Uganda’s media landscape has turned into a real battleground lately.
As the Nation Media Group (NMG) clashes with the government, Next Media, one of the biggest broadcasters around, has been pulled into the mess too. But the Naguru-based media conglomerate has kept a safe distance.
The trouble started earlier this year. Since March 2025, reporters working for NMG which includes NTV Uganda, Daily Monitor, and KFM, have been shut out from covering Museveni’s events.
State House actually confirmed the ban, with Faruk Kirunda, Museveni’s deputy spokesperson, blaming Daily Monitor for what he called “persistent instances of misreporting.”
Yet things have only gotten worse for NMG. On October 28, 2025, Parliament stripped the group’s journalists of their accreditation and kept them out of parliamentary sessions.
That move set off a wave of backlash. The Uganda Editors Guild and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) both slammed the ban, calling it “unlawful censorship.” The Uganda Law Society (ULS) even threatened to take the government to court, saying the ban is unconstitutional.
Neither has NMG backed down. The group’s managing director in Uganda, Susan Nsibirwa, has called the restrictions “a growing cancer of intolerance.”
As NMG faces pressure, Next Media, its biggest competitor in Uganda, has managed to keep its head down and avoid the same kind of heat. And people have noticed.
On social media, some critics have wondered why Next Media seems untouched.
Is it luck, strategy, or something else?
In March, after the chaotic Kawempe North by-elections, reporters from Next Media, too, were banned from covering Museveni’s events. Indeed, the ban was widely covered by Bbeg Media.
Museveni plays hide and seek as NBS, NTV seek meeting over coverage ban
However, as elections approached, some say Kin Kariisa, the CEO, reportedly met President Museveni and apologized. This explains why Next Media’s journalists were eventually allowed to cover Museveni’s campaign trail.
Next Media has not explained anything publicly, but the notion of a private apology has set off all kinds of speculation from a section of Ugandans on social media platforms like X.
Some people have accused Next Media of selling out to Museveni as Nation Media suffers. One user wrote: “If you want real independent news, stop watching NBS. NBS is safe now. They won’t bite the hand that could starve them.”
Others have called for a boycott of the stations under Next Media, not the first time in its 15 years of existence. In its place, they have urged viewers and readers to “subscribe to Daily Monitor.
Yet not everyone has been eager to jump onto the “Boycott Next Media” bandwagon.
Some have argued that by avoiding a direct crackdown, Next Media has kept at least some media space open. In other words, they say a partially compromised press is still better than one that is completely under government control.
Risks
While Next Media might look safe for now, that does not mean they are in the clear yet. If some people start thinking Next Media has gone soft or lost its independence, they may tune out.
Secondly, some civil society groups that fight for press freedom might start to see Next Media’s silence as weakness and distance themselves.
Looked at broadly, the uproar on social media really highlights a bigger fear that has repercussions for independent journalism and the financial viability of media organisations, including Bbeg Media.
Already, media organisations like NMG and Next Media are under a lot of financial and operational strain. Business is yet to recover from the Covid-19 blues, and for some, surviving by whatever means is their only option.
For the public, the question is: Are they willing to defend journalism, even when it comes from outlets they don’t always agree with?
As elections get closer, the real fight will not just happen at election rallies or in parliament. It will also happen in newsrooms across this country.
