Uganda 4.6 Journalists and editors do not practice self-censorship. ANALYSIS: Sellf-censorship is usually exercised when it comes to stories relating to government operations. A reporter will be cautious if a source criticises the president and worry whether the story will be published at all. The situation is complicated by the fact that a freelance reporter is paid per story and even the performance of employed journalists is judged by their story count. An editor will be conscious of political consequences and “at times it takes a heart to run a story”. At FM stations self-censorship is even more pronounced as editors and owners fear commercial consequences and a possible backlash in terms of advertisements. Many such stations are owned by politicians and/or business people with links to politicians or the ruling class. There the editor has to keep the interests of his/her owner in mind. The situation is even worse up-country where more than 20 politicians own FM stations. SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2, 2 Average: 2.0 4.7 Owners of private media do not interfere with editorial independence. ANALYSIS: There is a considerable degree of interference by owners of private media with editorial independence. Such interventions can take the form of direct meddling by the owner: Do not run this story, take this aspect as a lead. In FM stations it is possible that an owner will 34 African Media Barometer - Uganda 2007