In a few hours, President Yoweri Museveni will be delivering to parliament an address on the “state of the nation”. It is a constitutional requirement for the president to do this at the beginning of each session of parliament.   Major television and radio stations are expected to cover the event live for millions of Ugandans who still care about politics. The online editions of the leading newspapers will also cover the proceedings live. Live…

Freedom House has released the findings of Freedom of the Press 2012, its annual press freedom survey.   David Kramer, president of Freedom House, and Karin Deutsch Karlekar, project director for the Freedom of the Press survey, highlighted key developments in global press freedom over the last year, including the ramifications of the Arab Spring. Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya all showed significant improvements in terms of press freedom.   Other countries, including Bahrain and Syria,…

On May 5, Saturday Vision published a lengthy piece, “Press and state not adversaries”, in which the Minister of Information and National Guidance, Ms Mary Karooro Okurut, noted her “…frustration (and stress!) with some journalists; something many of my colleagues also suffer”.   Although this was not the gist of her statement, it was a legitimate concern.   She wrote: “You accept a request (on phone) for a response to a report or news item on…

A fish, they say, starts to rot from the head. It’s the same in the world of newshounds. When there are bad smells at the top echelons of a media house, you can expect the contamination to spread to the whole entity.   Just as nobody wants to get poisoned by festering fish, no one wants to be a victim of corrupted journalism. In the United Kingdom, however, thousands of people today have been victims…

Joint Message by UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon and UNESCO Director-General Ms Irina Bokova on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day Freedom of expression is one of our most precious rights. It underpins every other freedom and provides a foundation for human dignity. Free, pluralistic and independent media is essential for its exercise.   This is the message of World Press Freedom Day. Media freedom entails the freedom to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and…

Uganda Journalist and accomplished writer Jackee Batanda is the new East Africa regional editor for the Global Press Institute.   Ms Batanda, 31, recently concluded her stint as the 2011-2012 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. The prestigious fellowship aims to promote international understanding of human rights and social justice and create an opportunity for women journalists to build their skills.   As regional editor, she will also be tasked with training other women journalists in Uganda, Kenya,…

The Observer writer Alon Mwesigwa was recently declared Best Panos Fellow on reporting tax and governance issues in Uganda.   The winning story, ‘Uganda’s Health Sector Needs Resuscitation’, published in The Observer on November 17, 2011, was one of several articles submitted for the Panos Eastern Africa Relay Fellowship awards aimed at improving journalistic reporting on tax and governance in Uganda and Kenya.   Mwesigwa’s story, which portrayed the plight of Uganda’s health sector, focused…

Richard M. Kavuma has been appointed Editor of The Observer, the newspaper announced last week.   Previously Projects Editor of the newspaper, Kavuma, 37, has just returned to Uganda, after graduating with a master’s degree in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths, London University in the United Kingdom. As editor, Kavuma will be responsible for The Observer’s editorial content. He has already begun his new assignment.   The Observer has not filled that position since the…

When RWI created its media training program for Ghanaian and Ugandan journalists in 2009, the idea of increasing the quantity and quality of oil and mining coverage in those countries was only the starting point.   We also hoped that, at the end of the three-year pilot phase, the trainings would have generated the momentum to expand. In collaboration with Thomson Reuters Foundation, African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) and PenPlusBytes, RWI set an ambitious…

Members of Parliament have made a U-turn and allowed journalists covering proceedings of the legislature to access the chambers and gallery with electronic gadgets used in their work.   The decision which followed intensive lobbying by the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association (UPPA) and threats of a blackout, was this time round overwhelmingly supported by all MPs.   Raphael Magyezi (NRM) moved that Parliament recommits itself as a committee of the whole House and rescinds its…

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned attacks by Ugandan police against two journalists who were covering protests in the city on Wednesday. The Foreign Correspondents Association of Uganda (FCAU) also issued a statement decrying the act.   Police officers beat freelance photographer Edward Echwalu as he was trying to cover the arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye at Kira Road Police Station in the capital, Kampala. Separately, police beat Anatoli Luswata, a reporter for…