The report, 'A portrait of Ugandan journalists in turbulent times' was released on the sidelines of the Uganda National Journalism Awards. Photo by Zahara Abdul

Good journalism does not happen in a vacuum. It is shaped by the professional environment in which journalists work, the legal and regulatory conditions they navigate, the economic pressures on their newsrooms, and the quality of the wider information ecosystem. Understanding all of this requires rigorous, applied research, yet there is a dearth of exactly that kind of research on media performance in Uganda and the greater East African region.

Media monitoring and research is a core ACME programme, not a series of one-off studies. The goal is to generate evidence that informs how journalists are trained, how media organisations design their interventions, how advocates make the case for press freedom, and how policymakers understand the environment in which media operates. Without this kind of evidence, decisions about how to support and improve journalism are based on assumption and anecdote rather than fact.

The programme has grown steadily over the years. It now encompasses the legal and regulatory framework for the press, the professional conditions and welfare of journalists, the structural and economic forces reshaping the media landscape, and how African media covers critical public affairs issues The work has also extended geographically beyond Uganda, helping to build a regional evidence base that is otherwise thin. Much of it has been carried out in partnership with other organisations, bringing complementary expertise and extending the reach and credibility of the findings.

A sample of our research work: