Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

<strong>the</strong> circumstances.
I became Editor-in-Chief a few
months before <strong>the</strong> presidential and
parliamentary election campaigns
kicked off in October 2010 and <strong>the</strong>
subsequent elections in February
2011. The media faces real challenges
in covering an election in a
young democracy like Uganda. The
pressure comes from all <strong>the</strong> political
parties and from <strong>the</strong> audiences.
Traditionally, New Vision has not
made sales growth during an
election year, but 2011 was different.
We made significant market gains.
We changed our election coverage
strategy. Besides covering <strong>the</strong>
political campaigns, we took an
issues-based approach by bringing
in <strong>the</strong> people’s voices and faces on
<strong>the</strong> problems that affected <strong>the</strong>m
most.
We were still basking in <strong>the</strong> victory,
when <strong>the</strong> most challenging time in
my career came. Dr. Kizza Besigye,
<strong>the</strong> leader of <strong>the</strong> main opposition
party, <strong>the</strong> Forum for Democratic
Change, launched <strong>the</strong> walk-to-work
protests over <strong>the</strong> high cost of living.
The New Vision in-house policy
prohibits coverage of intentions to
riot, but we cover <strong>the</strong> riots when
<strong>the</strong>y happen.
That is exactly what we did. We
covered <strong>the</strong> riots in a fair and
balanced manner. We highlighted
<strong>the</strong> excessive use of force by <strong>the</strong>
police in quelling <strong>the</strong> riots and also
<strong>the</strong> extreme provocation by <strong>the</strong>
opposition leaders. However, our
position did not come off well with
ei<strong>the</strong>r side.
I got hate mail and threats from <strong>the</strong>
opposition who were angry that <strong>the</strong>y
could not use our media platforms
to mobilise <strong>the</strong>ir supporters. On <strong>the</strong>
o<strong>the</strong>r hand, <strong>the</strong> police expected
us to censor some nasty incidents
since New Vision is partially owned
by government.
Overall, <strong>the</strong> year has been
challenging with lots of hard work.
132 | Media in Africa - 2011
On average I work a 13-hour day, six
days a week and sometimes I feel
like part of <strong>the</strong> newsroom furniture.
However, <strong>the</strong> challenges have been
equally satisfying and none of <strong>the</strong>
fears have been insurmountable.
So have I faced any gender prejudice?
Growing up in <strong>the</strong> 1970s and
1980s in Uganda, <strong>the</strong> ratio of girls
to boys in our schools was always
much smaller. At a young age I
learnt to compete on merit in
male-dominated classes. Today, I
never get up thinking that I am a
woman and I am going to work in a
male-dominated field and I may be
discriminated against.
“I got hate mail and
threats from <strong>the</strong>
opposition who were
angry that <strong>the</strong>y could
not use our media
platforms to mobilise
<strong>the</strong>ir supporters.”
Of course I am aware that gender
prejudices exist and some people
show visible surprise when <strong>the</strong>y
come to meet me and discover that
<strong>the</strong> Editor-in-Chief is “just a small
woman”, but I have learnt to live
with that. I have discovered that
my ability to perform matters ra<strong>the</strong>r
than my gender.
To fellow female journalists, I say,
don’t fear to take up challenges.
Look for opportunities to improve
yourself and give it your best. With a
challenging career, you need strong
family and professional support.
One crucial lesson I have learnt is
that success comes from a great
team. An empowered team can
crush even <strong>the</strong> hardest bone. At
New Vision, <strong>the</strong> different teams
brainstorm over <strong>the</strong> different
challenges we face and come up
with solutions. All I do is to lead <strong>the</strong>
team, place members in positions
<strong>the</strong>y are best suited for and cheer
<strong>the</strong>m on, as <strong>the</strong>y perform miracles.