As part of my undergraduate degree programme, I was required to do a research. I focus on media,elections and how best the media can cover elections.
I made concussions and recommendation. My supervisor thinks my research was great and graded it with an A+.
If you are interested in media just read through my concussions and recommendations.
You can also get my whole book online if you visit Makerere University online newspaper. www.theivorypost.com
5.1 Conclusions
Having analyzed all that. Several questions can be asked as regards Monitor and the coverage of 2006 elections. Some answers can be given and recommendations which could be made for improving of elections coverage.
It is true that candidates Museveni and Besigye dominated media coverage. This raises many issues of objectivity, fairness, independence and scope of coverage.
What is also clear is that not only did Museveni and Besigye dominate the media but also set the tone of how the news was angled. The trend of news coverage shows that journalists were in reality at the mercy of newsmakers to decide what information was very important to give to the public.
The key theme of 2006 elections was the rape trial and the treason case of Besigye, which overshadowed all other issues.
There was no a single issue the media covered on front page outside of dramatic events unfolding in the Besigye vs. Museveni saga.
Issues like poverty, war in northern Uganda, voter education, candidates policy projections, poor health services, unemployment, poor infrastructure and how each of the candidates promise to tackle these issues were never explained by the media to the electorate.
This trend highlighted locally understood concept ‘politics on news’ as Charles Mwanguhya points out trying to explain unequal coverage on news.
Under this concept, news is considered a public resource which is limited and competed for by different news makers.
Museveni and Besigye had public appeal considering their background and were rated highly in terms of news value. Such considerations are also pegged to the commercial interest of the newspaper which is concerned about falling circulation figures.
Therefore the rest of the candidates, Miria Obote, Abed Bwanika and John Sebaana Kizito had little attention because they lacked such media attraction qualities.
The Daily Monitor can also be credited for highlighting electoral violence, doing civic education and castigating intimidation. Hence it indeed played the role of vigilance and surveillance.
It is important to note that the Daily Monitor played an indispensable role in the proper functioning of a democracy in Uganda. However I found that there was little focus on the "watchdog" role: because there was less unfettered scrutiny and discussion of the successes and failures of government, different candidates and their past performance
There was no much information given to the public on how effectively its representatives have performed and which could help to hold them to account.
Journalists should be better equipped with skills to report stories during times of elections. Inhouse training to understand candidates’ manifestos and ideologies which should be explained to voters by the media to make informed decisions.
Therefore, the media is responsible, in part, for the low level of political discourse. While this finger pointing may be partly justified in Uganda, it would be simplistic to merely blame the low quality of a country’s political culture solely on the shortcomings of the media. At the end of the day, media-products are like any other item for consumption. Their success or failure depends on the people who choose to consume them. One always has the option to stop buying a newspaper that does not meet one’s standards. Ultimately, therefore, the people get the media they ask for.
5.2 Recommendations
The media needs to improve and balance space among different candidates. When all players are given enough space in media the elections are viewed as free and fair.
Candidates John Sebaana Kizito, Miria Obote and Abed Bwanika did not get the same coverage as Museveni and Besigye. The media here was doing a disservice to them.
Effort must be geared towards providing balanced coverage.
Daily Monitor had partisan columnist, NRM has David Mafabi and Moses Byaruhanga, FDC had Dr.Munini Mulera, DP had Nobert Mao. The rest of the candidate Miria Obote and Abed Bwanika had none.
However one must consider that columnist represent a point of view and one must remember that editorials indeed are clearly intended to reflect the opinion of the newspaper.
This means some minor candidates and fringe candidates will never receive equal coverage . Is this unfair for the readers who expect to get various viewpoints from commentaries or to the minor political parties that do not have columnists who support their viewpoint?
News is driven by events and in some cases minor candidates are not part of the important events reported in the media, if indeed they are part of the event then they should be fairly reported on.
Daily Monitor should therefore consider regulating the content of commentaries to assure true balance. If there are to be partisan commentaries, all parties should be given space in proportion to the size of the party.
The media should put public interest ahead of commercial interest while covering electoral process as it benefits the entire society. Elections are a true challenge to the objectivity of journalists and put them under intensive public scrutiny. Therefore there is a need for the journalists to show highest degree of independence and fairness.
There is a need for the media companies to provide basic news gathering support to the journalist. When reporters rely on candidates for transport to rally areas, they are pressured at times to write biased stories.
The media in Uganda has become a decisive factor in electoral politics. It is impossible in Uganda for a candidate to win a majority without using the media. Whenever political parties or candidates campaign their image in the media is a major concern.
The media is essential to the conduct of democratic elections.
A free and fair election is not only about casting a vote in proper conditions, but also about having adequate information about parties, policies, candidates and the election process itself so that voters can make an informed choice. A democratic election without informed citizens is a contradiction in terms
I recommend that Monitor should play a more specific part in enabling full public participation in elections, not only by reporting on the performance of government, but also in a number of additional ways:
• Educate voters on how to exercise their democratic rights.
• Report on the development of the election campaign.
• Provide a platform for the political parties to communicate their message to the electorate.
* Allow all the parties to debate.
• Report results and monitoring vote counting.
• Scrutinize the electoral process itself to evaluate its fairness, efficiency, and probity.
