Uganda
Sector 4:
4.1

The media practice high levels of professional
standards.

The media follow voluntary codes of professional
standards, which are enforced by self-regulatory bodies.

ANALYSIS:
The Press and Journalists Statute, 1995, in its First Schedule provides for a Professional Code of Ethics. This was ‘borrowed’ in its
entirety from a code of conduct previously developed by media organisations. Complaints are dealt with by a statutory Media Council
which could be used to clamp down on the press. Up to 2006 this
Council had handled only four complaints submitted by government
authorities. Most disputes are still taken to courts of law.
Because of the Council’s inefficiency and because media organisations are opposed to such statutory regulation, they formed an Independent Media Council in February 2006 which is registered as an
NGO and a non-profit company. A draft code of professional standards still needs to be adopted by all members of the council before
the media will be able to regulate themselves.
The New Vision has developed its own in-house code and the Daily
Monitor follows policy guidelines provided by its owners, the Nation
Group.
SCORES:
Individual scores:

1, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2

Average:

2.1

30

African Media Barometer - Uganda 2007

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