But First, here’s My Take..... This is where UCC missed the point

Most of my time at work, is spent outside the newsroom building, having conversations with people interviewing sources of news on different themes and almost more than half of the people I have had conversations with or interviewed in the past two weeks, have in the start or end of our chats asked me about how NBS TV is dealing with UCC’s directive to suspend 3 senior management journalists over the broadcast of events that involved Bobi Wine.

I know the answer to this and other similar questions, but I almost feel that my interviewees are asking the wrong question. In their innocent questioning and interrogation, lies a bunch of acceptance that nothing can be done to this disastrous directive UCC passed onto media houses requiring them to suspend senior management staff as the regulator carries out investigations. And by allowing this acceptance to flourish, we are giving UCC power to set precedents, very bad, catastrophic precedents.

By allowing UCC to set unpopular precedents, we are giving it powers to abuse the very core principles of democracy which is free press. This is where we missed the point. Whereas UCC accused media houses of broadcasting content that incites violence, it does not define how news events that aired at prime-time incited violence or their capability of arousing violence. UCC further says, the news gave undue prominence to one particular individual than others, what exactly do they mean? Was half of all news bulletins on all 13 media houses dominated by Hon.Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine? If so, should UCC define what aspects content in our everyday news bulletins? Isn’t this invading into the roles of news editors and producers?

Has UCC ever complained about the prominence UBC TV gives to President Museveni (even during elections period) than any other politician especially from opposition? UCC missed the point.

UCC perhaps wants media houses to ban opposition politicians from appearing in their news bulletins. That position is already unbalanced and defeats the very core principles of journalism; Independence- that asks us not to act on behalf of special interests even when politician, or social and Impartiality – that requires us to be balanced.

UCC misses the point every day when it shuts down radio stations owned by opposition politicians yet those whose bosses have a position in the NRM government continue to enjoy uninterrupted space and monopoly.

This interventionism carries two big dangers. One is that it will entrench the UCC’s illegal directives if not challenged and the other is that; UCC becomes the ‘Ministry of content’ acting as arbiters of what people should and should not see, that deciding what content incites violence and what doesn’t and by doing that; Journalism will have no duty.

It is also wrong to try to engineer a particular outcome for content. Trying to achieve a balanced news product dictated by UCC is not simply antithetical but also a definitional quagmire.

The biggest contribution we can offer journalism today, is to refuse to comply with UCC’s illegal and unfair directives to suspend staff over work they did professionally. Should we allow UCC to teach us our job, we will have exposed our weakness as an industry that thrives on telling the truth and holding government institutions like UCC accountable, on behalf of the other citizens.