Earlier this month I started hearing about a new social media site that would aim to crowd-source the opinions and views of the Ugandan public. ThisIsUganda.org (as of yet not up), aims to be the hub of citizen journalism in the country. I had the pleasure of talking to founders/editors Siena Sofia Magdalena Anstis, Elizabeth Kameo and Sheila Kulubya about their ambitious project…
How did This Is Uganda come about and what is the objective?
EK: In July, with the support if Women of Uganda Network and ISIS – WICCW Siena and I (Elizabeth) carried out a voluntary Citizen Journalism training that was attended by about 30 participants. They included University Journalism students and Ugandan working in the NGO world.
At the end of the training, participants were eager to continue practicing citizen journalism because they realised it would be an effective way for them to provide that information to the public which is hardly provided by the mainstream media.
Siena and I came up with the idea of a Citizen Journalism project, the idea was to get the support of WOUGNET since they have a very strong ICT component however that did not materialize leading to the idea of setting up an independent citizen journalism project spearheaded by Siena, Sheila and I. That is how TIU came up and at the moment everyone is volunteering time and resources to make it fully functional.
Our mission is to encourage democracy-building, social awareness, gender equality, poverty eradication and government accountability in Uganda through the medium of citizen journalism.
The touchier subjects here are often political. Sometimes people get passionate and lose their internal ‘filters’ which might cause some controversy. How do you plan to balance censorship with the freedom of everyone to contribute?
EK: TIU has different topics which are all significant and our aim is to ensure that there is maximum reporting on the different topics. While we shall not censor anyone or any stories as long as they are of significance to the people of Uganda, we shall also aim at ensuring that not only politics is covered like seems to be the case. The goal is to provide that information that is hardly ever provided by the mainstream media, which is why we are using our skills as professional journalists and combining them with citizen journalism to provide something that is different and significant. The kind of information, which people will always look forward to receiving on their computers and read and which will create debate and possibly in the long run positive change.
Is there an ‘editing layer’? Meaning will editors police the site for things like grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and off-topic content?
EK: Yes there is an editing layer, for grammar and spellings. We shall also use this to ask the writers to add more links and more information about the subjects they write about so that the reader gets a good story. However we shall not police the site for what people are writing about unless of course it is obscene and there is no proof of what they are writing about. Again that takes us back to the issue of good reporting not just slander. TIU is for and about the people of Uganda and what goes in the country in all aspects of people’s lives so it is informative and educative and will also entertain in a positive way and create that debate that is missing on the Citizen Journalism scene in the country.
In short TIU Editors are responsible for editing submissions and establishing a dialogue with writers. TIU Editors are also responsible for choosing top stories and pitching them to local and international media. TIU Editors and volunteers will monitor and rate Ugandan blogs.
This was originally meant to be a project for an existing media organization in Uganda. Is that still the case or is this a private venture?
SA: We considered working with the Daily Monitor since they’ve been playing with the idea of opening a citizen journalism site.
However, we’ve decided that TIU is going to be an independent venture. After all, the point is to broaden Ugandans’ choice of media, while restricting contribution to no one (provided the content is appropriate). We also don’t want to take sides on any particular issue and feel that the Daily Monitor might have different ideas of what’s posted.
That being said, TIU editors are not only responsible for monitoring, editing and the usual duties, but will also be pitching stories to local media for publication. Our goal is to help Ugandans have their voice heard, so we want to get some if their stories published in mainstream media. These articles will most likely be listed under letters or opinions with a mention of TIU at the end.
I’ve noticed that the Monitor recently allowed it’s online readers to comment on news articles. Does this mean Ugandan media groups are finally starting to embrace social media?
SA: The new editor-in-chief’s move to include the public, I believe, is a combination of having a young and modern vision for the Daily Monitor, as well as realizing that public commentary can make the news that much more interesting and dynamic.
Do you have any professional journalists or photographers working with your site?
EK: Yes we do. Sheila Kulubya is a professional journalist who worked with the Daily Monitor and the New Vision for about eight years before leaving to complete her Masters degree at Leeds University in the UK. Siena also recently just qualified as a professional journalist and has worked in Uganda and Kosovo over the past year where she has gained experience.
I am a qualified journalist and have been working in media in Uganda since 2000. We are also looking fro interested professional journalists who are either still or out of active media that would love to continue writing. TIU aims at giving them the opportunity to continue practicing journalism at a different, higher and better level.
Since internet is expensive and slow for users here, having a locally hosted site could mean the difference between use or non-use of a site like this. Is TIU hosted locally?
EK: Yes, TIU is locally hosted.
What’s the ultimate goal of TIU? Where would you like to see it in a year or two?
EK: We hope to be able to reach beyond Uganda’s traditional media coverage and truly divulge issues the Ugandan people are tackling. Furthermore,
TIU hopes to equip individuals with skills that can help them in all areas of life.
We also hope that by 2011 we will have equipped people especially in the rural areas of Uganda to use citizen journalism in the run up to the elections to get that news out that is hardly ever covered by the mainstream media. That way everyone will have a voice in the country’s 2011 elections.
Interview with Staff of ‘This Is Uganda’
Earlier this month I started hearing about a new social media site that would aim to crowd-source the opinions and views of the Ugandan public. ThisIsUganda.org (as of yet not up), aims to be the hub of citizen journalism in the country. I had the pleasure of talking to founders/editors Siena Sofia Magdalena Anstis, Elizabeth Kameo and Sheila Kulubya about their ambitious project…
How did This Is Uganda come about and what is the objective?
EK: In July, with the support if Women of Uganda Network and ISIS – WICCW Siena and I (Elizabeth) carried out a voluntary Citizen Journalism training that was attended by about 30 participants. They included University Journalism students and Ugandan working in the NGO world.
At the end of the training, participants were eager to continue practicing citizen journalism because they realised it would be an effective way for them to provide that information to the public which is hardly provided by the mainstream media.
Siena and I came up with the idea of a Citizen Journalism project, the idea was to get the support of WOUGNET since they have a very strong ICT component however that did not materialize leading to the idea of setting up an independent citizen journalism project spearheaded by Siena, Sheila and I. That is how TIU came up and at the moment everyone is volunteering time and resources to make it fully functional.
Our mission is to encourage democracy-building, social awareness, gender equality, poverty eradication and government accountability in Uganda through the medium of citizen journalism.
The touchier subjects here are often political. Sometimes people get passionate and lose their internal ‘filters’ which might cause some controversy. How do you plan to balance censorship with the freedom of everyone to contribute?
EK: TIU has different topics which are all significant and our aim is to ensure that there is maximum reporting on the different topics. While we shall not censor anyone or any stories as long as they are of significance to the people of Uganda, we shall also aim at ensuring that not only politics is covered like seems to be the case. The goal is to provide that information that is hardly ever provided by the mainstream media, which is why we are using our skills as professional journalists and combining them with citizen journalism to provide something that is different and significant. The kind of information, which people will always look forward to receiving on their computers and read and which will create debate and possibly in the long run positive change.
Is there an ‘editing layer’? Meaning will editors police the site for things like grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and off-topic content?
EK: Yes there is an editing layer, for grammar and spellings. We shall also use this to ask the writers to add more links and more information about the subjects they write about so that the reader gets a good story. However we shall not police the site for what people are writing about unless of course it is obscene and there is no proof of what they are writing about. Again that takes us back to the issue of good reporting not just slander. TIU is for and about the people of Uganda and what goes in the country in all aspects of people’s lives so it is informative and educative and will also entertain in a positive way and create that debate that is missing on the Citizen Journalism scene in the country.
In short TIU Editors are responsible for editing submissions and establishing a dialogue with writers. TIU Editors are also responsible for choosing top stories and pitching them to local and international media. TIU Editors and volunteers will monitor and rate Ugandan blogs.
This was originally meant to be a project for an existing media organization in Uganda. Is that still the case or is this a private venture?
SA: We considered working with the Daily Monitor since they’ve been playing with the idea of opening a citizen journalism site.
However, we’ve decided that TIU is going to be an independent venture. After all, the point is to broaden Ugandans’ choice of media, while restricting contribution to no one (provided the content is appropriate). We also don’t want to take sides on any particular issue and feel that the Daily Monitor might have different ideas of what’s posted.
That being said, TIU editors are not only responsible for monitoring, editing and the usual duties, but will also be pitching stories to local media for publication. Our goal is to help Ugandans have their voice heard, so we want to get some if their stories published in mainstream media. These articles will most likely be listed under letters or opinions with a mention of TIU at the end.
I’ve noticed that the Monitor recently allowed it’s online readers to comment on news articles. Does this mean Ugandan media groups are finally starting to embrace social media?
SA: The new editor-in-chief’s move to include the public, I believe, is a combination of having a young and modern vision for the Daily Monitor, as well as realizing that public commentary can make the news that much more interesting and dynamic.
Do you have any professional journalists or photographers working with your site?
EK: Yes we do. Sheila Kulubya is a professional journalist who worked with the Daily Monitor and the New Vision for about eight years before leaving to complete her Masters degree at Leeds University in the UK. Siena also recently just qualified as a professional journalist and has worked in Uganda and Kosovo over the past year where she has gained experience.
I am a qualified journalist and have been working in media in Uganda since 2000. We are also looking fro interested professional journalists who are either still or out of active media that would love to continue writing. TIU aims at giving them the opportunity to continue practicing journalism at a different, higher and better level.
Since internet is expensive and slow for users here, having a locally hosted site could mean the difference between use or non-use of a site like this. Is TIU hosted locally?
EK: Yes, TIU is locally hosted.
What’s the ultimate goal of TIU? Where would you like to see it in a year or two?
EK: We hope to be able to reach beyond Uganda’s traditional media coverage and truly divulge issues the Ugandan people are tackling. Furthermore,
TIU hopes to equip individuals with skills that can help them in all areas of life.
We also hope that by 2011 we will have equipped people especially in the rural areas of Uganda to use citizen journalism in the run up to the elections to get that news out that is hardly ever covered by the mainstream media. That way everyone will have a voice in the country’s 2011 elections.