The Uganda Media Council yesterday ordered a group of Ugandan actors to stop staging a play titled State of the Nation.   “Pending revival by the council, we direct that you suspend staging the play until conclusion of the review,” reads part of the letter signed by Mr Pius Mwinganisa, the secretary to the media council.   State of the Nation has been showing at National Theatre for one month. According to Mr John Segawa,…

WHAT? As part of efforts to strengthen media oversight of the extractive sector, the African Centre for Media Excellence (Kampala), in conjunction with Revenue Watch Institute (New York), announces the availability of an award for best reporting on oil, gas and mining for 2012.   WHY? (i) To raise the profile for good investigative, in-depth, analytical and enterprise reporting on extractives i.e. oil, gas and mining in Uganda. (ii) To provide incentives for individual reporting…

With support from the MacArthur Foundation, the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) is conducting a 2-year media training programme for up to 40 suitably qualified radio journalists and talk show hosts/presenters based in Uganda’s Albertine region. By Albertine region we mean the districts of Amuru, Buliisa, Bundibugyo, Fort Portal, Hoima, Kanungu, Kasese, Masindi, Nebbi, Ntoroko, Nwoya, and Arua. Titled Enhancing Transparency in the Extractive Sector in Uganda through Information-provision and Knowledge-based Reporting, the programme is…

For the media, the Golden Jubilee provides an occasion to critically soul search and assess its professional growth, as well as the impact of its role within the context of national development.   The media landscape as at October 09, 1962 was radically different from what it is today. Dominating the newspaper scene at the time was the Uganda Argus, the linear predecessor of today’s New Vision, which progressively came to function as a government’s…

Arusha, Tanzania   Uganda’s corporate mining sector may have effectively died in 1982 when Kilembe Copper Mines ceased operations on the back of years of national political and economic turmoil, but that is not to say Ugandans cannot experience what a mine looks and feels like.   And so it was that at the end of September the African Centre for Media Excellence, a regional hub on media and extractives, took eight Ugandan reporters undergoing…

Ugandan newspapers appear to have cashed in big on their golden jubilee editions and special publications.   The two leading dailies, The New Vision and Daily Monitor, both published bumper editions on Independence Day and launched two books detailing Uganda’s road to and after independence. The two books, ‘Building of a Nation’ (The New Vision) and ‘Understand Uganda’ sold for Shs100,000 and Shs10,000 respectively.   Daily Monitor’s ‘Understand Uganda’ had sold out by the end…

If there is anything the Uganda media industry has to celebrate this golden independence jubilee, it is the growing romance with local language media. It is not a revolt against the legacy of British imperialism, for English still remains the undisputed unifying language. But the rapid expansion of local media makes a major statement on the limitation of its English language counterpart in bringing the bulk of the citizenry into the ‘conversation.’   Often one…

Three journalists were yesterday targeted by men in police uniform and their equipment destroyed as they were covering the arrest of Forum for Democratic Change leader, Dr Kizza Besigye.   Daily Monitor’s photojournalist Isaac Kasamani, WBS television’s William Ntege, and Red Pepper’s Nicholas Mwesigye were assaulted and suffered various injuries.   Mr Ntege’s video camera, which was destroyed, had just been replaced at Shs6.5 million by police which broke the first one during another incident.…

The new African Media Barometer released on Wednesday focuses on four areas in its attempt to analyse the media landscape in Uganda for the past three years.   This year, the report analyses freedom of expression, the current media landscape in relation to new media, diversity, independence and sustainability; broadcasting regulation with a special focus on Uganda Broadcasting Corporation and professional standards in the media.   The African Media Barometer is an in-depth and comprehensive…

Hajji Ismail Ssekidde, the husband to renowned herbalist, Sylvia Namutebi aka Maama Fiina, has dragged Red Pepper and its Luganda sister publication Kamunye to court, accusing them of constantly publishing his wife’s nude pictures. Through his lawyer, Isaac Kimaze Ssemakadde of Web Advocates & Solicitors, Ssekidde filed the case in High Court yesterday, alleging among other things that the respondents’ arbitrary act of giving unsought publicity in the tabloid newspapers and online publications of the…

Written by Peter G. Mwesige   In the last few months, our newspapers and other mainstream media have carried several special reports to celebrate Uganda’s 50th independence anniversary.   While some of the “Uganda at 50” pieces have been interesting reading, many have shared one problematic feature—a disproportionate focus on personalities, events and institutions that have reportedly shaped the history of this country.   We have read profiles of many interesting people who pulled off…

  With support from the MacArthur Foundation, the African Centre for Media Excellence is launching a 2-year media training programme for up to 40 suitably qualified radio journalists and presenters/talk show hosts based in Uganda’s Albertine region. By Albertine region, we mean the districts of Amuru, Buliisa, Bundibugyo, Fort Portal, Hoima, Kanungu, Kasese, Masindi, Nebbi, Ntoroko, Nwoya, and Arua. Titled Enhancing Transparency in the Extractive Sector in Uganda through Information-provision and Knowledge-based Reporting, the programme is…