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Uganda: The Media Must Be Professional And Ethical
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New Vision (Kampala)
COLUMN
7 May 2008
Posted to the web 8 May 2008
Ofwono Opondo
Kampala
Last Saturday, Uganda marked World Press Day with the state and media playing tit-for-tat, each accusing the other of unfairness over their actual or presumed roles in a democracy. Some journalists believe they are always noble to everyone.
Whenever they run foul with the state, they quote laws on sedition, criminal libel and others to get away with gross unfairness to the public because they build their profile and get money. This is un-ethical according to media standards.
We should be concerned and stand firm against state brutality when dealing with its perceived adversaries, the media inclusive. The state as our collective trustee has the responsibility and obligation to be fair. Some journalists have accused opposition leaders for not siding with them when they come under state 'harassment,' yet they play good turns to politicians. Journalists should know that when they are openly unfair, no credible group will side with them. In fact, commercial profits, business and corporate interests, media idiocy and unfairness, rather than the 'dictatorial' state are greater threats to a free and independent media in Uganda today.
Last week's brutal arrest of journalists from The Independent and Daily Monitor photographer Joseph Kiggundu, who was merely covering the event, is shocking and unacceptable. The Police ought to restrain itself from high-handed behaviour because they are supposed to remain cool even under extreme pressure, especially when handling civil matters, non-violent and un-armed persons. However, Uganda's media, especially journalists, have a huge problem which they seem not to appreciate when executing their would-be noble work, and that often leads them into unnecessary confrontation with other stakeholders, including the state.
The media and journalists are ideologically and politically a business, commercially partisan and unprofessional. We have seen media practitioners cross the partisan and hostile political floor to become 'party spokesmen' once they leave the newsroom. They include James Namakojo, Amos Kajoba (RIP), Wafula Oguttu, Robert Kabushenga, Jerry Okungu, Ssezi Cheye, Tamale Mirundi, James Okanya, Onyango Kakoba, Geoffrey Ekanya, Margaret Muhanga, Betty Namboze and myself. Fairness is an old question the media and journalists have refused to understand despite modern skills and technology for information management. Given the history and interests they serve worldwide, perhaps their partisanship should not be surprising.
The public expects fairness in the professional behaviour of journalists and in the editing processes to give credibility. Unfortunately, most Ugandan journalists are un-inspiring since they cannot even get the basic facts correct, they are arrogant and convey an attitude of "we know it all," and some editors do not detect these weaknesses.
Many journalists, especially in the print media, think that spelling and grammatical errors, wrong names, titles, addresses of people and places, wrong dates and other similar mistakes are of little relevance to media credibility. But the public view it differently. From the first media survey done by Fortune Magazine in the US in 1935, to present ones by Gallup, Pew Research Centre or Media Studies Centre all show that factual errors corrode media credibility. Ranked with bankers, TV, radio, pulpit, veterans, newspaper journalists have consistently scored highest for abusing their power and being unfair, followed by bankers.
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Many readers or news sources have been a victim of unfairness which the media refused to correct or even admit. The media often target and wage a relentless campaign of witch-hunt until their victim is down. The media are not often accurate and are unwilling to admit or correct mistakes fully, candidly, prominently, promptly and gracefully. We respect the professional and technical skills some journalists have. However, some do not have the authoritative understanding on the subjects they try to explain to the public.
The media have a bias for reporting on conflict, failures, negative and controversial news, and give little coverage on positives, which is not good for a developing society like Uganda. Journalists are inclined to jump to inclusions too soon about where truth lies and are unwilling to challenge their initial take on stories.
Therefore, the media should know that it is unfair when they get the facts wrong, refuse to admit errors, and do not disclose names of their dubious 'sources'. The media is unfair when they have ignorant or incompetent reporters and editors, who prey on the weak, concentrate on failures, lack diversity, and when they allow opinions, especially from their reporters and editors in hard news stories.
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