Let’s face it. 2024 has been a very challenging year for media organizations and journalists in Uganda.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Advertisers have cut back on spending leaving many media houses in a poor financial state. Some can’t make the monthly payroll while others have closed shop.
Generally, many media organizations are just hobbling to the 2024 finish line, hoping that 2025 could bring better tidings.
Yet amidst this gloom and doom, some organizations have stood out for their inventions.
Take Daily Monitor and its witty headlines that have brought cheers among many avid newspaper readers.
Rubbished was the paper headline on September 25 after President Museveni sacked the top officials at KCCA following the Kiteezi landfill saga. It was inventive in the sense that it juxtaposed Museveni’s action with the predicament of people who lost their loved ones in the landfill saga.
Its July 24 headline, Corruption Sheild succinctly revealed the challenges of fighting graft in this country. It captured the frustrations of young people who were trying to march to Parliament protesting high levels of corruption only to be met with a heavy shield of police officers, armed to the teeth. In essence, the police were shielding the corrupt.
There was also the Wheels of Death headline on October 17 that put into perspective the growing menace of Boda Bodas which claim hundreds of lives every year.
These headlines and others like Coffee doesn’t lie, Born to Rent, URA Crawls Up the Water Pipes have brought a much-needed inventiveness into a sector that has been on life support for the past decade. They have been a breath of fresh air and editors at Namuwongo should surely earn their bonuses.
Yet it remains to be seen whether the headlines translated into more sales for Uganda’s oldest privately owned newspaper.
In the print media, circulation figures have fallen off the cliff in the last 20 years. Gone are the days when New Vision or Daily Monitor routinely sold 40,000 copies each. Knowledgeable sources within the industry say all newspapers combined sell less than 30,000 copies a day. Yes. We have also been told that nearly half of that is claimed by Bukedde newspaper.
Indeed, the picture remains gloomy for many media organizations as we end 2024.
The Vision Group was forced to do away with its once popular Sunday Vision paper because the math did not math. The picture is not any fancier at The Observer which has had to withstand several headwinds in the last five years. It has certainly seen better days.
At UBC, some employees are in a striking mood claiming they have gone three months without pay. There is talk of staff layoffs at Next Media while at the Serena Hotel-based NTV, a number of key personnel have left for greener pastures. They want to recruit 20 people to try to plug the gaping holes.
Many online digital platforms (like the one you are reading), survive on a wing and a prayer.
As for some private radio stations where journalists are still paid Shs 2,000 per story, the less said, the better.
Can it get any worse in 2025? We hope not.