SECTOR 1 “The fear manifests itself depending on the issue. Right now the issues of oil, land grabbing and presidential terms are the ones that elicit fear.” Various levels of “media police” – state operatives and civil servants whose job it is to monitor and exert influence on the media are in place. “If the GISO2 walks into your workplace and wants to know where you live, then you feel afraid. Journalists are summoned to the Resident District Commissioner’s office to account for their stories. Sometimes members of the public are called in to account for what they say on air.” The authorities now put a great deal of effort into policing the media. This is done at a number of levels: • • • • The evidence collection department of the police, members of which carry cameras to gather evidence, mainly during riots and other disturbances, in order to make a case against troublemakers. However, the unit has also used its photographic evidence to counter media coverage of the same events. The Media Offences Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), which specifically analyses media reports and footage to see if media contravene laws and regulations. Resident District Commissioners (RDC’s) and Gombolola Internal Security Officers (GISO’s), who monitor media and keep tabs on journalists working in their respective areas. The Uganda Media Centre, which is the government’s information dissemination arm. Those carrying out the surveillance show varying degrees of sophistication. “At the top, they will probably listen to your argument. In the villages, they have the attitude that ‘you are either with us or against us’.” There is mounting peer pressure not to speak out. “Recently I was interviewed about the state of the roads”, said a panellist. “The moment you come out, particularly when your picture is in the media, people think you are going to be targeted.” Since the riots that took place in 2011 and in early 2012, the topics of radio discussion programmes and phone-ins have shifted from politics to social issues. “That for me is definitely an issue of fear”, said a panellist. Having said this, some panellists felt that direct intimidation of journalists is less now than it was a few years ago. Now, intimidation is more indirect. “This is more threatening because you do not know where the danger lies.” Civil society organisations are also being affected. One NGO representative on the panel said their organisation facilitated public discussions in rural areas, but there people had adopted the mind-set that “you don’t discuss politics”. 2 14 Gombolola Internal Security Officer. Gombolola is the name for an administrative area within Uganda. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2012