Uganda’s media produced a high volume of election coverage in November 2025, but a new summary report from the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) finds that quantity has not translated into quality. The report monitors television, radio, print newspapers, and digital platforms and is the latest in a series tracking media performance across the 2026 electoral cycle.
The monitoring covers all of Uganda’s daily newspapers, major national and regional television stations, more than 30 radio stations drawn from across the country, and leading digital and online news platforms. These outlets represent the primary channels through which most Ugandans access information about the election. The summary findings follow four platform-specific reports covering July to October 2025. Together, the data paints a picture of media that is engaged with the election but falling short of reporting standards that democratic participation requires.
The most significant shift from the July to October period is the further consolidation of presidential election coverage at the expense of everything else. Across all platforms, the parliamentary race, which dominated early in the cycle, receded sharply. In November, stories about the presidential campaign accounted for 71% of television coverage, 58% on radio, 55% on digital platforms, and 52% in print. While this reflects the natural progression of the electoral calendar, it also means that coverage of parliamentary candidates, local elections, and the issues most directly relevant to voters’ daily lives is narrowing further as polling day approaches.
What did not change was the concentration of coverage on the two leading candidates. President Museveni and Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) continued to dominate across every platform, with all other candidates receiving marginal attention. On front pages of the newspapers monitored, the concentration was even sharper, with Museveni accounting for 63% of all front-page stories about presidential candidates. For candidates outside the top two, the data raises a fundamental question about whether Uganda’s media is providing the electorate with sufficient information to make an informed choice.
What the data reveals about individual platforms
Whilst the broad patterns were consistent across platforms, the November data contains some striking variations that deserve attention.
On television, NTV stands out as a clear outlier. It allocated only 8.4% of candidate airtime to Museveni, the lowest proportion of any station monitored, whilst giving Kyagulanyi and Mafabi 47% and 41% respectively. UBC presents the sharpest contrast: despite its public mandate and the highest national reach of any broadcaster, it allocated 60% of candidate airtime to Museveni, the highest proportion of any television station, while Kyagulanyi received just 12.3%. For a state broadcaster with an obligation to serve the entire electorate, this disparity is significant.
On radio, regional patterns reveal how uneven the information environment is across the country. In Western Uganda, Museveni accounted for 70% of candidate airtime; in Karamoja, 91%. Kyagulanyi led only in Central Uganda, with 59% of candidate airtime. For voters outside the capital and its surrounding region, the range of candidates and perspectives reaching them through radio is considerably narrower.
Digital platforms show a different kind of imbalance. While television and print covered a relatively broad range of issues alongside electoral politics, digital coverage was dominated by politics and power to a degree that set it apart from other media. This single thematic category accounted for 35% of all topics covered online, far exceeding any other issue and suggesting that digital election journalism is significantly narrower in its scope than traditional media.
Other key findings across all platforms include:
- Women’s voices remain marginalised. Radio was the least balanced platform, with 4 in every 5 sources male. Digital platforms and print were similar, with men accounting for roughly 3 in 4 sources in both cases. On television, 73.3% of sources were male, making it the best performer on this measure, though the gap remains wide. As with the July to October reports, the pattern is consistent across all platforms and shows no sign of closing.
- Campaign events drive the news agenda. Across all platforms, the overwhelming majority of stories originated from campaign rallies and events. Independent reporting by journalists accounted for just 0.1% of radio stories and 1.2% of digital stories.
- Candidate claims go largely unchallenged. Where candidates made claims or promises, these were not interrogated in 96% of radio stories, 85.% of digital stories, and 79% of television and newspaper stories.
- The right of reply is almost non-existent on radio. Fewer than 1 in 100 radio stories containing attacks on candidates sought a response. Print performed best, with close to a third of such stories offering a right of reply. On television, just over 1 in 8 stories did so, whilst online managed approximately 1 in 7.
Why this matters
These findings speak directly to the quality of information available to Ugandan voters at a critical moment in the electoral cycle. When 96% of radio stories carry candidate claims without challenge, and when the overwhelming majority of stories across all platforms are generated by campaign events rather than independent journalism, the media risks functioning as a notice board for political messaging rather than a source of scrutiny and analysis.
The concentration of coverage on two candidates, and the stark regional disparities in who receives airtime on radio, means that large portions of the electorate are receiving a narrow and unrepresentative picture of the electoral contest. The near-absence of women as sources across all platforms further limits the range of perspectives informing public debate.
These are not new problems. The July to October reports identified the same patterns, and the November data suggests they are deepening rather than abating as the election draws closer. ACME will continue to monitor and publish findings throughout the electoral cycle, and a full comprehensive report will be published after the conclusion of the 2026 election.
Download the summary November summary report here.
