The NitPicker's Corner: Meg Corrections
Meg Corrections is a daily crticial review of stories in the newspapers.
Nitpicking the news: NTV 9 p.m. bulletin, Thursday, May 2, 2013 1. Making sense of those rolling news bites Those little rolling news strips across the bottom of the screen are not just there to fill the space or make your station look trendy. They have to make sense, people! They must be the right balance of brevity, relevance and meaning. I picked out these two gems on Thursday night: ‘Italy in shortage of…
Tuesday, 09 April 2013 07:10
On reporting death
Some media houses - most especially television and radio stations - have been lax in reporting the death of prominent figures. Recently, I watched with dismay as NTV ran a mere news strip across the bottom of the screen for the entire newscast on the evening Eriya Kategaya passed away. And this after it was widely known that he was unwell and he had even been erroneously reported dead a month or so before that.…
Wednesday, 20 March 2013 15:50
On Semantics
1. Today we will argue semantics very briefly. The net and the city are abuzz with the controversy over Father Anthony Musaala’s letter on the conduct of Catholic priests. Today there are two stories on the reaction of the Catholic Church to Father Musaala’s letter. The New Vision leads with Fr. Musaala fired over sex claims The Daily Monitor has gone with Archbishop Lwanga sacks Fr. Musaala over sex claims My simple semantic…
Tuesday, 26 February 2013 10:22
Sunny with a slight chance of wind – welcome to the Gibberish Awards
Written by The Nit Picker
This week’s Gibberish Award undisputedly goes to this story in today’s Daily Monitor: ‘Abnormal rains to last until May – experts’. To qualify for a Gibberish Award a story must be mostly vague, full of jargon, written in no particular order and leave the reader more than a little confused at the end. This story does that in spectacular fashion. While we have some stellar environment reporters in our midst, it seems the issue of…
So we have been over numbers and the news extensively, and anyone who has attended ACME training has been surprised by the exercise on how many numbers ‘things’ we take for granted. However, it seems this is going to be a donkey we will flog continually. Take today’s screaming New Vision headline about ‘Veteran soldiers to be paid Sh1trillion’. Wow! Whoever saw such numbers since we started auditing the personal accounts of people previously employed…
Anyone who writes for print is aware of a guiding aspect called ‘Word Count’. There is only so much space in the newspaper/magazine and word counts help us to get as much information in there, hopefully taking into account level of importance and overall coherence. Regular columnists, magazine writers and editorialists tend to have the most discipline when it comes to word count. They receive mandatory on-the-job training in filtering out what is unnecessary and…
Tuesday, 11 September 2012 11:27
Three observations on New Vision's page 1
In the New Vision of today, September 11, 2012 Sometimes you need to read a newspaper in detail to find things to comment about. Other times, like today, a brief perusal will do. Here are 5 observations from a glance at today's New Vision:1. SIMPLY MISSING: On page 1, the New Vision flags a story from Her Vision: Can a forced marriage withstand the storm? I went to the pullout because I thought the question…
Monday, 06 August 2012 10:36
On death of a Pregnant woman at Jinja Hospital
Monday August 6, 2012 Today we will compare the coverage of a story by two different papers. At the weekend, a pregnant woman died at Jinja Referral Hospital during an operation, supposedly because the medical personnel delayed the operation as a way to force her relatives to pay. The Observer page 38: Jinja doctor arrested over expectant mother’s death; Government apologises to bereaved family Daily Monitor page 15: Ministry orders probe into death…
Monday, 30 July 2012 12:45
On New Vision's Photo Selection
Monday July 30, 2012 Today we give pointers to all the photo journalists and sub-editors working with the New Vision (or elsewhere, for that matter). You are doing a good job, but there are always ways things can be made better. Here are our suggestions: Page 1: Nyombi’s wife killed in car crash Our deepest sympathies go to Nyombi Tembo on the death of his wife. That said, how does a fuzzy picture of a…
Friday, 27 July 2012 12:47
On Kajubi's sentence
Friday July 27, 2012 Kato Kajubi jailed for life over ritual murder When you have a story like the conviction of Godfrey Kato Kajubi, or any other page one lead for that matter, one assumes every newspaper will take care to ensure the story makes sense and is tightly subbed. After all, this is the story that is supposed to sell the paper. Both Daily Monitor and New Vision did poorly on the Kajubi story;…
Wednesday, 25 July 2012 12:01
The things that made us happy today
It is past noon on Wednesday 25th July, and the sun is yet to come out on ACME. Therefore, to cheer ourselves up, we will point out the things about today’s newspapers that have made us smile. Page 1, Daily Monitor: Kazinda denied bond: There was an excellent photograph and it was used very well. Quoting one simple figure and posing a leading question was a prime example of less being more, especially when…
Friday, 20 July 2012 11:08
Reporting survey data: The reader deserves more
Friday July 20, 2012 This week I have mostly been drawn to issues of context and sourcing. Today’s story contains elements of both, as well as the very raw issue of the use of surveys and survey data. New Vision, page one: Most men in East beat women Here are the facts: -The story quotes a study that says seven out of ten women from eastern and northern Uganda have been beaten by…
