ministers work from their laptops during the meetings.

The book is easy to read and to follow. The beginning is somehow difficult because a reader tries to fall into the rhythm of the author. After a few pages it becomes quite interesting. However, for a non-Rwandan, the use of abbreviations is irritating, as you have to continuously refer to the abbreviations page. In Rwanda, abbreviations are widely.

The last chapter tries to find out what can be done to end the endemic corruption that is rife in Africa. African countries are enacting anti corruption laws, establishing Ombudsman offices and there is also the African Peer Review Mechanism, which presents a unique opportunity for self-monitoring by African countries.

The author falls in the usual trap of blaming the origins of the economic crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa on slave trade and colonialism without mentioning corruption and bad governance that has been rampant on the continent.

The book is highly recommended for any one interested in economic development and it will be a good textbook for students of advanced contemporary economics of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a challenge to African academics and institutions of higher learning whose role Oscar has assumed.

Photo above: The author, Oscar Kimanuka

alibalunywa2@yahoo.co.uk

www.balunywa.blogspot.com

 

 

 

   

Lawyer Turned New Media Savvy Journalist

                             Linda Mbabazi at her desk

Ali Balunywa in Kigali, Rwanda

Linda Mbabazi is an unassuming lawyer who has never practiced law. She is an editor at the New Times newspaper in Rwanda. The New Times (TNT) Publications was launched in 1995, as a media outlet publishing in English. It was established just less than a year after the end of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the return of over a million Rwanda refugees from mainly neighboring countries of Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC then Zaire), Tanzania and Kenya. Many of these returnees were English speakers besides their native Kinyarwanda, a factor that could largely be attributed to the fact that TNT publishes in English. History shows that there had never been an English newspaper in Rwanda before TNT. It is the only daily newspaper in Rwanda.

Linda joined the New Times in 2005 as a freelancer. Sooner than later, she was recruited as a journalist. Today she is the leisure page editor of TNT. Everyday she wakes up at 6.00am and by 6.50 she is in office. On arrival at the office, she checks her mail for stories or story tips and also reads online news especially entertainment.

At 9.00 am she attends the daily editorial meeting where they share tips and story ideas and also carry out a post mortem of the days newspaper. The meeting lasts one hour after which she goes to her desk to type in her stories and coordinate leisure newsgathering.

By 1.00pm she submits her stories to the features editor under whom her portfolio falls. She leaves office at 6.00pm. She also contributes to the weekend editions and therefore works everyday. On whether she has no life, her answer was that she enjoyed her job!

Linda’s computer savoir-faire makes her confident in what she does. She delivers her pages in time and the content is quite interesting. If the pages can be redesigned to achieve a better standard and be able to invite more readers, she will have accomplished a big feat.

Most of the time she sits at her desk typing away day in day out. I later noticed that new media tools assist her do her in doing her work. Because of my interest in digital culture, I asked her if she could tell me more about her work in relation to new media. She consented and that is when I knew that she was a law graduate who decided to become a journalist. The interview took two days before taking place because of her busy schedule.

She explained to me that her use of the new media starts with the basics, that is, typing in stories on her laptop. She uses the spell checker, the Wikipedia and the Internet as a source of her stories and to learn the modern style of writing leisure. Sometimes she receives stories or story tips through her email.

She is a member of many social networking sites like face book, Hi5, Yahoo messenger, Meebo and YouTube. She uses these sites for networking, getting updates, interviewing sources, man on the street and research.

Unfortunately she lost her own digital camera and now uses the TNT photographers whenever she has to go out take photos. She also owns an iPhone mobile telephone, which she uses for receiving, and making personal and work related calls.

Linda was still busy when I conducted the interview, so I did not complete it. However, I sent her an email with other questions, which she answered as below.

Do you listen to radio or watch TV, if yes do they help you in your work?

 Yes, I always do, but mostly TV. I make sure I swatch to different channels, but most entertainment related channels, including MTV Base, E! Channel, Capital and other channel like Aljazeera, BBC, CNN, and CNBC for news.   

And as the radio, I prefer listening to Salus, Contact and Radio 10, for the latest news about our local celebrities. 

Does the Google search engine help you in your work?

Absolutely yes! It really does. I often use to search for facts, and writing style.

Do you text while gathering news, or do you receive text messages?

Both. Sometimes, I send text messages to my sources asking for facts, or when seeking for news. And in return, I receive replies from them, or they send me message texts when they are telling about an event that is going to take place. 

Do you receive SMS alerts for headlines or breaking news?

No…not on my phone, because its not a Blackberry type. But I instead receive Google alert headlines or breaking news. 

Is there anything else you would like to add with reference to digital culture and your work?

I guess not, because I’m sure we exploited everything yesterday. Thanks, and would love to read about my interview

 

 

 

 

East Africa, Connected

                                                                    Contractors lay the TEAMS fiber optic cable from 

                                                                                      the ship Niwa at Mombasa

http://www.newvision.co.ug/PA/8/220/684734 

 

Publication date: Sunday, 14th June, 2009

 

 

By Reuben Olita in Mombasa

 

THE East African Marine Systems (TEAMS) cable has been launched at Mombasa by Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki. Speaking at the function also attended by Uganda’s information and communication technology (ICT) minister, Aggrey Awori, Kibaki said, the landing of the fibre-optic undersea cable at Mombasa was one of the landmark projects in Kenya’s and regional development efforts. 

“Some have compared it to the completion of the Kenya-Uganda railway more than a century ago,” he said noting that today’s economies were largely driven by the Internet and other ICT connections. He pointed out that the project was a public-private partnership between his government and the private sector, geared towards connecting Kenya and the region with the rest of the world and harnessing the power of ICTs. 

Kibaki expressed confidence that solutions to the economic crisis would be found using ICT, adding that the future downturns would be easier to foresee, contain and overcome. 

He directed the information and communication ministry to come up with programmes for training of the youth in ICTs to catch up with the first world in digital telecommunication technologies. 

Kibaki also directed all ministries to adopt ICTs in their plans in order to realise the benefits of technology. 

After the installation of the marine fibre optic cable, Kibaki disclosed the next step would be the construction of land- based infrastructure, to make ICT the main pillar of the Kenya Vision 2030, the country’s national economic blueprint. He emphasised that the East African Marine Systems project also marked a crucial turning point in national and regional efforts to bridge the digital divide with the developed world. He said the project would empower East Africans to become digital citizens, adding that it re-defines modernity and efficiency and was a big step in the delivery of quality service in the ICT sector. 

“I am confident the people in our region, especially the youth, will be the first to rush to take advantage of the high connectivity Internet that will be offered by the project,” Kibaki said. 

He said the TEAMS project would boost learning, work and other fields. “Readily accessible bandwidth will not only lower telecommunications costs, but also provide new opportunities in all sectors and translate the country’s concept of a ‘working nation’ into a much stronger economy.” 

The cable that has taken 18 months to reach the Kenyan coast by sea from the Middle East is expected to improve ICTs and inter-connectivity in Africa. 

“Until now, the eastern Africa coast was the longest coastline in the world without a fibre-optic cable connection to the rest of the world,” the president explained.

This article can be found on-line at: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/684734 

 

© Copyright 2000-2009 The New Vision. All rights reserved.

Freelancing for Monitor Upcountry

Ali Balunywa in Mbale, Uganda

Mbale city is in the Eastern part of Uganda bordering Kenya. It is the administrative headquarters of the Eastern region. In its glory days, it used to be the cleanest city in East Africa.

It is here that I found Mudangha Kolyangha freelancing for the Monitor newspaper. 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.

Mudangha has a diploma in journalism and he joined the monitor in 2001. He freelances in the districts of Pallisa, Budaka and Butaleja. These districts neighbor Mbale district. They are under the jurisdiction of the Mbale bureau chief.

Freelancers have their areas gazetted to avoid clashing in their search for stories. Whenever there is an event in his area, the bureau chief calls him to assign him the duty to cover such an event.

However, he also follows up stories on his own initiative everyday. After getting his story/stories, he proceeds to the office to type them out after which he hands them to the bureau chief for editing. Sometimes he sends the stories direct to the Monitor in Kampala. Should the bureau chief or news editor in Kampala need some clarification, they call or send an email. 

Mudangha’s use of new ICT is limited to the computer, digital camera and mobile phone.  The computer is used for typing stories, emailing and cross checking facts using Google. The digital camera is used for taking photos which can be instantly sent to the newsroom. Lastly he uses the mobile phone for communicating, making appointments, interviews, receiving assignments and reporting.

Other new media were still new to him. He had no idea what social networking sites, blogs, Skype etc were. This was not strange as it is quite common with most upcountry reporters, correspondents and freelancers.

 

 

Basic ICT tools for the Media

Ali Balunywa in Gulu, Uganda

Justin Muboka works in the Monitor’s Gulu Bureau. 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.

Justin holds a diploma in education. She joined the Monitor in 2008 and she holds the post of news reporter.

Every morning, Justin gets to office by 8.00am to get to office in time for the editorial meeting chaired by the bureau chief. During the meeting they discuss how to improve on the paper. They also exchange news tips and receive assignments.

After the meeting, Justin goes to the field in search of news. After gathering the news she returns to the office to type the stories. She passes the typed stories to her colleagues and bureau chief using a flash disk. If the story is fine, the bureau chief sends it to the Monitor in Kampala.

Justin’s use of the new media is limited to the computer, Internet and mobile phone. She does not blog or belong to any social networking site. She uses the intern for research, email, Gmail and news; She uses her mobile phone for communication, texting, receiving assignments and reporting.

 

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.

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.

 

 

The Serious Business of Reporting Business

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Reporting on business is a serious business at the Monitor newspaper. 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.

Dorothy Nakawesi is a serious business news writer at the Monitor. She was recruited in 2002. She holds a diploma in journalism and media studies and a certificate in finance and economic reporting.

Dorothy’s typical day starts by reading the day’s newspapers looking out for news tips. She looks at what is happening around and makes phone calls to confirm interviews and press conferences. She basically follows up tips on importation, export or investment issues.

The same morning, Dorothy attends the editorial meeting to review the day’s paper. During the meeting, at times, she is assigned to cover an event. However she also generates her own ideas. 

After the meeting she either goes out to follow a story, fulfill an appointment, do an interview or starts writing her stories. She does this after briefing her editor on what angle to take on a story. After writing a story she sends it to the editor for editing or approval.

Dorothy is grateful that she started reporting in the era of the new media. For example she uses the mobile phone for communicating with her contacts, receiving assignments, reporting, consulting, texting, photography, recording, receiving mobile news alerts, timing and stress relieving background music.

She uses the computer for typing in and mailing stories. She also uses it for researching for backgrounds via Google and the Wikipedia and spell checking her writings. She is a member of several Social Networking sites like face book which she uses  to communicate with contacts sourcing story ideas.

She is also a user of Yahoo messenger, which she uses to talk to Ugandans in the Diaspora about their views about events in Uganda and abroad. She uses the MSN for a similar purpose. She is also in possession of a digital camera and a digital recorder, both of which, she uses on a daily basis to aid her illustrate or prove stories.

 

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.