Media as a Political Tool for Dominance: a Case of Uganda

Abstract

Libertarian theory states that nothing in the world should be restricted. It further says that, there should be free circulation of information in the world and a country should be a free market of ideas/information. However, according to Uganda media research report 2015, media leaders in Uganda constantly acknowledge that there are problems regarding the quality of journalism as often seen in the lack of depth and accuracy, lack of balance and fairness, moralization rather than analysis, provision of excitement and incitement rather than information, and unwanted attacks on the lives of private citizens. Different media houses have been censored, journalists and political leaders arrested and jailed due to the information they disseminate through media channels mainly electronic media. Using observation analysis, the Uganda government has constantly accused the media users of violating the media rules. Similarly, the media users also have constantly blamed the government for denying them freedom of press some times. Therefore, this paper intends to examine the ways media can lead to self violation of one`s human rights and freedom, identifies kinds of media messages fit for broadcasting or telecasting and assess the extent media should monitor government organs and activities or policies . It also recommends that the government of Uganda should promote media literacy among citizens. This will help all citizens to clearly detect false media messages on their own. Besides, journalists are recommended to gather correct facts before disseminating information and should be objective in their reporting. Uganda media houses should employ well trained journalists and organize for them journalism seminars. This will help them update their information reporting skills and principles.