SECTOR 4 determine who goes on air and who does not. I don’t think this interference is going to change much in this current dispensation.” Not everyone agreed. The more the media grows, the more the media will generate revenue from multiple sources, reducing the scope for interference. As it is, “editors don’t just cave in” to pressure. “They defend their actions and their choices”, although this is less likely to happen at smaller media houses. “There are very few small media houses that have the editorial clout to stand up to interference from an owner. That distinction between the big boys and the smaller media houses is very important.” The finance minister, for example, owns two radio stations but does not interfere to the level of deciding who sits on panel discussions. Nonetheless, she has said on record that her media businesses still need to make money and will not risk this by going out on a limb. Since the riots, Akaboozi Ku Bbiri, one of the stations owned by the finance minister, has steered clear of politics. Similarly, the Agha Khan has business interests other than those he has in media, and these are “quickly put in front” when it comes to what his media companies do and do not cover. “You have to strike a compromise: how much money is he investing in Uganda and how much is a story in the media worth.” Each politician wants to survive politically, and they establish their own radio stations as part of this survival strategy, causing a mushrooming in private radio stations in the process. Those broadcasting in indigenous languages have wide listenership and generate a lot of political debate. “Some of this debate is not backed by hard evidence and, at a certain point, cannot be controlled.” It is necessary for these stations to be accountable to “rigorous editorial policies”. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.8 (2010: 1.4; 2007: 1.4) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2012 67