Uganda: Is Freedom of Expression the Preserve of the Rich? [opinion]

The Uganda Cabinet is currently reviewing proposed amendments to the Press and Journalist Act 2001, the law that governs media practice. Like all citizens and well-meaning people in government, every Ugandan journalist wants to work in a media industry that is responsible, respected and alive to the public’s right to know.

 

In fact, every journalist shares the government and citizens’ concerns about the professionalism of the media.

 

True, sometimes the media report news and information that are either poorly researched or not based on verifiable facts.

 

But these weaknesses cannot be solved by punitive laws.

 

Organised and credible self-regulation, ongoing training, experience, constant professional soul-searching, and time for the industry to mature will contribute far more to addressing these problems than harsh laws.

 

Most practitioners recognise that sensationalism as well as biased and insensitive reporting do undermine the very fabric of their trade.

 

That said, every single day the overwhelming proportion of news and information reported in the media mirrors what is actually happening in our society.

 

A society that has no free and credible avenues for examining itself can neither correct its failures nor benefit from the best thinking available in the marketplace of ideas.

 

That is why we believe that if passed into law, the proposed Press and Journalist (Amendment) Bill 2010 will further erode press freedom and free expression in Uganda.

 

Our media are already burdened with repressive laws like those that make it a crime to publish unfavourable information about government activities and public officials.

 

One problem with the amendments is that the government takes a very narrow view of the print media as a political player.

 

But newspapers and news magazines are businesses like any other.

 

By providing employment, they sustain families.

 

By paying taxes, they contribute to economic growth.

 

By highlighting the performance trends in national exams, they help parents and guardians think about how best to get value for the money they invest in educating their children.

 

Currently, newspapers and magazines are required by law to register at the General Post Office. There is no reason to change that.

 

The proposed laws are excessive, authoritarian, and contradict the vision of the framers of Uganda’s 1995 Constitution as well as other international instruments and protocols that Uganda has signed.

 

Given our history, the NRM government was widely praised for giving the media a new lease of life.

 

Uganda has more newspapers and radio and TV stations than ever before.

 

The media have consistently exposed corruption, human-rights abuses and political impunity.

 

President Yoweri Museveni’s government gained international respectability because of the manner in which it fought some of the evils exposed by the media.

 

The proposed changes to the law will reverse these gains.

 

Requiring newspapers to be licensed annually appears like a routine practice.

 

After all, all businesses get a trading licence to operate and newspapers are no exception.

 

But what bothers us is the spirit behind this amendment.

 

It is clear that the government wants to gain the power to deny, revoke or refuse to renew newspaper licences at will and without prior recourse to the courts of law.

 

Some of the proposed licensing conditions, such as “proof of existence of adequate technical facilities” and the “social, cultural and economic values of the newspaper,” violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and are subject to abuse.

 

Any person or legal entity should be free to publish a newspaper whether they have state-of-the-art technology or not.

 

The newspapers that stood up to the oppressors of the past, including the colonialists, and highlighted human-rights abuses were produced with rudimentary technology but the ideas they propagated changed the history of this country for the better.

 

Freedom of the press should not be the preserve of the rich.

 

The proposed law gives the Media Council powers to revoke a newspaper’s licence if it publishes material that is “prejudicial to national security, stability and unity,” “injurious to Uganda’s relations with its neighbours or friendly countries,” or “amounts to economic sabotage.”

 

Newspapers legitimately exist to comment responsibly on matters of national security, foreign relations, and the economy.

 

Criminalising these activities in terms that are unclear and imprecise opens up the media to the partisan and subjective actions of people in power.

 

Dr George Lugalambi, head of the Mass Communication Department at Makerere University, is the chairperson of the Article 29 Coalition, a voluntary network of organisations working to promote media freedom and professionalism

 

- March 29, 2010 by George Lugalambi

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Source: www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Is%20freedom%20of%20expression%20the%20preserve%20of%20the%20rich/-/2558/887878/-/mfcejlz/-/index.html (accessed on 30.03.10)