Chris Kiwawulo
20 November 2008
Kampala — GOVERNMENT agencies do not favour The New Vision when choosing advertising channels but look at the media's coverage, the head of public service has said.
"We look at the circulation or how far a communication channel can go but not whether a paper is owned by the Government or not," John Mitala said.
Such a choice is made, he said, because government agencies serve all Ugandans. Mitala made the comment while reacting to Vision Group chief Robert Kabushenga's concern about the misconception that the paper automatically gets business since it is owned mainly by the Government.
He was speaking at a dinner the group organised for top government officials at the Sheraton Hotel Kampala on Tuesday.
Mitala congratulated Vision Group on expanding to broadcast media and urged Kabushenga to ignore critics and work harder to achieve more.
Mitala urged Vision Group and other media houses to spare space for public education, cross-check stories before publication and to apologise in case of errors.
Kabushenga asked government agencies to honour payments for advertisements to enable the corporation run smoothly.
He said the corporation would soon bring in a new printer that can, unlike the available ones, print 64 pages of a newspaper in one run. He said The New Vision hopes to reach out to the East African region after covering Uganda.
On the recently launched Bukedde FM radio, Kabushenga said it had gained a competitive edge against other Luganda stations. "We hope it will reach Masaka by December."
The Bukedde newspaper readership, he added, had grown from 14,000 copies to 19,000 in the last three months. "It is still growing. Our target is 20,000 copies by next year,"he said.
Kabushenga asked government officials to cooperate with journalists whenever they are cross-checking stories to ensure accurate reporting.
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