Thursday, July 10, 2008
Joshua Masinde (Opinion in The New Vision Editorial)
Wednesday, 9th July, 2008
Last week, a New Vision journalist was abducted and tortured from where he had gone to cover a function in the course of his normal duty. Sebide Kiryowa was blindfolded, beaten up and his money was stolen by goons who either seemed to have a score to settle with him for what The New Vision had published against him or to intimidate him not to write what might embarrass them or put them in trouble.
A week earlier, the offices of The Red Pepper in Namanve had been burned in what appeared to be a highly organised operation. Journalists have often been intimidated, roughed up and sometimes, their cameras or notes confiscated. These incidents should not be looked at in isolation. They seem to demonstrate a deep-seated phobia and hatred for the media.
Has Uganda become so backward that the best way to resolve issues is to revert to criminal and unorthodox methods instead of appealing to the law of the land? It is more beneficial to be a friend rather than an opponent or outright enemy of the media.
The media is a messenger who should not be punished for carrying an unpleasant message. But it is more than a messenger. It is a mirror before which the public should be able to appraise themselves. That is why the media is called a gatekeeper or a watchdog. It checks the excesses of society, extols virtue and condemns vice. It is through the media that the public gets to know and hear what they might not have otherwise known.
However, this is not to say the media does no wrong. There are instances where the aggrieved parties have taken media houses to court for redress.
It is, therefore, cowardly and uncouth to attack a journalist for a story that one does not like. Media houses are governed by the regulations of the Media Council which can call to order any media house that steps out of line.
