Last week in Political tensions are mounting in Uganda in the lead-up to
presidential elections in 2011. Last month, incumbent President Yoweri Museveni
warned
the media against “inciting the public” against the government and several
journalists face criminal
prosecutions or police
interrogation for their critical coverage of current affairs. Thursday’s
deadly violence erupted after the government banned the ruler of the
traditional
I spent most of the night and the
rest of the weekend glued to my laptop, feverishly refreshing Twitter
application TweetDeck and paging
through Ugandan blog aggregator Blogspirit,
hoping for news of friends in
I wasn’t the only one having difficulty finding information on the riots. The government’s clampdown on the Ugandan private broadcast media, including Friday’s arrest of talk show host Kalundi Sserumaga on sedition charges, and an indefinite ban on the registration of new radio stations, had severely restricted coverage.
In fact, according to residents of Kampala, most Ugandan
television stations were operating under restricted broadcasting conditions,
airing little or no news during the riots. “TV Uganda is playing music videos
and NTV Uganda is showing That's so Raven,”
wrote Sarah
Malan, a South African expat living in
Within 24 hours of the first violence, volunteers in Kampala launched Uganda
Witness, a crisis reporting site where Ugandans can share news of
deaths, looting, presence of government forces and other riot-related
information. As of Tuesday, 45 separate reports had been submitted via SMS.
Twitter proved an especially rich source of information. On
Friday, the second day of the violence, Uganda
Telecom announced that it would provide free Twitter access to its
customers. Users like Solomon King
and journalist Tumwijuke Mutambuka
posted information on where rioters and police forces were gathering and which
journalists had been detained.
Bloggers also stepped up to fill the information void, populating Blogspirit with their personal stories,
observations and experiences during the riots.
The difference in coverage can be largely attributed to the increased
availability of Internet and Internet-connected mobile phones. According to the
International Telecommunications Union, the percentage of Uganda's population
with Internet access has almost doubled since 2007. When combined with the
advent of Twitter, which is accessible by mobile phone, better Internet access
enabled more real-time coverage, filling the gap left by mainstream media
closures and keeping both Kampalans and people in the rest of the world
informed.
In the aftermath of the riots, Ugandans have continued to serve a
socio-journalistic role, reporting on political developments and documenting
the extent of last week's violence on Uganda Witness. If the government
continues to restrict broadcast media, Uganda's citizen journalists will likely
play an increasingly important role in sharing information.
Writes Jon
Gos, an American software entrepreneur living in Kampala, “We still don’t
quite know what we’re dealing with in Kampala. It’s either the beginning or the
end of a wider-scale confrontation. For those of us on the ground, we’re
starved for information. The mobile phone and its users are essentially the
only reports we can rely on for timely info.”
Rebekah Heacock writes
about access to information issues in East Africa for Global Voices Online and on her own blog, Jackfruity.
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I work for nbs tv my self,its not true that at the time of riots we were running shows on how to play golf.
Thanks citizen news.
A very interesting article. It is citing all that was happening during the riot.
Continue with the same spirit. God bless you as you perform your duties.
Hello Rebekah, thanks for the mentions.
And this is a great recap of what went down during that weekend.
Just so you know, the address for Node Six BlogSpirit is http://www.blogspirit.ug
Might help to link to it.
I thought anyones right starts where other person's right stops. Journalist are entitled to their rights BUT should be mindful of what they say. I read some of the comments made by the so called journalists they were alarming and so inciting. Some of you making those comments would swallow your pride if you read them. One word RESPONSIBLE REPORTING
Edbert Oyesiga is one example of those people who are ready to do anything to see the dictatorial Government of YK M7 stay in but in spite of the numerous crime against humanity the government has committed!
@ Oyesiga, what and who was the chief cook of what transpired two weeks ago?
Complements of seasons.i'm writing a project work on "the impact of mobile phones on television news coverage". I'm in search of materials. I'v read the above findings and happenings in kampala,hear i saw the impact mobile jnurnalism or citizen jnurnalism have in news like this.pls help me to garther materils for my project topic.especialy its challenges,prospects etc. Thanks for ur co-operation.