a1: Adamczyk, A. (. 1. )., et al. “Investigating Differences in How the News Media Views Homosexuality Across Nations: An Analysis of the United States, South Africa, and Uganda.” Sociological Forum, vol. 30, no. 4, 01 2015, pp. 1038–58. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/socf.12207.

In analyzing nearly 400 newspapers articles across five newspapers (two from Uganda (New Vision and the Daily Monitor), two from South Africa (The Star and Daily News), and one from the US (USA Today)), the study concluded that economic differences, more so economic security, greatly influences acceptance of homosexuality. Between the US and Uganda, the latter is far more likely to frame homosexuality as a religious issue and draw on religious claims makers, whereas the US frames homosexuality as a civil rights issue and draws on entertainers for claims makers. In a country where 90% of residents strongly disapprove of homosexuality, and laws still remain in place prohibiting same sex relationships, the contrast between the US and Uganda is stark. South Africa plays a bit more equal role between the two, although it too is less accepting than the US. Uganda is, however, more likely to discuss homosexuality in the context of Western influences and does allow for a bit more acceptance where entertainment is involved. In media though, homosexuality is still greatly frowned upon as it serves to be a reflection of the “collective consciousness” of the people.

a2: Buchmann, Kristine. “‘These Nodding People’: Experiences of Having a Child with Nodding Syndrome in Postconflict Northern Uganda.” Epilepsy & Behavior, vol. 42, Jan. 2015, pp. 71–77. ScienceDirect, doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2014.10.027

Emerging from a low-intensity civil war in Northern Uganda between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan army (1986-2008) has not been easy. Although the war has been officially over for more than a decade, one effect lingers strongly, a disease known as “nodding disease” for its characteristic symptom of a nodding head. It has affected near 3,000 children, with 200 deaths. While antiepileptic medications help, treatment centers didn’t come until 2012, for most, the effects had already been felt. The epileptic disease impairs growth and development in children, and due to the seizures associated with it, these children are a burden on families who must constantly care for them. Nodding syndrome has been confirmed in five districts in Northern Uganda causing fear, worry, and even slower progress. The disease serves to symbolize a continuation of the effects of confinement and trauma caused by war, an effect that even a good regimen of medication cannot cure.

a3: Kimumwe, Paul. Media Regulation and Practice in Uganda: A Journalists Handbook. ClearMark, 2014. www.academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/7413904/Media_Regulation_and_Practice_in_Uganda_A_Journalists_Handbook

Paul Kimumwe’s book offers an inside look into Ugandan media, specifically journalism and the freedoms allotted to those who inform the public. With an MA in Communications Studies from the University of Nairobi, and a BA in Mass Communication from Makerere University, Kimumwe works as a program office and research fellow at the African Center for Media Excellence in Kampala. He powerfully writes on how loopholes in regulation and fear among journalists has turned the media from a watchdog into a lapdog. Additionally, Kimumwe advocates for proper training of journalists, many of which have learned on the job, from peers, or from media development organizations. His Handbook offers such journalists guidelines and an overview of the Acts that have been established that most directly, and sometimes indirectly, affect their work. It also addresses international standards and guarantees of media and freedom, aspects that Uganda espouses on paper, but not in practice. To conclude, he provides journalists with a Code of Conduct that was established by media practitioners in Uganda.

a4: Maasilta, Mari, and Camilla Haavisto. “Listening to Distant Sufferers: The Kony 2012 Campaign in Uganda and the International Media.” Forum for Development Studies, vol. 41, no. 3, Nov. 2014, pp. 455–76.

After gaining popular attention from a video released by Invisible Children, a humanitarian organization, titled Kony 2012, the war in northern Uganda became focused on the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and their abduction of children, instead of government violence among other offenses. Nationally, the private press acted as a mediator and allowed Ugandan war victims a voice, conversely, and more influentially, the government-owned media provided a platform for official and institutional voices who did not give justice to the conflict raging in the north. This deficit in information, and the black and white depiction of the conflict by Kony 2012, did not provide northern Uganda with the aid and attention it deserved. Its lack of media connections prevented the region from speaking out and getting their voices heard, and so the conflict became about Joseph Kony, a Ugandan, and his army, the LRA, instead of the destruction and death being wrought in the north. The resulting media debate of Kony 2012 did allow for a partial remedy of this limited view by international coverage whose journalists had the opportunity to give voice to those in northern Uganda. The study also addresses how if it were not for the work of the war victims’ organization, African Youth Initiative Network-Uganda (AYINET), those in northern Uganda would likely not have heard about Kony 2012, nor would they have had the opportunity to speak with the journalists who could tell their stories in a manner that IC overlooked.

a5: Meyen, M. (. 1. )., et al. “‘It Is a Crime to Be Abusive towards the President’: A Case Study on Media Freedom and Journalists’ Autonomy in Museveni’s Uganda.” African Journalism Studies, vol. 37, no. 3, 02 2016, pp. 1–18. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/23743670.2016.1218351.

Uganda’s media is considered to be a hybrid, wherein its progressive legislation does not, by itself, guarantee the media’s autonomy. Since coming to power in 1986, Museveni has been a “prize pupil” of the Western world due to his legislation and the relative democratic stability that he has returned to Uganda. With a mix of state-owned and private-owned media platforms across newspaper, radio, and tv, Uganda appears to have fairly accessible and open media. Its promotion of “civil rights and political liberties, and, unpredictably, curtailing those same rights and liberties with negative consequences for the broadcast media’s growth and development” is what has earned the state its “hybrid regime” status (4). Furthermore, the infrastructures and organizations in place to maintain media freedom are often criticized for their closeness to the government and for producing and sanctioning media content that protects those in power. Media is weakened further by a lack of longevity in the craft as it is seen as a stepping stone towards politics, and the knowledge that a public outcry against media freedom violations is unlikely.

a6: Nassanga, Goretti Linda, and William Tayeebwa. Assessment of Media Development in Uganda Based on UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators. UNESCO, 2018, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265542.

This study was conducted by the Department of Journalism and Communication, Makerere University, Uganda, with support from UNESCO International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). In using UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators (MDIs), Uganda was assessed for five categories: legal and regulatory framework; plurality and diversity of media; media as a platform for democratic discourse; professional capacity building; and infrastructural capacity. The purpose of the study was to analyze Uganda’s media and to provide suggestions to improve. Although Uganda presents its media as a free platform there are numerous restrictions, legal loopholes, and self-censorship issues borne out of fear. The primary language for communication is English, which is used almost solely by the elites, so media is not as accessible as it presents itself to be. Radio provides a broad platform with a wider variety of sources, this helps to bridge the gap, but it is not an absolute fix due to high levels of poverty. Uganda is first and foremost a developing country that seems to be building faster than its infrastructure can handle and so the ideals of media are more so a facade than a reality.

a7: Omach, Paul. “Civil Society Organizations and Local-Level Peacebuilding in Northern Uganda.” Journal of Asian and African Studies, vol. 51, no. 1, Feb. 2016, pp. 77–96. Crossref, doi:10.1177/0021909614552916.

Conflict in northern Uganda had become the norm after successive regimes fought against the government from 1986 to 2006. Over the course of this civil war, the Ugandan government, specifically the National Resistance Army (NRA) led by president Yoweri Museveni, espoused a narrative of the north that made peace efforts seem futile, validating their military approach. The national media supported this through their “recycling” of messages inaccurate to what was actually occurring in the north, even supporting the NRA’s military actions. In this regard, civil societies played the most active role in advancing peacebuilding efforts; turning perceptions of the conflict towards peace in leading multilateral agencies, and international and national NGOS in its facilitation. The role of civil societies is to support trust and reciprocity while fostering tolerance for diversity. Actions necessary for the prevention of conflict. One such group advanced this further by being a prominent interdenominational organization. The ARLPI, formed by the Anglican Church of Uganda, the Catholic Church, and Muslims, and the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church. The formation of this group gave greater clout to civil societies as it “manifested inter-religious coexistence in a country where religion has been politically divisive and a source of conflict” (86). The actions of civil societies led discussions towards peace, but in concluding the study it is noted that these organizations are not substitutes for the role of the state, but rather an initiative that must compliment the other in order to succeed.

a8: Otiso, Kefa M. “Uganda.” Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society, edited by Toyin Falola and Daniel Jean-Jacques, vol. 3: Namibia-Zimbabwe, ABC-CLIO, 2016, pp. 1247–78.

This encyclopedia is one of three written about Africa, the division of the work allows for greater detail per country with this particular volume containing Namibia through Zimbabwe. The section on Uganda has many facets, but it pays particular attention to the many cultures within Uganda and its effect on the country. Developing a national message that is comprehensible to all proves to be difficult in a mostly rural and diverse state, wherein English is the primary language of instruction, in the judiciary, in major newspapers, on the radio, in television broadcasts, and in many formal business settings (1251). Although English is the official language Luganda, the language of the Baganda, Uganda’s largest ethnic group, is the only language native to the country. In light of this, Uganda, a nation that seems to be media rich on paper, is lacking in its ability to fully communicate to its people. This is made more prominent with gender divides, favoring males, and a deeply rooted and rapidly deteriorating oral literature. Without written preservation, the pieces that comprise the multitudes of ethnic groups within Uganda is at risk of being lost. This stems from an education system that is not as available to those in rural Uganda as much of the nation remains illiterate.

a9: “Uganda Parliament Opens up to Electronic Broadcasting.” Parliamentarian, vol. 97, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 182–85.

From its independence in 1962 to the 1990s, coverage of Parliamentary proceedings in Uganda was only done in print media. Coupled with low literacy levels and poor newspaper circulation, this meant that only a select portion of Ugandans could follow their government. In 2001, introducing electronic media coverage of Parliament was proposed and eventually signed and approved in 2005, however, a rule remained in place that prohibited electronic devices in the gallery, so in effect the new rule was non-existent. It wasn’t until 2012 that this rule was lifted, which was done, in part, on the grounds of the benefits of ICTs regarding easy access to information, as well as following the UK, whose Parliament was model to Uganda, who had opened the House of Commons to broadcasting in 2010. Now the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association (UPPA) not only cover issues within Parliament, but also make presentations regarding media to committees. Only two committees remain closed to any form of media coverage: Committee of Appointments and the Business Committee. Additionally, coverage can be prohibited when the Speaker orders members of the public to withdraw from the gallery. As Uganda moves towards are more informed public, it learns from the Parliament of Zambia in initiating plans for a Parliament radio and television station.

a10: Wamala, Caroline Victoria. “Theater, Gender, and Development: Merging Traditional and New Media to Address Communication Challenges in Uganda.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 39, no. 4, June 2014, pp. 866–74. Crossref, doi:10.1086/675541.

Written after a year of ethnographic fieldwork among rural farmers in Uganda, the article addresses how traditional media has met underdeveloped communication infrastructures to aid in the dissemination of information. Agriculture is the socioeconomic backbone of Uganda with 80 percent of the population playing an active role in the industry. In seeking means of accessing updated farming practices that information technologies (ITs) can easily provide, farmers have had to supplement established forms of communication through connections with the Agricultural Research and Rural Information Network (ARRIN), a Kampala based theater troupe that has existed since 1997. The group works to organize information in a manner that is accessible and retainable to a largely media-less population. It also provides greater access to information for women who frequently rely on their husbands to remain informed. While AARIN provides women with more information, helping them to improve their farming practices, it can also be the cause of a continued lesser social position as there is little need to move beyond it if the available information seems sufficient. The challenge posed by this study is whether or not advancement towards new media will also serve to advance women’s social position, determined by being provided access to such technologies.