Robert Tumuhaise
17 July 2008
opinion
Kampala — I have followed the discussion on the role of the media in society. One of the complaints has been that the Ugandan media is unnecessarily focusing on negative aspects of society at the expense of positive news. I want to support this view.
As a sociologist, I know that what people watch or hear or read has a big influence on their thoughts, actions, behavior and character. For example, media reports can incite violence.
If you keep reading/watching (or listening to) immoral or violent information, you may reach a point where you cease to look at certain evil behaviors as abnormal. When you keep reading or watching stories of men cheating on their wives, you may imagine yourself being in bed with your neighbor's wife.
Exposing evil is not bad per se because that is the only way to fight evil. But journalists have also have a responsibility to publish stories with positive messages.
Negative headlines sell the paper but we cannot destroy society simply because we want to sell our publications. Sometimes what one sees in newspapers or magazines is about a school dormitory that was burnt, another suicide bomber in the Middle East, Zimbabwe crisis, corruption in a government department, a pastor who raped his daughter and a few pictures of shameless nude girls. Some publications have specialized in exposing the faults of the Government and do not enlighten us on anything positive that the Government is doing. Neither do they give suggestions on the way forward.
Others have specialized in sex and other scandals. We are tired of hearing the same problems. We also want to hear proposed solutions.
Telling us that evil exists is good but teaching us how to overcome it is better. We need stories on new discoveries in science, technology, business and medicine. We are hungry for success stories of individuals and organizations. We long for articles on how other countries eradicated corruption and how they attained democracy.
We need inspirational messages that give us hope. People have enough problems and sometimes they need a break. The media is not only obliged to entertain and inform but also to educate and empower readers.
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