To fully understand the latest standoff between NUP and Next Media over the alleged brutality of journalists in Lwengo, one has to go back to the aftermath of the 2021 elections.
It started with a letter written by Robert Kyagulanyi, the president of NUP to the CEO of Next Media, Kin Kariisa, in which the politician alleged that NBS had conspired with other actors to “defeat the will of the people.”
Within the corridors of NBS at Naguru hill, the letter landed with a thud and caused tremors among management and staff.
Meetings of senior editors and other staff were called to discuss the implications of the letter to NBS’s viewership in Buganda, where NUP had massive support.
Kariisa, the man under fire, remained calm, at least on the outside. In fact, he refused to publicly acknowledge receipt of Kyagulanyi’s letter and in one the top management meetings (which sit on Mondays), he said Bobi Wine was not worth his time.
Yet underneath, he was seething and suggested Bobi Wine was ungrateful for the “help” NBS TV had given him as he climbed the political ladder.
“How could Kyagulanyi do this to us yet it is NBS that gave him the publicity and prominence that he enjoys,” Kariisa said in one of the meetings.
It did not help that within Next Media, there were staff who believed that coverage of NUP especially during the campaigns had been lopsided.
Some senior managers started to look at some of the staff suspiciously wondering whether they were bad mouthing NBS TV outside of office.
Some of the staff feared that they were being surveilled and that their phone calls were being tapped.
Precautions
Next Media management took precautions.
Security at Next Media Park was beefed up fearing an invasion by NUP supporters.
Stickers and branding on NBS vehicles was all removed to protect the drivers and staff who use them, from attacks from NUP supporters.
Staff with private vehicles were advised to remove stickers that identified them as NBS employees. Some managers told junior staff to avoid hanging out in areas where NUP supporters are known to frequent like Kamwokya.
Management came up with a list of NUP politicians that it said could not be featured on NBS TV.
Even the placement of news stories concerning NUP in bulletins became a major issue. If the story was bashing NUP or its leadership, it could be moved up among the top stories.
If the story was praising NUP or Bobi Wine, it was dropped or placed in the second news segment.
In fairness, Next Media still gave some NUP politicans a platform. But these are the ones who were viewed as not being radical or close to Bobi Wine.
But there is no doubt that Next Media had opted to go to war with NUP and that a line had been drawn in the sand.
Key questions
Did Next Media have a tally centre?
Yes it had a tally centre, like other private media organizations only that NBS TV was the leading current affairs station and the most watched.
Was the NBS TV tally centre used to aid in the alleged rigging of the poll?
That requires significant proof which at the moment is not available.
It is the fumbling over the poll figures by the TV’s senior anchor, Mildred Tuhaise after a mishap in the control room on election night that created suspicion that “something fishy” was going on in Naguru.
Yet if we flipped the coin, Kyagulanyi’s letter was hollow and left a lot to be desired. It did not clearly or specifically point out where or how NBS TV had aided in the rigging of the poll.
The letter, written two weeks after the polls, stated NBS TV relayed altered results from President Museveni’s strongholds to create a narrative that the incumbent was leading, without providing a shred of evidence.
It also illustrated the depth of disorganization with the NUP camp after some of its leaders started to quietly disown the allegations.
Yet in the end, Kyagulanyi did not need to provide hard evidence. His letter needed to tap into the psyche of his supporters that “his victory” was robbed with the aid of NBS.
Kyagulanyi’s letter set the tone for the love-hate relationship between NUP and Next Media, which continues up to today.
Where next?
There are those within Next Media, including Kariisa, who believe that given the power and influence of the organization, politicians will always clamour to appear on its platforms.
That’s why some of the NUP leaders who are critical of NBS TV like David Lewis Rubongoya and Waiswa Mufumbiro will never turn down any opportunity to appear on the station.
Instead, when they take long without being invited for a show, they vent on social media how NBS is in the “hands of a dictator.”
Kariisa knows that for as long as NBS remains the most influential current affairs TV, politicians even those that are critical of it, will always run to it.
It’s a catch 22 for them.
Even with the rising popularity of social media platforms like TikTok, traditional media still remains the most trusted at least for now.
Yet NUP also knows how to get even with NBS TV, like the Lwengo incident showed. From what Bbeg Media has gathered, some journalists were definitely assaulted by NUP supporters.
It is not clear whether this was planned or random but from the correspondences, NUP has “no regrets”, for what happened to the journalists and is sheepishly asking “for evidence”.
As we head towards 2026 elections, NUP’s frosty relationship with Next Media is likely to continue given the stakes.
Yet like that quarrelsome neighborhood couple that is always on the verge of fighting, the two will always find room to accommodate each other. Uncomfortably.
