On moving on & journalism

“Ever since they left Thies, the women had not stopped singing. As soon as one group allowed the refrain to die, another picked it up, and new verses were born at the hazard of chance or inspiration, one word leading to another and each finding, in its turn, its rhythm and its place. No one was very sure any longer where the song began, or if it had an ending. It rolled out over its own length, like the movement of a serpent. It was as long as a life.” Sembene Ousmane [God's Bits of Wood]

Journalism often rewards those who are patient and excellent in their work. The rewards do not necessarily have to be monetary – but can be. In most cases, we look to either become journalism scholars or win an award[s] or even get a job with Reuters, Bloomberg, FT & the Beeb among others. Like staring at a barrel or as if on gun point, the pressure in the newsroom is immense especially in a country where we have a high turnover and limited retention. This month – mid this month to be specific – I made the decision to leave The CEO Magazine – a niche business publication -, Uganda has a few of these. My time at the Magazine has been rewarding - career-wise - but also one that has exposed me to the good, bad and ugly of journalism and all stakeholders involved. There was also the pressure to jump ship and leave journalism altogether, but then like Eva Chen said “Don’t find a job, find your passion.”

Passion to write about the corporate culture, companies and the economy: Passion to tell stories. The need to scrutinize how companies operate or even how government entities are run. The more we put out such stories, the more readers continue to ask the questions, considering they are taxpayers, bank customers or even consumers.

 Some of these stories, no matter how good, are not told. If they are, then there is always something missing. The CEO Magazine offered me this opportunity, but it could only go so far. One of the challenges in today’s newsrooms is how to keep the editorial independent of marketing and advertising. This perhaps requires a whole different approach to the news – especially if you have workers to pay. It also perhaps needs a new crop of investors with the resources to at least run a newsroom without necessarily looking at the profit in the medium term; Investors willing to plough back profits into the publications. Ultimately, the investor needs to make a return on investment but also publications need to be reputable, trusted and be credible sources of information. Striking this balance is becoming ever more complex – pressure on journalists is mounting even if we don’t want to admit it. A lot has been said about the online, but the trouble is how to monetize online. How do you invest in your newsroom? Simply going online can be suicidal, it requires careful thought and research.

The solutions to some of these problems require some new approaches, which I have been studying but can’t place my hand on one – not just yet. Governments maybe a threat – a big one – to journalism but I believe advertising is becoming another big one and the pressure on media owners is also relenting. I leave The CEO Magazine, a better reporter – we all have our shortcoming. It hasn’t been easy though.

One the more disappointments in my time at The CEO Magazine was the UK Border Agency. In March, the prestigious Reuters Institute offered me an opportunity to go for a one week course on business and economic reporting in London. I spent about Ushs370,000 on a Visa Application – this amount for a reporter is not easy to churn out. The UK Border Agency denied me a Visa on the grounds that I did not satisfy them enough on whether I’d return, even after Reuters had written a letter indicating they would pay for my accommodation and meals. I have no land titles, my bank account is well – I’d rather not say – considering a journalist’s salary. It is such things that tend to be turn-offs but well we persevere and move on. There are many other incidences – I will not talk about them – but then why lament. Why not look to developing my career and maybe one day the rewards will come. 

So many will ask, where are you going? Well I’ll be joining the wonderful team at UgandaRadio Network – a news agency - for further professional development. 

A tear shed for Uganda's business journalism

“Africans are one of the most resilient, innovative and creative business people in the world. To navigate poor and decaying road networks, maddeningly corrupt and inefficient bureaucrats, government regulations that frustrate and hinder business operations, a lack of reliable electricity or water, all demand ingenuity, agility and determination. I doubt western entrepreneurs operating in such an environment could last long.” Andrew Rugasira 

A few months back, “the seer”penned a damning indictment on the state of business journalism in Africa – partly excluding South Africa. As a journalist, I responded to him on twitter – 140 characters are not the best response to a 1000 word piece. I said “maybe you are reading the wrong business publications.” In Uganda, we have two business publications that have survived the "4 year litmus test". I have worked for both: The East African Business Week [2009-2012] and The CEO Magazine [2011 – to-date]. In his writing, Kalyegira notes that:

“Nobody saw this coming. Our amateurish business reporting means that the reading public can never get an accurate picture of business conditions in Uganda. The Ugandan news media is fragile for the most part. There are too many broadcast stations and print publications chasing too few advertisers and so almost no media house dare report the facts about Uganda’s corporations, lest they are denied adverts.”

This is a correct assessment of the state of business journalism in Uganda, but it is only part of the problem. It is not new for companies to shove press releases in the face of journalists, and well, we just add a few sentences before handing it to our editors. Of course for some of these companies, they want to get their “monies worth” by being in the press since they are the advertisers. But, does this mean the Ugandan business reporter can’t go beyond the mumble jumble in a press release? Yes they can, but who will talk to them and give them the details? People talk of government bureaucracy, but some these corporations are just as worse. Worse still, for any inquiry, it takes a company so much more time to respond – if at all – but takes a short time for them to give you press release [For immediate release].

Working for East African Business Week and CEO Magazine, there is a trend I’ve noticed over the years. These two are small publications are not considered that "important" compared to New Vision, Observer, and The Daily Monitor. Being small – but dedicated to business reporting – they are ignored by the corporate companies when it comes to responding to queries by journalists. The top three get priority – understandable – but yet a dedicated business publication gets treated as a third class citizen. Interestingly, it is the smaller publications that get the “vomit copy” of all sorts of press releases that MUST be published.

These two so called small publications do take time to write business stories and go beyond product launches, however, they are very much limited on how far they can go. 

Obviously, for the likes of New Vision and Daily Monitor, the business reporters have much less flexibility on what they can write. They are limited to two pages of business news and in most cases the analysis bit is lacking. In fact Kalyegira writes; 

“Most African business reports focus on public relations: Launches of new brands, re-launches of old brands and products, opening of complexes, showrooms, plants and competitions and promotions.”

These small publications need money and in Uganda – it seems – any "perceived" negative reporting about a corporate company, you are banished from their advertising list. Then what happens to the reporters? Where does the money come from? To further compound the problems, Ugandans would rather read online newspapers then buy a copy off the shelf, even if they are to wait for a story to be uploaded at 5pm.

I’ve been here, I’ve seen what people buy, and it has nothing to do with business publications - save for a few. They are simply not interested. At the CEO Magazine, we do business analysis and business reporting, but people would rather buy gossip. At times I ask myself “do people really read my stories?” At times when I get comment, I'm so delighted. In one forum, a Ugandan commented that my writing was “fantastic fiction” that was “clouded with financial jargon.” In as much as I disagreed – partly - with his assessment of my writing, I felt proud because I was being noticed. But that's it!!! We toil for information. Data is hard to find. We are called all sorts of names. Told off by company executives and also denied access. 

It is also common for companies to have the theory "he knows nothing about us" or "he knows about what he is writing." In fact they'd rather organize a media briefing that has a high number of reporters, than one where they have a few quality business reporters.

There are also constant reminders from media owners to reporters that they have to do more to attract advertisers. Well, unless you are owned by a large media company, which can afford to make a loss on one of its publications, then perhaps one has to forget the "hard hitting work" that we parade as business reporters. Additionally, business reporters in this country have lesser opportunities to go and learn more on how to report better. People who report about Human Rights, Conflict, Health and Education among others, can easily get the “value addition” through fellowships and scholarships, whereas for the business reporter; you-are-on-your-own. No one is willing to invest in you, but you must invest in yourself – by spending the little you get to earn.

Many will say; “you hobnob with Uganda’s CEO’s. Why would it be hard for you to get opportunities?” Well, they are simply not interested. If they are, they’d rather take a reporter for a trip to their company, than improve the state of business journalism. Admittedly, I must say, business journalism is as good as dead – locally – at least that’s my impression and observation. It can only be revived by quality reporting, which can only be done by being part of large media organization. It is also not entirely surprising that one can easily jump ship, leave business journalism and join the corporate world. The realities of reporting have changed, passion is dying – slowly – and well, light at the end of the tunnel seems elusive – at least locally.