Uganda Media Coverage of The 2021 Elections PDF

Ugandan
MEDIA COVERAGE
of the2021 Elections
PRELIMINARY REPORT
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE
OF THE 2021 ELECTIONS
(OCT–NOV 2020)
PRELIMINARY
REPORT
DECEMBER 2020
Published by
African Centre for Media Excellence
Plot 130 Kalungu Road (Bunga-Soya), off Ggaba Road
P. O. Box 11283 Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256 393 202 351
info@acme-ug.org
www.acme-ug.org
Facebook: ACME.UG
Twitter: @ACME_Uganda
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020) iii
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V
INTRODUCTION 1
BACKGROUND 2
Media role in elections 2
The media landscape in Uganda 2
Findings of previous monitoring reports on media coverage of elections 4
Principles identified in guidelines on media coverage of elections 5
RESEARCH QUESTIONS 6
METHODOLOGY 7
Scope of the study 7

Methods of data collection 9
Type of election (Parliamentary vs presidential) 13
Type of articles published in newspapers 16
Type of stories broadcast on TV and radio stations 16
Time allocated to election-related stories on TV and radio 17
KEY FINDINGS 19
Frequency of stories on presidential candidates 19

Frequency of front-page stories on presidential candidates 24
Frequency of pictures of presidential candidates 25
Space allocated to presidential candidates in newspapers 27
Time allocated to presidential candidates on TV and radio 29
Tone of coverage (general) 32
Tone of coverage of presidential candidates 33
Use of Right of reply 36
iv UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)
Event- vs issue-based reporting 38

Origin of election stories 42
Reporting format of election stories 44
Number of sources in election stories 49
Type of sources in election stories 54
Gender of sources in election stories 57
Use of background and Context 62
Interrogation of claims made by presidential candidates 62
Topics/issues addressed in election stories 64
CONCLUSION 68
Key takeaways 69
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020) v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T
his research report was written by Brian Ssenabulya (ACME Programme Associate, Media
Monitoring and Research), Elijah Mangeni (Programme Officer, Monitoring and Evaluation),
and Executive Director Peter G. Mwesige (Ph.D).
The coding for the content analysis was conducted by 12 research assistants.
ACME thanks the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) for funding the research. Monitoring media
coverage of elections is part of ACME’s 32-month project entitled “Enhanced Media Reporting for
Civic Engagement and Accountability (EMERCEA).” The project aims to contribute towards the
realisation of a vibrant and reliable media that consistently produces quality public affairs journalism
that empowers citizens to engage in democratic processes.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020) 1
INTRODUCTION
T
his report looks at Ugandan news media coverage of the 2021 elections, focusing on five
key publications, six television stations, and 35 radio stations. It explores the attention
these newspapers and a news magazine, television and radio stations paid the election-
related news and issues in October and November 2020 and the nature of their coverage. The
publications studied are Bukedde (a Luganda-language daily), Daily Monitor, New Vision, The
Observer, and The Independent newsmagazine. The television stations monitored are Baba TV,
Bukedde TV, NBS, NTV, TV West, and UBC. The radio stations are listed in the methodology
section.
Relying mainly on quantitative content analysis, the report explores the volume of coverage of
election-related news and issues by these selected media houses, the types of elections covered, the
types of articles published (news, analysis, opinion, features, etc.), the reporting formats employed,
the topics covered, and the tone of coverage. The analysis also covers the voices in the coverage,
including the occupation and gender of sources.
The report also pays particular attention to the coverage of the 11 presidential candidates, focusing on
who appeared on the front pages of the newspapers, the volume of coverage on each of them, how
much space or time was dedicated to each candidate across the three media platforms monitored,
and the tone of coverage of the contenders.
Finally, conclusions are shared.

2 UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)
BACKGROUND
A
s the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has noted, given
the key role the media play in elections, “any observation effort should pay significant
attention to the activities of the media and their coverage of elections”.1
Media monitoring is particularly critical this election cycle because the Electoral Commission directed
that campaigning be conducted “scientifically” (i.e. soliciting votes largely through the media rather
than the usual public rallies and other canvassing techniques that are said to violate social distancing
regulations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic).
Media role in elections

The media (can) play five essential roles in elections: provision of information to enable voters
make informed decisions; provision of platforms for debate through allowing exchange of opinions
amongst the different contending groups and citizens; acting as a watchdog for fairness during
election campaigning and polling; educating the public about election processes; and providing
voice to the voters.2
The media landscape in Uganda

The media landscape in Uganda is characterised by a liberal regime of investment (at least on paper)
and stringent regulation across print, radio, and television channels. Online and social media are
increasingly becoming a major source of information and debate for middle class Ugandans.
Radio remains the biggest source of information for 80% of Ugandans (Afrobarometer, 2020)3.
Television comes second at 31%, followed by the internet (14%) and social media (13%). While
newspapers come last at 12%, they remain influential agenda setters for the public, political class,
as well as other media.
Although Uganda has some of the most vibrant media in east and southern Africa, for very many
years the country has been characterised by the international press freedom watchdog Freedom
1 OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (2012). Handbook on Media Monitoring for Election
Observation Missions. Warsaw, Poland.
2 Marie-Soleil Frère (2010). The Media and Elections in Post-Conflict Central African Countries. Brussels: University
of Brussels.
3 Afrobarometer (2020).”Feasible but unsuitable? Examining the practicality of a media-only 2021 election
campaign during COVID-19: Findings from the Afrobarometer Round 8 Survey in Uganda.”
House as “partly free”. And although the country’s constitution provides for the right to freedom
of expression, including press freedom, several factors undermine these guarantees. They include
obnoxious laws and regulations, government interference, regulatory overreach, harassment and
intimidation by security officials, advertiser influence, media ownership, professional and human
resource challenges within newsrooms, and low levels of media literacy among the population.
These challenges notwithstanding, the media landscape has grown from only state broadcaster in
the early 1990s to a multi-player, diversified industry today. The two biggest media houses — with
interests in radio, television, print, and online — are the majority state-owned Vision Group, and
Nation Media Group, a Nairobi-based conglomerate that is privately owned. In addition to the two
market leaders, there are a number of other small privately owned entities: The Red Pepper, a daily
tabloid; the weekly The Observer and The Independent. There are nearly 300 radio stations, and 30
TV stations. The state-run Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) has the widest TV and radio
reach, broadcasting in multiple local languages as well as in English and Kiswahili.
Although UBC was supposed to have transformed into a public broadcaster, it has over the years
remained very much a state broadcaster subservient to the ruling party and rarely providing for
views critical of the government. In the 2016 election petition filed in the Supreme Court by former
Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi against the re-election of President Yoweri Museveni, the accusation
of UBC favouring the incumbent, contrary to the law, was the only ground that was upheld. Ensuring
that public media provided equitable coverage to all candidates as required by the constitution
and the law was one of the recommendations that the Supreme Court asked the attorney general
to address within 18 months after its March 2016 decision. The Presidential Elections Amendment
(Act) 2020 was subsequently enacted to provide for sanctions against public media that violate the
requirement of equitable coverage of candidates. According to the amended act, a pubic media
house that is found to have breached this requirement will pay a maximum fine of Shs10 million and
the person in charge of that media house shall upon conviction be liable to a fine of up to Shs10
million or a maximum jail term of two years or both.
The Uganda Communications (Content) Regulations of 2019 extend this requirement of equitable
coverage of presidential candidates to all broadcasters, including private ones. Using language from
the “Minimum Broadcasting Standards” enshrined in the Uganda Communications Act 2013, the
regulations provide that an operator shall ensure that:
“(a) Where a programme that is broadcast is in respect to a contender for a public

office, that each contender is given equal opportunity on the programme in accordance
with the Regulations;
“(b) Equitable coverage and opportunity is given to political parties and organisations
participating in an election.”
The regulations also extend the requirement of equitable treatment to political parties and
organisations. Regulation 18 (1) says, “Where, during an election period, the coverage of any
broadcasting service extends to the discussion of elections, political parties and related issues, the
broadcaster shall afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views and shall
treat all political parties equitably.”
Concerns remain that many private radio stations are owned by politicians in the National Resistance
Movement (NRM) or business people who are close to the ruling party, and that this plays a major
role in determining the content of these stations, and who gets access to them.
Although the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has in the past put radio ownership by
politicians at about 15 per cent, some media watchers contend that it could be well over 70 per
cent, especially in the countryside.4 Such ownership patterns have raised concerns about media
diversity, especially given that many radio stations owned by politicians have been known to turn
away members of the opposition and other voices of dissent.
The Catholic Church and other faith-based groups also own several radio stations that are influential
in their regions of operation.
There are also fears that conglomeration could in future undermine the media pluralism and diversity
that democracy demands.
Findings of previous monitoring reports on media coverage of elections

Previous media monitoring reports on Ugandan elections have observed several gaps in media
coverage including the following:
ll bias;
ll disproportionate attention to the incumbent on public media;
ll inaccurate reporting;
ll self-censorship;
ll poor portrayal of women candidates;
ll denial of space or time for political advertising to opposition candidates;
ll attempts by political actors, especially those in government, to influence visuals in newspapers
and on television;
ll disproportionate attention to candidates and political parties at the expense of voters;
ll lack of serious interrogation of candidate promises and claims;
ll predominance of episodic reporting and dearth of issue-based coverage; and
ll the shortage of investigative reporting.
4 Report of the International Mission on Freedom of Expression in Uganda, September 2010.

Principles identified in guidelines on media coverage of elections

The African Centre for Media Excellence and others, including the Uganda Communications
Commission and the Electoral Commission, have developed guidelines for Ugandan journalists on
covering the 2021 elections. Key principles in those guidelines include the following:
ll Accuracy
ll Fairness
ll Multiple sourcing
ll Corrections and the right of reply
ll Focus on issues
ll Equitable coverage of key candidates
ll Rejection of bribery
ll Independence from vested interests
ll Interrogation of claims and promises by candidates and parties
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the volume/quantity or frequency of election coverage in the media?
2. How much attention do the media pay to the different types of elections?
3. What type of reports do the media produce [news, commentary/opinion, features/special
reports, etc]?
4. What election-related topics do media cover?
5. What is the nature of the reporting [conventional, enterprise, interpretive, or investigative]?
6. Who are the sources in media coverage [ordinary people, party officials, candidates,
regulators, civil society actors, diplomats, religious leaders, central government officials,
local leaders, police/security officials, etc]?
7. What is the gender of the sources?
8. What is the level of sourcing in election stories? (How many sources are used)?
9. Which presidential candidates are focused on in media coverage?
10. How much time or space is dedicated to each presidential candidate?
11. Which candidates appeared on newspaper front pages?
12. Which candidates’ pictures were used on newspaper front pages?
13. What is the tone of coverage of the presidential candidates? (positive, negative or neutral
rating)?
14. How often do news stories interrogate candidate or party promises?
15. Are political candidates who are attacked given the right of reply?
METHODOLOGY
Scope of the study
T
he study focuses on Ugandan newspaper, radio, and television coverage of the 2021
election process. The monitoring was designed to cover all articles related to elections
published in Bukedde, Daily Monitor, New Vision, The Observer and The Independent
from 1 October–30 November 2020. These include all articles that fell under news, commentary/
opinion, features, letters, Q & A, and profiles. A total of 459 newspaper articles from October
and 871 from November were analysed. Two daily news bulletins and one weekly talk-show were
monitored for each TV and radio station. A total of 763 stories and show episodes from October
and 1,493 from November from six major television stations, namely, Baba TV, Bukedde TV, NBS,
NTV, TV West, and UBC, were analysed. The 35 radio stations monitored produced 1,118 stories
and talk show episodes in October and 2,486 in November for this analysis.
Bukedde, Daily Monitor, and New Vision were selected because they are Uganda’s major dailies and
are considered to have significant influence on the national conversation. The Independent, a weekly
newsmagazine, and The Observer, a weekly newspaper, were selected because of their major focus
on public affairs reporting. It is expected that their publication frequency would force them to offer
more depth and investigation than the dailies. For television, NBS and NTV were included because
they are the leading stations in public affairs programming, while UBC is the national broadcaster. It
is expected to offer comprehensive news and a diversity of programming without paying as much
attention to profit as the private stations. Baba TV, Bukedde TV, and TV West were included to add
a regional flavour to the analysis. The schedule of TV programmes monitored is as follows:
TABLE 1: TV news shows and programmes monitored
TV station Time of 1st news bulletin Time of 2nd news bulletin Name of weekly talk-show
NBS 7.00pm 9.00pm Frontline

NTV 7.00pm 9.00pm On the spot
UBC 7.00pm 10.00pm Behind the headlines
Baba TV 1.00pm 9.00pm The platform
Bukedde 7.00pm 10.00pm Akabinkano
TV West 1.00pm 8.00pm Akadaara
The following radio stations, representing the different political regions of the country, were
monitored:
TABLE 2: List of radio stations monitored by region
REGION RADIO STATION
Kampala (7) Capital FM

CBS FM
KFM
Pearl FM
Radio Sapientia
Radio Simba
UBC Blue Channel
Central (4) Buddu FM
Heart FM
Mambule FM
Radio Ssese
Eastern (7) Baba FM
Busoga One
Etop
NBS FM
Open Gate
Step FM
Teso Broadcasting Service
Western (9) Kasese Guide
KRC
Radio Kitara
Radio West
Spice FM
Voice of Kamwenge
Voice of Kigezi
Voice of Muhabura
Voice of Toro
Northern (4) Mega FM
Mighty Fire
Radio Rupiny
Unity FM
West Nile (3) Arua One
Paidha FM
Radio Pacis
Karamoja (1) Etoil A Karamoja
Methods of data collection

The study relied mainly on quantitative content analysis of election coverage by the selected
publications, television, and radio stations. Key informant interviews with selected reporters and
editors provided context for the findings.
Content analysis
In the main we analysed manifest content. “Manifest content refers to what is explicitly stated and
draws on the objective and replicable qualities of quantitative methods” (Hilton and Hunt (2010).5
However, where appropriate and necessary, we also undertook qualitative analysis of latent content.6
Content analysis was used to get an all-round sense of the nature of coverage in terms of both quantity
and quality. Stories were coded and analysed based on a detailed coding sheet that contained a
number of variables that were necessary to answer the research questions. The variables included
the following7:
The variables of interest included the following:
1. Publication/TV/radio station
2. Volume of election coverage
3. Type of election (Parliamentary vs presidential)
4. Type of articles published in newspapers
5. Type of stories broadcast on TV and radio stations
6. Space allocated to election-related articles in newspapers
7. Time allocated to election-related stories on TV and radio
8. Frequency of stories on the different presidential candidates
9. Frequency of front page stories on the different presidential candidates
10. Frequency of pictures of the different presidential candidates
11. Space allocated to presidential candidates in newspapers
12. Time allocated to presidential candidates on TV and radio
13. Tone of election coverage (general)
14. Tone of coverage of presidential candidates
15. Use of the right of reply
16. Event- vs issue-based reporting
5 Hilton, S. & Hunt, K. (2010). UK newspaper representations of the 2009-10 outbreak of swine flue: one health
scare not over-hyped by the media?” Research Report, J Epidemiol, Community Health
6 See, Krippendorf, K. (2004). Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications.
7 A full list of the variables and their definitions is detailed in the coding sheet in Annex 1.
17. Origin of election stories

18. Reporting format of election stories (conventional; enterprise/interpretive; investigation)
19. Number of sources in election stories
20. Type of sources in election stories
21. Gender of sources in election stories
22. Use of background and context used in election stories
23. Interrogation of claims made by presidential candidates
24. Topics/issues addressed in election stories
The content analysis was conducted by 12 research assistants who coded the data after attending
a short training workshop. Samples of the preliminary data entered were analysed at different
points to test intercoder reliability (or the level of agreement between the different assistants
doing the coding). Two reliability tests were conducted and the results showed a high degree of
agreement on the way different variables were coded.
For newspapers, as well as television and radio news, the unit of analysis was the story; each story
was be treated as a whole unit of meaning. For radio and television talk shows, the programme (e.g.
talk show and in some cases, the segment) was the unit of analysis.
The data were gathered using standard coding forms administered by the coders. They relied on
a detailed codebook containing definitions of all the content categories that were monitored. The
coding procedure involved a rigorous and methodical process of identifying and analysing election-
related stories. The data were captured, processed, and analysed using SPSS.
The presidential candidates

In October, there was still no clarity on how many candidates would eventually stand. Most newspapers
focused on President Yoweri Museveni, National Unity Platform’s Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, Forum
for Democratic Change’s Patrick Oboi Amuriat, and Alliance for National Transformation’s Gregory
Mugisha Muntu.
The eventual list of candidates nominated in November has the following:
Candidate Political Party/Affiliation
Fred Mwesigye Independent

Gregory Mugisha Muntu Alliance for National Transformation
Henry Tumukunde Independent
John Katumba Independent
Joseph Kabuleta Independent
Nancy Kalembe Independent
Norbert Mao Democratic Party
Patrick Oboi Amuriat Forum for Democratic Change
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu National Unity Platform
Willy Mayambala Independent
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni National Resistance Movement
Volume of stories
In October, although elections dominated media coverage, the volume of stories was still relatively
low. The five newspapers monitored published 459 stories, with New Vision leading the pack with a
share of 36.6% followed closely by Daily Monitor with 32.5%. The two weeklies, The Observer and
The Independent combined published only 15 election stories or less than 5% of the total published
by the two English-language dailies.
TABLE 3A: Number of newspaper stories by publication
October November
Publication Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
New Vision 168 36.6 318 36.5

Daily Monitor 149 32.5 308 35.4
Bukedde 127 27.7 209 24.0
The Independent 8 1.7 17 2.0
The Observer 7 1.5 19 2.2
Total 459 100.0 871 100.0
Newspaper election coverage almost doubled from 459 stories in October to 871 in November.
In both months New Vision had the highest share of stories followed closely by Daily Monitor.
TABLE 3B: Number of television stories by station
October November
TV station Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
NBS 232 30.4 285 19.1

NTV 202 26.5 371 24.8
UBC 130 17 330 22.1
Bukedde 98 12.8 271 18.2
Baba TV 76 10 161 10.8
TV West 25 3.3 75 5.0
Total 763 100 1493 100.0
In both October and November, the six television stations monitored carried more stories than the
newspapers. NBS led in October with nearly a third of the story count, while NTV had the highest
share of election stories in November.
TABLE 3C: Number of radio stories by region
October November
Region Radio stations Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Kampala 7 417 37.3 868 34.9

Eastern 7 254 22.7 579 23.3
Western 9 216 19.3 563 22.6
West Nile 3 70 6.3 203 8.2
Northern 4 63 5.6 137 5.5
Central 4 71 6.4 88 3.5
Karamoja 1 27 2.4 48 1.9
Total 35 1,118 100 2,486 100.0
In both months, Kampala had the lion’s share of stories (37.3% and 34.9%), followed by the eastern
region. The western region, which had a slightly higher number of radio stations monitored, was third.
Type of election (Parliamentary vs presidential)

TABLE 4: Type of election stories by media platform
Type of election NEWSPAPERS TELEVISION RADIO
October November October November October November

(n=459) (n=871) (n=763) (n=1,493) (n=1,118) (n=2,486)
Both 23.7 21.8 24.1 16.9 23.6 16.8

Parliamentary 58.4 12.1 48.2 7.9 55.6 7.6
Presidential 17.9 66.1 27.7 75.2 20.8 75.7
The parliamentary election garnered a lot of attention in October because of the increased activity
around NRM party primaries, selection of National Unity Platform flag bearers, and the nomination
of Members of Parliament by the Electoral Commission. The nomination of presidential candidates
and the start of the campaigns in November saw the presidential election overtake the parliamentary
election in terms of attention across all the three media platforms.
Percentage of different types of election stories by media platform

Trend in type of election in newspaper coverage

Trend in type of election in television coverage
Trend in type of election in radio coverage

Type of articles published in newspapers

TABLE 5A: Frequency of different types of newspaper articles
October November
Type of article Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
News 363 79.1 662 76.0

General commentary or opinion 36 7.8 87 10.0
Feature 26 5.7 53 6.1
News analysis 10 2.2 15 1.7
Editorial 10 2.2 24 2.8
Letter to the Editor 10 2.2 24 2.8
Q&A interviews 2 0.4 6 0.7
Profile 2 0.4 0 0.0
Total 459 100 871 100.0
News stories accounted for nearly 8 out of every 10 newspaper stories published in the two months.
There was a slight increase in general commentary and opinion in November, but the share of news
analysis went down.
Type of stories broadcast on TV and radio stations

5B: Frequency of different types of television stories/shows
October November
Story type Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
News 668 87.5 1382 92.6

Commentary 41 5.4 24 1.6
Package/feature 27 3.5 33 2.2
Interview 27 3.5 54 3.6
Total 763 100 1493 100.0
TABLE 5C: Frequency of different type of radio stories/shows
October November
Story type Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
News 1,054 94.3 2,401 96.6

Commentary 55 4.9 67 2.7
Interview 9 0.8 16 0.6
Package/feature 0 0 2 0.1
Total 1,118 100 2,486 100.0
Space in CM2 allocated to election-related articles in newspapers
TABLE 6: Newspaper space dedicated to election coverage
October November
Publication Space (cm2) % Pages Space (cm2) % Pages
Daily Monitor 75,132 35.9 91 124,924 35.8 151

New Vision 70,135 33.5 85 136,556 39.1 165
Bukedde 60,532 28.9 73 76,398 21.9 92
The Observer 3,568 1.7 4 11,492 3.3 14
The Independent - - - - - -
Total 209,367 100 253 349370 100.0 423
Space dedicated to election coverage by the newspapers monitored increased from nearly
210,000cm2 (the equivalent of 235 full pages) in October to about 350,000 cm2 (about 423 full
pages) in November. This translates to about 10% of total newspaper space. The November space
was the equivalent of 3.5 pages per day for each of the four newspapers.
Time allocated to election-related stories on TV and radio

TABLE 7A: Time allocated to election coverage by television stations
October November
TV station Time (Minutes) Percent Time (Minutes) Percent
NBS 1,178 31.8 1,429 21.0

NTV 1,037 27.9 1,764 26.0
UBC 499 13.5 1,524 22.4
Bukedde 434 11.7 1,083 15.9
Baba TV 285 7.7 546 8.0
TV West 276 7.4 446 6.7
Total 3,709 100 6,791 100.0
Television dedicated a significant amount of time to elections. NBS led the way in October, followed
by NTV, with UBC a distant third. In November, NTV dedicated the highest share of time to elections,
followed by UBC, and NBS. The November numbers suggest NTV dedicated nearly an hour to election
coverage each day, while UBC gave about 51 minutes and NBS 48 minutes daily.
TABLE 7B: Time allocated to election coverage by radio stations
October November
Region Radio stations Time (Minutes) Percent Time(Minutes) Percent
Kampala 7 1,937 45.5 2,890 38.7

Western 9 949 22.3 1,906 25.5
Eastern 7 722 16.9 1,633 21.9
Northern 4 154 3.6 381 5.1
West Nile 3 176 4.1 315 4.2
Central 4 268 6.3 254 3.4
Karamoja 1 54 1.3 89 1.2
Total 35 4,260 100.0 7,468 100.0
On average radio dedicated less time to election coverage than television in both October and
November. The total time dedicated to election coverage on radio grew by more than 3,000 minutes
(or 50 hours) in November.
KEY FINDINGS
Frequency of stories on presidential candidates
TABLE 8A: Volume of stories on presidential candidates across the three media
platforms (OCT)
Newspaper TV Radio
Candidates – October Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 34 30.4 43 23.0 67 28.0

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 27 24.1 42 22.5 48 20.1
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 22 19.6 39 20.9 46 19.2
Mugisha Muntu 7 6.3 21 11.2 20 8.4
Henry Tumukunde 5 4.5 14 7.5 16 6.7
Norbert Mao 5 4.5 13 7.0 16 6.7
Joseph Kabuleta 2 1.8 1 0.5 6 2.5
Willy Mayambala 1 0.9 1 0.5 2 0.8
Nancy Kalembe 1 0.9 3 1.6 3 1.3
Fred Mwesigye 1 0.9 4 2.1 2 0.8
John Katumba - - 1 0.5 - -
Other 7 6.3 5 2.7 13 5.4
Total 112 100.0 187 100.0 239 100.0
TABLE 8B: Volume of stories on presidential candidates across the three media
platforms (NOV)
Newspaper TV Radio
Candidates – November Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 224 27.1 329 26.1 667 28.3

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 197 23.8 320 25.4 391 16.6
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 100 12.1 183 14.5 289 12.3
Henry Tumukunde 75 9.1 108 8.6 242 10.3
Mugisha Muntu 73 8.8 98 7.8 179 7.6
Norbert Mao 50 6.0 60 4.8 159 6.7
Nancy Kalembe 35 4.2 61 4.8 104 4.4
John Katumba 24 2.9 46 3.6 129 5.5
Willy Mayambala 21 2.5 23 1.8 83 3.5
Joseph Kabuleta 19 2.3 22 1.7 85 3.6
Fred Mwesigye 9 1.1 12 1.0 30 1.3
Total 827 100.0 1262 100.0 2358 100.0
NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi attracted the highest proportion of stories across all three platforms.
Museveni followed in second place, particularly closely in the newspapers and on television. The
gap between the two was much wider on radio. Amuriat was third.
In October Museveni had received the highest share of stories across the three platforms. It would
appear that the incessant harassment Kyagulanyi by police and security forces earned him more
publicity.
TABLE 8C: Volume of newspaper stories on presidential candidates by publication (OCT)
Candidates – October Bukedde Daily Monitor New Vision The Independent

(n=42) (n=43) (n=22) (n=5)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 40.5 14.0 40.9 40.0

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 28.6 23.3 13.6 40.0
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 14.3 25.6 18.2 20.0
Mugisha Muntu 2.4 9.3 9.1 0.0
Henry Tumukunde 0.0 7.0 9.1 0.0
Norbert Mao 2.4 9.3 0.0 0.0
Joseph Kabuleta 0.0 4.7 0.0 0.0
Willy Mayambala 2.4 0.0 0.0 0.0
Nancy Kalembe 0.0 0.0 4.5 0.0
Fred Mwesigye 0.0 0.0 4.5 0.0
Other 9.5 7.0 0.0 0.0
TABLE 8D: Volume of television stories on presidential candidates by TV station (OCT)
Candidates – October Baba TV Bukedde NBS NTV UBC

(n=3) (n=19) (n=66) (n=75) (n=24)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 33.3 31.6 22.7 21.3 20.8

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 0.0 31.6 19.7 22.7 25.0
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 0.0 15.8 19.7 21.3 29.2
Mugisha Muntu 0.0 5.3 12.1 14.7 4.2
Henry Tumukunde 0.0 0.0 15.2 5.3 0.0
Norbert Mao 0.0 5.3 6.1 5.3 16.7
Fred Mwesigye 0.0 0.0 1.5 4.0 0.0
Nancy Kalembe 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.7 0.0
Joseph Kabuleta 33.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
John Katumba 0.0 5.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
Willy Mayambala 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.0
Other 33.3 5.3 1.5 1.3 4.2
TABLE 8E: Volume of radio stories on presidential candidates by region (OCT)
Candidate – October Central Eastern Kampala Karamoja Northern West Western

(n=20) (n=45) (n=76) (n=10) (n=16) Nile (n=65)
(n=7)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 30.0 35.6 35.5 20.0 12.5 14.3 20.0
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 20.0 15.6 11.8 20.0 37.5 57.1 24.6
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 15.0 24.4 22.4 10.0 12.5 14.3 16.9
Mugisha Muntu 5.0 4.4 7.9 10.0 12.5 0.0 12.3
Norbert Mao 10.0 6.7 7.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.7
Henry Tumukunde 5.0 11.1 3.9 20.0 12.5 0.0 4.6
Joseph Kabuleta 5.0 0.0 1.3 10.0 6.3 0.0 3.1
Nancy Kalembe 5.0 0.0 1.3 0.0 6.3 0.0 0.0
Fred Mwesigye 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5
Willy Mayambala 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.0 0.0 0.0 1.5
Other 5.0 2.2 6.6 0.0 0.0 14.3 7.7
TABLE 8F: Volume of newspaper stories on presidential candidates by publication

(NOV)
Candidate – November Bukedde Daily New The The

(n=212) Monitor Vision Independent Observer
(n=296) (n=286) (n=12) (n=21)

Henry Tumukunde 6.1 9.5 11.2 8.3 4.8
Mugisha Muntu 5.7 8.8 11.5 0.0 9.5
Norbert Mao 5.7 5.1 7.7 8.3 0.0
Nancy Kalembe 3.8 4.7 4.2 0.0 4.8
John Katumba 3.3 2.4 2.4 0.0 14.3
Joseph Kabuleta 0.9 4.4 1.4 0.0 0.0
Fred Mwesigye 0.5 0.7 2.1 0.0 0.0
Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of coverage in all the publications monitored, except
New Vision. In October, both New Vision and Bukedde had given Museveni the highest share of
stories, while Daily Monitor had paid more attention to Amuriat.
TABLE 8G: Volume of television stories on presidential candidates by station (NOV)
Candidates – November Baba TV Bukedde NBS NTV TV West UBC

(n=123) (n=224) (n=272) (n=322) (n=81) (n=240)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 30.9 32.1 33.8 24.5 14.8 15.0

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 26.8 29.9 29.0 17.4 23.5 27.5
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 13.0 14.7 10.3 18.0 14.8 15.0
Henry Tumukunde 3.3 6.3 4.8 8.7 16.0 15.0
Mugisha Muntu 5.7 4.9 7.7 8.4 12.3 9.2
Nancy Kalembe 5.7 2.7 3.7 6.8 2.5 5.8
Norbert Mao 6.5 3.1 3.3 6.8 6.2 3.8
John Katumba 4.9 1.8 3.7 4.3 1.2 4.6
Willy Mayambala 0.8 2.7 1.8 0.9 3.7 2.1
Joseph Kabuleta 1.6 0.4 1.1 2.5 3.7 2.1
Fred Mwesigye 0.8 1.3 0.7 1.6 1.2 0.0
Kyagulanyi received the highest share of stories on four of the six television stations monitored,
namely Baba TV, Bukedde TV, NBS, and NTV. Museveni had the highest proportion of stories on TV
West and UBC.
In October, TV had offered a more mixed picture.
TABLE 8H: Volume of radio stories on presidential candidates by region (NOV)
Candidates – November Central Eastern Kampala Karamoja Northern West Western

(n=62) (n=502) (n=903) (n=48) (n=81) Nile (n=577)
(n=185)
Robert Kyagulanyi 29.0 29.9 26.7 22.9 22.2 24.9 31.7

Ssentamu
Henry Tumukunde 8.1 7.4 11.7 10.4 2.5 11.4 11.4
Mugisha Muntu 8.1 7.8 8.1 6.3 3.7 5.9 7.8
Norbert Mao 8.1 5.8 7.9 6.3 6.2 5.4 6.2
John Katumba 9.7 5.8 4.9 6.3 11.1 7.6 4.2
Nancy Kalembe 4.8 6.0 4.7 6.3 2.5 5.4 2.4
Joseph Kabuleta 1.6 4.0 3.1 2.1 6.2 5.4 3.5
Willy Mayambala 3.2 4.0 4.0 2.1 2.5 4.9 2.3
Fred Mwesigye 1.6 1.4 1.9 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.7
On radio, Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of stories in all regions, except northern Uganda
where Museveni was top. Museveni was second in all the other regions.
The October results had shown notable regional variations, with Kyagulanyi receiving the highest
proportion of stories in Kampala, central and eastern Uganda, while Museveni led in West Nile,
northern and western Uganda.
Frequency of front-page stories on presidential candidates

TABLE 9A: Frequency of front-page stories about presidential candidates
October November
Presidential candidate Front page Percent Front page Percent
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 1 16.7 13 24.5

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 1 16.7 13 24.5
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 2 33.3 7 13.2
Henry Tumukunde - - 5 9.4
Mugisha Muntu 1 16.7 4 7.5
Willy Mayambala - - 4 7.5
Fred Mwesigye - - 2 3.8
Norbert Mao - - 3 5.7
Nancy Kalembe - - 1 1.9
Joseph Kabuleta - - 1 1.9
John Katumba - - 0 0.0
Other 1 16.7
Total 6 100.0 53 100.0
Front-page stories on the candidates grew from 6 in October to 53 in November. In October, Amuriat
received the highest number of stories on the front page. Museveni and Kyagulanyi were tied in
second place, while in November the two attracted the same number of stories to claim first place.
TABLE 9B: Frequency of front-page stories about presidential candidates by publication

(OCT8)
Presidential candidate – October Bukedde (n=5) Daily Monitor (n=1)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 20.0 0.0

Patrick Oboi Amuriat 20.0 100.0
Mugisha Muntu 20.0 0.0
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 20.0 0.0
Other 20.0 0.0
8 Only Bukedde and Daily Monitor carried front-page stories about the candidates in October.
TABLE 9C: Frequency of front-page stories about presidential candidates by publication

(NOV)
Candidates Bukedde Daily New Vision The The

% (n=5) Monitor % (n=24) Observer Independent
% (n=22) % (n=2)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 0.0 31.8 25.0 0.0 -

(Bobi Wine)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 60.0 13.6 25.0 50.0 -
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 0.0 22.7 8.3 0.0 -
Henry Tumukunde 0.0 13.6 8.3 0.0 -
Mugisha Muntu 0.0 9.1 4.2 50.0 -
Willy Mayambala 40.0 0.0 8.3 0.0 -
Norbert Mao 0.0 9.1 4.2 0.0 -
Fred Mwesigye 0.0 0.0 8.3 0.0 -
Joseph Kabuleta 0.0 0.0 4.2 0.0 -
Nancy Kalembe 0.0 0.0 4.2 0.0 -
Frequency of pictures of presidential candidates

TABLE 10A: Frequency of pictures of presidential candidates on the front page (OCT –
NOV)
October November
Presidential candidate Pictures Percent Pictures Percent

Willy Mayambala - - 2 3.3
Nancy Kalembe - - 1 1.7
Henry Tumukunde - - - -
Norbert Mao - - - -
Joseph Kabuleta - - - -
John Katumba - - - -
Fred Mwesigye - - - -
Total 8 100.0 60 100
Museveni received the highest proportion of pictures on the front pages in both October and
November. Kyagulanyi came second in both months, followed by Amuriat (they tied in October).
TABLE 11A: Frequency of pictures of candidates on the front page by publication

(October)
Candidate – October Daily Monitor New Vision The Bukedde The

% (n=4) % (n=2) Independent Observer
% (n=2)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 25.0 50.0 50.0 - -

Robert Kyagulanyi 0.0 50.0 50.0 - -
Ssentamu
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 50.0 0.0 0.0 - -
Mugisha Muntu 25.0 0.0 0.0 - -
TABLE 11B: Frequency of pictures of candidates on the front page by publication

(November)
Candidate – November Bukedde % Daily New The The Observer

(n=21) Monitor Vision Independent % (n=3)
% (n=15) % (n=20) % (n=1)

Mugisha Muntu 4.8 6.7 5.0 0.0 33.3
Nancy Kalembe 4.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
New Vision gave Museveni the highest proportion of pictures in November. Out of the 20 candidate
pictures the newspaper published on the front page, 17 were Museveni’s while Kyagulanyi, Amuriat
and Muntu had one each.
Daily Monitor had a higher proportion of Kyagulanyi front-page pictures. Amuriat was second in the
paper while Museveni came third.
Space allocated to presidential candidates in newspapers

TABLE 12A: Newspaper space allocated to presidential candidates
October November
Candidate Space (cm2) % Pages Space (cm2) % Pages
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 13,438 29.6 16 90,557 23.8 110

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 12,351 27.2 15 106,350 28.0 129
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 7,989 17.6 10 48,830 12.8 59
Mugisha Muntu 4,195 9.2 5 34,127 9.0 41
Henry Tumukunde 2,349 5.2 3 33,334 8.8 40
Norbert Mao 1,715 3.8 2 22,856 6.0 28
Joseph Kabuleta 608 1.3 1 7,649 2.0 9
Willy Mayambala 420 0.9 1 6,367 1.7 8
Fred Mwesigye 344 0.8 0 3,665 1.0 4
Nancy Kalembe 344 0.8 0 16,360 4.3 20
John Katumba 0 0 0 10,025 2.6 12
Other 1,694 3.7 2
Total 45,447 100 55 380,120 100.0 460
Stories about Kyagulanyi took up the biggest share of space allocated to presidential candidates
in November (28%). Museveni came in second with 23.8% and Amuriat third with 12.8%. In October,
Museveni stories had received the biggest share of space (29.6%) followed closely by Kyagulanyi’s
(27.2%). Amuriat was again third. The top three candidates took up 64.6% of the space, down from
74.4% in October.
TABLE 12B: Space allocated to presidential candidates by publication (October)
Candidate – October Bukedde Daily Monitor New Vision The The Observer
(%) (%) (%) Independent
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 33.3 21.4 40.6 - -

Robert Kyagulanyi 38.8 25.5 13.0 - -
Ssentamu
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 10.5 22.8 17.6 - -
Mugisha Muntu 2.5 13.4 10.9 - -
Henry Tumukunde 0.0 6.2 10.9 - -
Norbert Mao 3.2 6.1 0.0 - -
Joseph Kabuleta 0.0 3.0 0.0 - -
Candidate – October Bukedde Daily Monitor New Vision The The Observer
(%) (%) (%) Independent
Willy Mayambala 2.8 0.0 0.0 - -

Fred Mwesigye 0.0 0.0 3.5 - -
Nancy Kalembe 0.0 0.0 3.5 - -
Other 8.9 1.7 0.0 - -
TABLE 12C: Space allocated to presidential candidates by publication (November)9
Candidate – November Bukedde (%) Daily Monitor New Vision The Observer
(%) (%) (%)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 39.6 28.3 21.3 24.0

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 27.6 20.3 26.2 20.4
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 9.8 15.5 12.7 3.2
Mugisha Muntu 5.0 8.3 11.8 12.3
Henry Tumukunde 5.0 8.1 11.6 10.4
Norbert Mao 4.7 6.6 6.8 0.0
Nancy Kalembe 2.4 5.7 3.0 10.4
John Katumba 2.2 2.3 1.2 19.3
Joseph Kabuleta 0.9 3.7 0.9 0.0
Willy Mayambala 2.4 0.5 2.8 0.0
Fred Mwesigye 0.4 0.8 1.7 0.0
Kyagulanyi took up more newspaper space in all the newspapers monitored in November, except
New Vision. Bukedde gave the NUP leader the highest proportion of space (39.6%) followed by Daily
Monitor (28.3%). In New Vision Museveni took up 26.2% of the space against Kyagulanyi’s 21.3%.
In October, New Vision had given Museveni disproportionately more space than the other top
candidates.
9 The Independent is not listed because it published online.

Time allocated to presidential candidates on TV and radio

TABLE 13A: Time allocated to presidential candidates on television
October November
Candidates – TV Time (Minutes) Percent Time (Minutes) Percent
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 139 18.9 1,360 25.2

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 157 21.4 1,358 25.1
Henry Tumukunde 41 5.6 524 9.7
Nancy Kalembe 14 1.9 351 6.5
Norbert Mao 39 5.3 194 3.6
John Katumba 2 0.3 181 3.4
Willy Mayambala 4 0.5 73 1.3
Joseph Kabuleta 3 0.4 67 1.2
Fred Mwesigye 14 1.9 46 0.9
Other 14 1.9 - -
Total 735 100.0 5401 100.0
Museveni and Kyagulanyi were tied in time allocated to them in television stories in November. Amuriat
was third. In October, Muntu had received the highest share of TV time, followed by Museveni and
Amuriat. Kyagulanyi was fourth.
TABLE 13B: Time allocated to presidential candidates by TV station (October)
Candidate - October Baba TV Bukedde NBS NTV UBC (n=85)

(n=8) (n=46) (n=258) (n=336)
Mugisha Muntu 0.0 4.3 20.5 30.4 2.4

Henry Tumukunde 0.0 0.0 9.7 4.8 0.0
Norbert Mao 0.0 2.2 5.4 3.6 12.9
Fred Mwesigye 0.0 0.0 1.2 3.6 0.0
Nancy Kalembe 0.0 0.0 2.7 2.1 0.0
Joseph Kabuleta 37.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
John Katumba 0.0 4.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
Other 25.0 2.2 1.2 1.2 4.7
TABLE 13C: Time allocated to presidential candidates by TV station (November)
Candidate – November Baba TV Bukedde NBS NTV TV West UBC

(n=381) (n=654) (n=973) (n=1390) (n=373) (n=1630)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 33.0 34.5 33.2 30.2 12.2 13.5

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 26.3 28.7 28.6 17.4 19.0 29.3
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 12.1 14.5 10.9 17.6 12.2 14.8
Henry Tumukunde 2.5 5.9 5.1 6.2 30.4 13.9
Mugisha Muntu 5.5 4.9 7.8 7.4 10.6 12.1
Nancy Kalembe 6.2 3.0 3.6 7.1 2.1 10.2
Norbert Mao 5.5 2.4 3.2 5.8 4.8 1.7
John Katumba 5.2 2.4 3.6 4.6 1.4 2.5
Willy Mayambala 0.7 2.1 2.1 0.7 3.0 0.9
Joseph Kabuleta 2.0 0.6 1.0 1.4 2.9 1.0
Fred Mwesigye 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.5 1.3 0.0
Kyagulanyi stories received the highest proportion of time on four of the six television stations
monitored. These were Baba TV, Bukedde TV, NBS and NTV. Independent Henry Tumukunde received
the biggest share of time on TV West, where Museveni was second, while UBC gave the incumbent
the most time.
TABLE 13D: Time allocated to presidential candidates on radio
October November
Candidate Time(Minutes) Percent Time(Minutes) Percent

Henry Tumukunde 31 5.3 899 9.0
Nancy Kalembe 5 0.9 587 5.9
Norbert Mao 23 4.0 550 5.5
John Katumba 0 0.0 533 5.4
Joseph Kabuleta 11 1.9 363 3.6
Fred Mwesigye 3 0.5 243 2.4
Willy Mayambala 3 0.5 225 2.3
Other 26 4.5 - -
Total 581 100.0 9955 100.0
Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of time on the radio stations monitored in both October
and November. Museveni received the second biggest share of radio time while Amuriat was third.
TABLE 13E: Time allocated to presidential candidates on radio by region (October)
Presidential candidate - Central Eastern Kampala Karamoja Northern West Western

October (n=136) (n=111) (n=124) (n=12) (n=32) Nile (n=160)
(n=7)
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu 43.6 35.5 44.4 20.4 7.2 9.5 23.1
Mugisha Muntu 1.0 7.8 5.5 12.4 8.6 0.0 14.6
Henry Tumukunde 1.0 14.7 2.6 20.4 9.2 0.0 2.9
Norbert Mao 2.2 6.3 5.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0
Joseph Kabuleta 1.0 0.0 0.8 8.0 4.4 0.0 4.0
Nancy Kalembe 1.6 0.0 1.1 0.0 3.9 0.0 0.0
Fred Mwesigye 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3
Willy Mayambala 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 1.3
Other 1.0 2.5 4.3 0.0 0.0 22.6 9.1
TABLE 13F: Time allocated to presidential candidates on radio by region (November)
Candidates - November Central Eastern Kampala Karamoja Northern West Western

% % % % % Nile % %
(n=193) (n=1715) (n=3942) (n=88) (n=352) (n=308) (n=3359)
Robert Kyagulanyi 27 33 26 24 26 23 25
Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 15 18 18 23 18 18 25
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 13 13 14 17 23 13 8
Henry Tumukunde 8 6 11 9 2 12 9
Mugisha Muntu 8 7 5 5 1 7 11
Nancy Kalembe 3 6 7 5 2 7 5
Norbert Mao 7 4 6 5 9 4 6
John Katumba 13 7 7 6 4 8 2
Joseph Kabuleta 2 2 2 3 9 5 6
Fred Mwesigye 1 1 1 0 5 0 5
Willy Mayambala 3 4 3 3 1 3 0
Kyagulanyi received more radio time than all other candidates in all regions except western Uganda
where he tied with Museveni.
Tone of coverage (general)

TABLE 14A: Tone of coverage across the three media platforms (October)
Tone of coverage - October Newspaper (n=73) TV (n=188) Radio (n=224)
Negative 4.1 1.1 1.3

Neutral 87.7 86.2 95.5
Positive 8.2 12.8 3.1
TABLE 14B: Tone of coverage across the three media platforms (November)
Tone of coverage - November Newspaper (n=483) TV (n=969) Radio (n=1607)
Negative 8.1 2.3 6.0

Neutral 86.5 94.0 90.7
Positive 5.4 3.7 3.3
Most election stories took on a neutral tone in both October and November. In November, television
returned the highest proportion of stories with a neutral tone. Newspapers had the highest share
of both stories with a positive and negative tone.
Tone of coverage of presidential candidates

TABLE 15A: Tone of newspaper coverage of presidential candidates (October)
Candidate - October Negative (%) Neutral (%) Positive (%)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 6.7 83.3 10.0

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) 4.2 91.7 4.2
Patrick Oboi Amuriat 5.0 90.0 5.0
Mugisha Muntu 0.0 100.0 0.0
Henry Tumukunde 0.0 100.0 0.0
Norbert Mao 0.0 100.0 0.0
Joseph Kabuleta 0.0 50.0 50.0
Willy Mayambala 0.0 100.0 0.0
Nancy Kalembe 0.0 100.0 0.0
Fred Mwesigye 0.0 100.0 0.0
Other 0.0 100.0 0.0
TABLE 15B: Tone of television coverage of presidential candidates (October)
Presidential candidate - October Negative (%) Neutral (%) Positive (%)

John Katumba 0.0 0.0 100.0
Other 0.0 100.0 0.0
TABLE 15C: Tone of radio coverage of presidential candidates (October)
Candidates - October Negative (%) Neutral (%) Positive (%)

Other 16.7 83.3 0.0
TABLE 15D: Tone of newspaper coverage of presidential candidates (November)
Candidates - November Negative (%) Neutral (%) Positive (%)

Kyagulanyi and Amuriat had the highest proportion of stories with a negative tone, while Museveni
received the highest share of stories with a positive tone. The incumbent had received the highest
proportion of negative stories in October.
TABLE 15E: Tone of television coverage of presidential candidates (November)
Candidate - November Negative (%) Neutral (%) Positive (%)

Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of stories with a negative tone in November. Incumbent
Museveni received the highest share of stories with a positive tone.
TABLE 15F: Tone of radio coverage of presidential candidates (November)
Candidates - November Negative (%) Neutral (%) Positive (%)

Joseph Kabuleta received the highest proportion of stories with a negative tone, followed by
Kyagulanyi, Amuriat, Museveni and Tumukunde (in that order).
Use of Right of reply

TABLE 16A: Use of the right of reply across media platforms (November)
Right of reply Newspaper (n=227) TV (n=115) Radio (n=77)
No 79.7 86.1 80.5

Yes 20.3 13.9 19.5
This variable applies only to stories that contain attacks on presidential candidates by their opponents
or others. Where such attacks happen, the regulations governing media coverage in Uganda require
that the attacked candidate is given the opportunity to respond. In about 8 out of every 10 cases
where such attacks occurred, candidates were not given the right of reply. The problem was more
pronounced on television.
TABLE 16B: Right of reply by publication (November)
Publication - November No Yes
Bukedde (n=99) 87.9 12.1

New Vision (n=77) 76.6 23.4
Daily Monitor (n=50) 68.0 32.0
The Observer (n=1) 100.0 0.0
The Independent (n=0) - -
Daily Monitor offered the right of reply more than its competitors.
TABLE 16C: Right of reply by TV station (November)
TV station - November No Yes
Bukedde (n=64) 85.9 14.1

NTV (n=27) 92.6 7.4
NBS (n=19) 73.7 26.3
Baba TV (n=5) 100.0 0.0
UBC (n=0) - -
TV West (n=0) - -
Among the TV stations monitored, NBS had the highest proportion of stories where the right of
reply was offered.
Event- vs issue-based reporting

TABLE 17A: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting (October)
Reporting type - October Newspaper (n=399) TV (n=695) Radio (n=1054)
Event-based 81.2 90.6 91.2

Issue-based 18.8 9.4 8.8
17B: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting (November)
Reporting type Newspaper (n=730) TV (n=1415) Radio (n=2403)
Event-based 87.1 94.4 98.5

Issue-based 12.9 5.6 1.5
All three media platforms monitored relied heavily on event-driven reporting and much less on
issue-based coverage. Event-based reports were far more prevalent on radio in both October and
November.
TABLE 17C: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting by publication (October)
Publication - October Event-based Issue-based
Bukedde (n=124) 86.3 13.7

New Vision (n=148) 82.4 17.6
The Independent (n=7) 71.4 28.6
TABLE 17D: Frequency of event-vs issue-based reporting by TV station (October)
TV station - October Event-based Issue-based
NBS (n=200) 85.0 15.0

NTV (n=179) 83.2 16.8
UBC (n=129) 97.7 2.3
Bukedde (n=95) 100.0 0.0
Baba TV (n=70) 97.1 2.9
TV West (n=22) 100.0 0.0
TABLE 17E: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting by publication (November)
Publication - November Event-based Issue-based
New Vision (n=278) 86.7 13.3

Bukedde (n=207) 94.2 5.8
The Independent had the highest proportion of issue-based coverage. Among the dailies, Daily
Monitor returned the highest proportion of issue-based stories. Bukedde had the highest percentage
of event-based reports.
TABLE 17F: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting by TV station (November)
TV station Event-based Issue-based
NTV (n=357) 91.6 8.4

UBC (n=323) 96.3 3.7
Bukedde (n=266) 98.1 1.9
NBS (n=241) 89.2 10.8
Baba TV (n=156) 96.2 3.8
TV West (n=72) 100.0 0.0
TV West had no issue-based story in November, while Bukedde TV had only 5 issue-based stories
out of a count of 266.
Trend in event- vs issue-based reporting in newspapers
Trend in event- vs issue-based reporting in TV coverage

Trend in event- vs issue-based reporting in radio coverage
Origin of election stories

TABLE 18A: Newspaper story origin (October-November)
October November
Origin – Newspaper Frequency % Frequency %
Party activity 141 35.3 68 9.3

Electoral Commission 88 22.1 79 10.8
News conference 57 14.3 69 9.5
Independent reporting, research or investigation 41 10.3 77 10.5
by the journalist/outlet
Newsworthy occurrence 17 4.3 76 10.4
Document e.g. report, study/research 11 2.8 19 2.6
NGO/civil society activity 7 1.8 10 1.4
Parliament or legislative process 6 1.5 1 0.1
Government activity or governance process 6 1.5 8 1.1
Court or judicial process 6 1.5 19 2.6
October November
Origin – Newspaper Frequency % Frequency %
Campaign rally/event 3 0.8 282 38.6

Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) 3 0.8 3 0.4
News release 3 0.8 3 0.4
Story from local media/agency 2 0.5 2 0.3
Expert/Specialist 2 0.5 3 0.4
Other 6 1.5 11 1.5
Total 399 100 730 100.0
In November campaign rallies overtook other political party activities as the biggest source of election
news in the newspapers. Independent reporting, research or investigation by journalist accounted
for only 1 out of every 10 newspaper election stories. Most stories originated from events or actions
by the key players (other than ordinary people).
TABLE 18B: Television story origins (October-November)
October November
Origin – TV Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

Newsworthy occurrence 42 6 138 9.8
Electoral Commission activity 189 27.2 135 9.5
Story from local media/agency - - 3 0.2
Parliament or legislative process 14 2 2 0.1
Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) - - 1 0.1
Other 6 0.9 28 2.0
Total 695 100 1415 100.0
TABLE 18C: Radio story origin (October-November)
October November
Origin - Radio Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

Newsworthy occurrence 73 6.9 343 14.3
Electoral Commission activity 319 30.3 285 11.9
Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) 3 0.3 18 0.7
Story from local media/agency 3 0.3 15 0.6
Parliament or legislative process 29 2.8 8 0.3
Other 12 1.1 37 1.5
Total 1054 100 2403 100.0
The campaign rally remained the top source of election news on radio as well. Like television, radio
relied heavily on news conferences and other activities by the Electoral Commission and political
parties.
Reporting format of election stories

TABLE 19A: Reporting formats across the three media platforms (October)
Format - October Newspaper (n=399) TV (n=695) Radio (n=1054)
Conventional 81.7 91.2 99.7

Enterprise and interpretive 18.3 8.8 0.3
Investigative 0 0 0
TABLE 19B: Reporting formats across the three media platforms (November)
Reporting format - November Newspaper (n=730) TV (n=1415) Radio (n=2403)
Conventional 88.6 94.5 98.7

Enterprise and interpretive 11.2 5.5 1.3
Investigative 0.1 0.0 0.0
There was very little investigative reporting in both October and November across all three media
platforms. Newspapers had a higher proportion of enterprise reporting. Overall, conventional
reporting was more dominant than we usually see in public affairs reporting.
Trend in reporting formats in newspaper coverage

Trend in reporting formats in television coverage
Trend in reporting formats in radio coverage

TABLE 19C: Reporting format by publication (October)
Publication - October Conventional Enterprise and interpretive
Bukedde (n=124) 82.3 17.7

New Vision (n=148) 86.5 13.5
TABLE 19D: Reporting format by TV station (October)
TV station – October Conventional Enterprise and interpretive
NBS (n=200) 88.5 11.5

NTV (n=179) 81.0 19.0
UBC (n=129) 97.7 2.3
Bukedde (n=95) 100.0 0.0
Baba TV (n=70) 98.6 1.4
TV West (n=22) 100.0 0.0
TABLE 19E: Reporting format by publication (November)
Publication - November Conventional Enterprise and interpretive Investigative
New Vision (n=278) 87.8 12.2 0.0

Daily Monitor (n=229) 86.9 12.7 0.4
Bukedde (n=207) 93.7 6.3 0.0
The Observer (n=8) 62.5 37.5 0.0
The Independent (n=8) 62.5 37.5 0.0
The Independent and The Observer, perhaps not surprisingly, had the highest proportion of
stories using the enterprise/interpretive format. Only Daily Monitor carried coverage based on the
investigation format—one story out of 299 published in November.
TABLE 19F: Reporting format by TV station (November)
Format – TV Conventional Enterprise and interpretive
NTV (n=357) 91.3 8.7

UBC (n=323) 96.0 4.0
Bukedde (n=266) 98.5 1.5
NBS (n=241) 88.8 11.2
Baba TV (n=156) 98.1 1.9
TV West (n=72) 100.0 0.0
On television, NBS had the highest proportion of stories employing the enterprise-interpretive format
(11.2%), replacing NTV which led in this category in October with 19%. Baba TV, Bukedde, TV West,
and UBC were all under 5 percent.
Number of sources in election stories

TABLE 20A: Number of sources per story across the three media platforms (October)
Number of sources per story - Newspaper TV Radio

October (n=399) (n=695) (n=1054)
No source 7.3 1.2 12.1

1 source 24.3 24.2 54.8
2 sources 25.6 17.3 18.9
3 sources 14.8 18.4 6.7
4 sources 9.3 14.4 4.2
5 or more sources 18.8 24.6 3.2
TABLE 20B: Number of sources per story across the three media platforms (November)
Number of sources - Newspaper TV Radio

November (n=730) (n=1415) (n=2403)
No source 6.7 3.7 12.2

1 source 31.0 32.5 54.1
2 sources 20.4 25.0 19.3
3 sources 12.9 17.2 7.8
4 sources 10.7 10.3 4.2
5 or more sources 18.4 11.3 2.5
The single-sourcing challenge that afflicts public affairs reporting also reared its ugly head in election
reporting. It was most pronounced on radio where more than half of the stories had 1 source while
another 12.1% had no source. The number of newspaper and television stories with two or more
sources went down from nearly two thirds and three quarters to 62.3% and 63.8% respectively. And
single sourced stories across the two platforms increased from 24% to 31% and 32% respectively.
TABLE 20C: Trend in number of sources in newspaper coverage
Number of sources per story October (%) November (%)
No source 7.3 6.7

1 source 24.3 31.0
2 sources 25.6 20.4
3 sources 14.8 12.9
4 sources 9.3 10.7
5 or more sources 18.8 18.4
TABLE 20D: Trend in number of sources in TV coverage
No source 1.2 3.7

1 source 24.2 32.5
2 sources 17.3 25.0
3 sources 18.4 17.2
4 sources 14.4 10.3
TABLE 20E: Trend in number of sources in radio coverage
No source 12.1 12.2

1 source 54.8 54.1
2 sources 18.9 19.3
3 sources 6.7 7.8
4 sources 4.2 4.2
TABLE 20F: Number of newspaper sources by publication (October)
Number of sources per Bukedde Daily New Vision The The

story - October (n=124) Monitor (n=148) Independent Observer
(n=118) (n=7) (n=2)
No source 18.5 3.4 0.7 14.3 0.0

1 source 30.6 14.4 26.4 28.6 50.0
2 sources 26.6 22.9 28.4 0.0 0.0
3 sources 9.7 19.5 14.9 14.3 50.0
4 sources 2.4 14.4 10.8 14.3 0.0
5 or more sources 12.1 25.4 18.9 28.6 0.0
TABLE 20G: Number of television sources by station (October)
Number of sources - Baba TV Bukedde NBS NTV TV West UBC

October (n=70) (n=95) (n=200) (n=179) (n=22) (n=129)
No source 2.9 1.1 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.8

1 source 18.6 23.2 33.0 17.3 18.2 24.8
2 sources 20.0 17.9 19.5 16.8 9.1 14.0
3 sources 11.4 20.0 16.0 20.1 4.5 24.8
4 sources 18.6 6.3 13.0 15.6 18.2 17.8
5 or more sources 28.6 31.6 16.5 30.2 50.0 17.8
TABLE 20H: Number of newspaper sources (November)
Number of sources - Bukedde % Daily New Vision The Independent The Observer
November (n=207) Monitor % % (n=278) % (n=8) % (n=8)
(n=229)
No source 10.1 7.0 2.9 25.0 25.0

1 source 35.3 33.6 26.3 25.0 12.5
2 sources 20.8 20.5 20.5 12.5 12.5
3 sources 8.2 16.2 14.4 0.0 0.0
4 sources 8.2 10.5 12.9 0.0 12.5
5 or more sources 17.4 12.2 23.0 37.5 37.5
Among the daily newspapers monitored, in November New Vision had the highest proportion of
stories with two or more sources (60.8%) while its sister paper Bukedde had the highest proportion
of stories with 1 or no source. Among all publications, The Independent had the highest proportion
of stories with one or no source.
TABLE 20I: Number of sources in TV coverage by station (November)
Number of sources Baba TV Bukedde NBS NTV TV West UBC

(n=156) (n=266) (n=241) (n=357) (n=72) (n=323)
No source 8.3 0.8 2.1 5.0 1.4 4.0

1 source 32.1 27.8 39.8 26.3 6.9 43.7
2 sources 23.1 28.6 21.6 22.4 15.3 30.7
3 sources 19.2 18.0 20.3 16.5 25.0 12.1
4 sources 8.3 8.6 8.7 14.8 25.0 5.6
5 or more sources 9.0 16.2 7.5 14.8 26.4 4.0
Among the television stations, in November TV West had the highest proportion of stories with
two or more sources (91.7%), followed by Bukedde TV (71.4%). UBC had the highest proportion of
stories with one or no source (47.7%) followed by NBS (41.9%).
In October, NTV had the highest proportion of stories with two more sources (82.7%), followed by
TV West (81.9%). NBS had the highest proportion of single-sourced stories (33%) followed by UBC
(24.8%).
Type of sources in election stories

TABLE 21A: Human sources in newspaper coverage (Oct-Nov)
October November
Sources - Newspaper Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Ordinary person 110 9.9 459 23.0

Presidential candidate 55 4.9 407 20.4
Party official 234 21 225 11.3
Parliamentary candidate 358 32.1 205 10.3
Police 37 3.3 103 5.2
Electoral Commission official 60 5.4 83 4.2
Expert 44 3.9 74 3.7
NGO/CSO official 26 2.3 54 2.7
Minister 17 1.5 50 2.5
Central government official 28 2.5 44 2.2
Religious representative 16 1.4 44 2.2
Local govt representative 26 2.3 43 2.2
Member of Parliament 16 1.4 43 2.2
Candidates agent 21 1.9 42 2.1
Business representative 5 0.4 33 1.7
Resident District Commissioner 10 0.9 14 0.7
Judicial personnel 6 0.5 13 0.7
Military/security 7 0.6 11 0.6
Diplomatic representative 9 0.8 10 0.5
Cultural representative 7 0.6 9 0.5
Election observer 0 0 4 0.2
International NGO representative 2 0.2 4 0.2
Speaker of Parliament 8 0.7 3 0.2
President 2 0.2 1 0.1
Other 10 0.9 17 0.9
Total 1114 100 1995 100.0
In November, ordinary people and presidential candidates replaced parliamentary candidates and
political party officials as the top two categories of sources for newspaper election stories.
TABLE 21B: Human sources in television coverage (Oct-Nov)
October November
Sources - TV Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Presidential candidate 94 4 812 23.4

Ordinary person 267 11.4 634 18.3
Party official 487 20.7 534 15.4
Police representative 56 2.4 184 5.3
Minister 26 1.1 139 4.0
Expert 78 3.3 105 3.0
Central government representative 19 0.8 34 1.0
Military/security representative 5 0.2 19 0.5
President - - 6 0.2
Speaker of Parliament 16 0.7 5 0.1
International NGO representative 1 0 4 0.1
Election observer 5 0.2 3 0.1
Prison representative - - 2 0.1
Other 12 0.5 12 0.3
Total 2347 100 3466 100.0
Presidential candidates, ordinary people and political party officials were the top three source
categories on television.
TABLE 21C: Human sources in radio coverage (Oct-Nov)
October November
Sources – Radio Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Presidential candidate 77 4.9 1139 32.1

Party official 326 20.6 448 12.6
Police representative 92 5.8 354 10.0
Ordinary person 64 4 307 8.7
Expert 6 0.4 83 2.3
Minister 18 1.1 66 1.9
Central government representative 15 0.9 46 1.3
Military/security representative 7 0.4 22 0.6
Speaker of Parliament 32 2 10 0.3
Election observer 2 0.1 7 0.2
International NGO representative 3 0.2 5 0.1
President 0 0 2 0.1
Other 9 0.6 21 0.6
Total 1582 100 3545 100.0
Presidential candidates took an even bigger share of radio sourcing, followed by political party officials
and police. As in October, radio did not use ordinary people as sources as much as newspapers
and television.
Gender of sources in election stories

TABLE 22A: Gender of sources across the three media platforms (October)
Gender of sources - October Newspaper (n=1108) TV (n=2347) Radio (n=1582)
Female 22.9 22.6 20.9

Male 77.1 77.4 79.1
TABLE 22B: Gender of sources across the three media platforms (November)
Gender of sources - November Newspaper (n=1978) TV (n=3466) Radio (n=3545)
Female 21.7 18.6 12.9

Male 78.3 81.4 87.1
Across all three media platforms monitored, men dominated coverage in both October and November.
Radio performed the poorest on the gender score, dropping from 21% of female sources in October
to 13% in November.
Trend in gender of sources in newspapers

Trend in gender of sources in TV coverage
Trend in gender of sources in radio coverage since

The trend shows when it comes to gender representation there was retrogression across all three
platforms.
TABLE 22C: Gender of newspaper sources by publication (NOV)
Publication - November Female (%) Male (%)
New Vision % (n=872) 25.5 74.5

Daily Monitor % (n=535) 15.9 84.1
Bukedde % (n=521) 22.5 77.5
The Independent % (n=26) 11.5 88.5
The Observer % (n=24) 8.3 91.7
Among the newspapers monitored, New Vision had the highest proportion of female sources in
November (25.5%). It also topped on the gender score in October. The Observer had the lowest
representation of women (8.3%).
TABLE 22D: Gender of sources in TV coverage by station (November)
TV station - November Female Male
NTV (n=970) 18.7 81.3

Bukedde (n=734) 20.2 79.8
UBC (n=597) 17.4 82.6
NBS (n=537) 14.5 85.5
Baba TV (n=351) 21.1 78.9
TV West (n=277) 20.9 79.1
Among the TV stations, Baba TV had the highest proportion of female sources in November followed
closely by TV West and Bukedde TV. NBS had the lowest proportion of female sources.
In October, UBC had the highest proportion of female sources (28%) followed by Bukedde (26.3%)
and Baba TV (25.9%).
TABLE 22E: Gender of sources across media platforms by occupation (November)
NEWSPAPERS TELEVISION RADIO
Sources - Newspapers Freq. Female Male Freq. Female Male Freq. Female Male
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Parliamentary candidate 205 38.0 62.0 303 34.7 65.3 275 37.1 62.9
Party official 225 16.9 83.1 534 25.3 74.7 448 14.7 85.3
Ordinary person 448 35.3 64.7 634 22.9 77.1 307 23.8 76.2
Electoral Commission 81 1.2 98.8 161 0.6 99.4 208 1.9 98.1
official
Presidential candidate 407 7.6 92.4 812 6.0 94.0 1139 5.4 94.6
Expert 74 14.9 85.1 105 8.6 91.4 83 12.0 88.0
Police 102 3.9 96.1 184 4.3 95.7 354 1.7 98.3
Central government 44 20.5 79.5 34 29.4 70.6 46 8.7 91.3
official
NGO/CSO official 54 40.7 59.3 94 30.9 69.1 99 25.3 74.7
Local govt representative 43 25.6 74.4 49 20.4 79.6 89 11.2 88.8
Candidate’s agent 42 26.2 73.8 70 27.1 72.9 48 12.5 87.5
Minister 50 46.0 54.0 139 47.5 52.5 66 50.0 50.0
Religious representative 44 0.0 100.0 97 3.1 96.9 130 2.3 97.7
Member of Parliament 43 27.9 72.1 103 31.1 68.9 44 27.3 72.7
Resident District 14 14.3 85.7 31 9.7 90.3 41 12.2 87.8
Commissioner
Diplomatic representative 8 0.0 100.0 4 50.0 50.0 11 9.1 90.9
Speaker of Parliament 3 100.0 0.0 5 100.0 0.0 10 100.0 0.0
Cultural representative 9 0.0 100.0 28 0.0 100.0 46 0.0 100.0
Judicial personnel 12 25.0 75.0 14 14.3 85.7 28 46.4 53.6
Military/security 11 18.2 81.8 19 10.5 89.5 22 18.2 81.8
Business representative 33 24.2 75.8 19 10.5 89.5 16 18.8 81.3
President 1 0.0 100.0 6 0.0 100.0 2 0.0 100.0
International NGO 4 25.0 75.0 4 50.0 50.0 5 0.0 100.0
representative
Election observer 4 0.0 100.0 3 0.0 100.0 7 28.6 71.4
Other 17 5.9 94.1 12 33.3 66.7 21 19.0 81.0
If it’s any consolation, there were a number of categories where the percentage of female sources
was well above average or as high as that of men. These included ordinary people, parliamentary
candidates, NGO/CSO officials (in newspapers), ministers, parliamentary candidates, diplomatic

and international NGO representatives (on TV) and ministers, parliamentary candidates, and
judicial personnel (on radio).
Use of background and Context

Whereas a majority of stories across all the media platforms monitored had some basic background,
a significant percentage did not provide sufficient context or depth. This problem was particularly
pronounced on radio.
Interrogation of claims made by presidential candidates

TABLE 23A: Interrogation of claims and promises – November
Interrogation of claims Newspaper (n=286) TV (n=294) Radio (n=445)
No 81.1 86.7 87.6

Yes 18.9 13.3 12.4
This variable only applies to stories that contain claims and promises made by presidential candidates.
In a vast majority of stories with such claims they were not questioned. Radio performed poorest
on this front, followed closely by television. But even the newspapers score of 18.9% is very low by
any standards.
TABLE 23B: Interrogation of claims in newspaper coverage by publication (November)
Publication - November No Yes
New Vision (n=103) 78.6 21.4

Bukedde (n=101) 93.1 6.9
The Observer (n=0) - -
Daily Monitor had the highest proportion of stories where claims or promises made by candidates
were interrogated (30.9%). Bukedde had the poorest record on this score, with only 7% of stories
with claims by candidates being questioned.
TABLE 23C: Interrogation of claims in TV coverage by station (November)
TV station - November No Yes
Bukedde (n=108) 89.8 10.2

NTV (n=89) 86.5 13.5
UBC (n=43) 83.7 16.3
NBS (n=35) 82.9 17.1
Baba TV (n=11) 72.7 27.3
TV West (n=8) 100.0 0.0
Among the TV stations monitored, Baba TV had the highest proportion of stories where claims
were interrogated. TV West had the lowest proportion of stories where claims where questioned,
followed by Bukedde TV. The latter is particularly noteworthy because it carried the highest num-
ber of stories with claims or promises by candidates.
Topics/issues addressed in election stories

TABLE 24A: Topics in newspaper coverage (October – November)
October November
Topic/Issue - Newspaper Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Politics & power play 326 71 322 22.3

Justice, rights, law & order - - 136 9.4
Election violence 29 6.3 121 8.4
Health - - 114 7.9
Election management 74 16.1 104 7.2
Business, economics, finance & trade - - 83 5.7
Works & transport - - 75 5.2
Security & defence 1 0.2 72 5.0
Education - - 68 4.7
Agriculture - - 65 4.5
Election security 10 2.2 51 3.5
Labour & employment - - 39 2.7
Water & environment 2 0.4 34 2.4
Accountability 1 0.2 33 2.3
Land - - 31 2.1
Energy - - 19 1.3
Tourism - - 9 0.6
Election financing 12 2.6 8 0.6
Housing - - 7 0.5
Minerals - - 7 0.5
Oil & gas - - 7 0.5
Election observation 3 0.7 5 0.3
Local government/administration - - 3 0.2
ICT - - 2 0.1
Religion - - 2 0.1
Weather & climate - - 2 0.1
Foreign & international affairs - - 2 0.1
Natural disasters - - 2 0.1
Sports & recreation - - 2 0.1
Arts & culture - - 1 0.1
Other 1 0.2 18 1.2
Total 459 100 1,444 100.0
‘Politics & power play’ continued to dominate newspaper election coverage, although the share
fell from 71% in October to 22.3% in November. The stories in this category include those that
focused on electoral competition, power play and gamesmanship, as well as political party or
candidate strategies. They exclude stories that focused on policy issues.
As the attention to ‘politics & power play’ went down, focus turned to policy issues in areas such as
works and transport, security & defence, education, and agriculture.
TABLE 24B: Topics in TV coverage (October – November)
October November
Topics/Issues – TV Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Politics & power play 531 69.6 648 26.7

Justice, rights, law & order - - 260 10.7
Health - - 159 6.5
Works & transport - - 110 4.5
Education - - 81 3.3
Security & defence - - 68 2.8
Agriculture - - 64 2.6
Land - - 44 1.8
Energy 1 0.1 34 1.4
Water & environment - - 30 1.2
Accountability - - 21 0.9
Oil & gas - - 20 0.8
Minerals - - 9 0.4
Election observation 8 1 7 0.3
Tourism - - 7 0.3
Housing - - 5 0.2
October November
Topics/Issues – TV Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

ICT - - 1 0.0
Other - - 21 0.9
Total 763 100 2430 100.0
‘Politics & power play’ received the highest attention on television as well. However, television paid
more attention to election violence than newspapers.
TABLE 24C: Topics in radio coverage (October – November)
October November
Topics/issues - Radio Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Politics & power play 636 56.9 1000 28.3

Justice, rights, law & order 15 1.3 467 13.2
Health 2 0.2 169 4.8
Security & defence 1 0.1 103 2.9
Education 1 0.1 97 2.7
Works & transport 1 0.1 85 2.4
Agriculture 2 0.2 71 2.0
Land 1 0.1 50 1.4
Water & environment - - 35 1.0
Accountability 1 0.1 24 0.7
Minerals - - 20 0.6
Energy - - 17 0.5
October November
Topics/issues - Radio Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Tourism - - 15 0.4
Oil & gas - - 15 0.4
Housing - - 8 0.2
Election observation 4 0.4 7 0.2
ICT - - 4 0.1
Religion - - 3 0.1
Other - - 32 0.9
Total 1118 100 3536 100.0
The pattern on television was somewhat repeated on radio where ‘politics & power play’ came
top, followed by justice, law and order issues, and election violence.
CONCLUSION
T
he journalists and media houses covering the 2021 elections have worked under the most
extraordinary circumstances. Not only has the Covid-19 pandemic posed health threats to
journalists who are in some cases not even sure they will still have jobs after the elections,
it has also seen media houses making significant cutbacks on investments in journalism. The
promise of a windfall from political advertising in the wake of the Electoral Commission’s push
for the so-called scientific campaigns also appears to have made some newsroom managers and
media owners reluctant to offer candidates ‘free publicity’. At the same time, an unprecedented
level of violence has been unleashed on journalists covering electoral events especially of NUP’s
Robert Kyagulanyi and FDC’s Patrick Amuriat. Meanwhile many journalists have been rattled
by the Media Council of Uganda’s ongoing efforts to force accreditation of journalists to cover
election-related events, including rallies. A good number of journalists working for upcountry
radio stations or stringing from the countryside for the Kampala-based media houses neither
have the money that they have been asked to pay nor the university degrees that the Press and
Journalist Act prescribes.
Some of the gaps in coverage identified in this report could be attributed to the challenges mentioned
above, in addition to the enduring problem of many young newsrooms staffed by inexperienced
journalists who are in some cases only covering their first election.
Make no mistake, there are several examples of good election reporting that has stood out and new
innovations such as NTV’s Fact Checker, NBS TV’s Elections 360, and New Vision’s Citizens’ Manifesto,
a large-scale public opinion survey that has been used to infuse context in some election stories.
But the dynamism shown by some of the big media houses easily masks the challenges under which
most of the country’s newsrooms, and especially those at upcountry radio stations, which are the
major sources of news for most Ugandans, operate.
Yet, amidst uncertainty and fear, journalists have covered the electoral process with enthusiasm, many
also using social media to share information that very often does not get into their published stories.
The findings of our research suggest that more needs to be done if the media are to fulfill their role
of providing citizens with timely and accurate information to help them make informed political
choices as well as monitoring the fairness of the electoral process.
Key takeaways
ll There appears to be a little more equitable coverage of the ‘leading’ presidential candidates
than in the last elections. In November, a number of ‘minor’ candidates also attracted some
decent coverage. It is likely, however, that the attention paid to the ‘leading’ opposition
candidates has been driven in part by the incessant police and military attacks especially on
opposition candidates Kyagulanyi and Amuriat as well as their supporters. Whereas they have
matched and in some cases exceeded the coverage incumbent Museveni has attracted, often
more att ntion has been paid to the drama and violence around the campaigns than the issues
and party platforms.
ll Even where the drama and violence have been the focus of media attention, often the reporting
has been devoid of the background and context necessary to explain what is actually happening
and why.
ll A lot of the reporting has remained heavily event-driven rather than issue-based. Although the
major parties launched manifestos at the beginning of the campaigns, many a reader, viewer or
listener will be hard-pressed to recall the position of many candidates on key issues.
ll The campaign rally or meetings has been the biggest source of news since the campaigns
opened. And most reporting has rarely gone beyond the stump speeches of the candidates
and their surrogates.
ll It should worry all good citizens that radio, which is the source of information for 80 percent
of Ugandans, continues to offer the least amount of time to election news. Although some
radio stations stand out for their comprehensive political reporting, a vast majority continue
to make do with short reports mostly about events organised by political parties, the Electoral
Commission, local leaders, and police.
ll In the two months that we have monitored so far, there was hardly any investigative election
reporting. It appears, however, that enterprise reporting is growing, especially in newspapers
and on television.
ll All the three legacy platforms monitored have not offered adequate variety of content. News
overwhelmingly dominates their offerings. The low numbers of features, packages for radio,
and analysis for print stand out. More could be done to engage audiences through varied story
formats.
ll The challenge of insufficient interrogation of candidate and party claims also persists. A vast
majority of the media reports where claims and promises were made did not contain any
serious scrutiny from the journalists.
ll Similarly, most media houses have allowed attacks on some candidates to be published without
response from those who are attacked. It is not always clear whether the candidates on the
receiving end are offered the right of reply. Our findings show that across all media platforms
monitored eight out of 10 stories that contained attacks did not show the use of the right of
reply.
ll The marginalisation of women in media representations continues to show in the ongoing
election coverage. The numbers from the October and November coverage suggest that the
use of female sources has stagnated in the low 20’s. It appears the gender-sensitive reporting
that media support groups have pushed is yet to bear fruit.
ll Single-sourcing also remains a challenge. Whereas a number of television stations and
newspapers have employed multiple sourcing in a majority of their stories, many radio stations
continue to rely on single sources.
ll The national broadcaster, UBC, has spread around its coverage to opposition candidates.
Kyagulanyi and, especially, Amuriat have received some significant coverage, even if the
incumbent has dominated both in terms of frequency of stories and the amount of time
dedicated to his campaign.
African Centre for Media Excellence
Plot 130 Kalungu Road (Bunga-Soya), off Ggaba Road
P. O. Box 11283 Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256 393 202 351
info@acme-ug.org, www.acme-ug.org
Facebook: ACME.UG
Twitter: @ACME_Uganda

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Ugandan

Scope of the study 7

Frequency of stories on presidential candidates 19

Event- vs issue-based reporting 38

Finally, conclusions are shared.

Media role in elections

The media landscape in Uganda

“(a) Where a programme that is broadcast is in respect to a contender for a public

Findings of previous monitoring reports on media coverage of elections

4 Report of the International Mission on Freedom of Expression in Uganda, September 2010.

Principles identified in guidelines on media coverage of elections

Scope of the study

TABLE 1: TV news shows and programmes monitored

NBS 7.00pm 9.00pm Frontline

TABLE 2: List of radio stations monitored by region

REGION RADIO STATION

Kampala (7) Capital FM

Methods of data collection

The variables of interest included the following:

17. Origin of election stories

The presidential candidates

The eventual list of candidates nominated in November has the following:

Candidate Political Party/Affiliation

Fred Mwesigye Independent

TABLE 3A: Number of newspaper stories by publication

Publication Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

New Vision 168 36.6 318 36.5

TABLE 3B: Number of television stories by station

TV station Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

NBS 232 30.4 285 19.1

TABLE 3C: Number of radio stories by region

Region Radio stations Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

Kampala 7 417 37.3 868 34.9

Type of election (Parliamentary vs presidential)

Type of election NEWSPAPERS TELEVISION RADIO

October November October November October November

Both 23.7 21.8 24.1 16.9 23.6 16.8

Percentage of different types of election stories by media platform

Trend in type of election in newspaper coverage

Trend in type of election in television coverage

Trend in type of election in radio coverage

Type of articles published in newspapers

Type of article Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

News 363 79.1 662 76.0

Type of stories broadcast on TV and radio stations

Story type Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

News 668 87.5 1382 92.6

TABLE 5C: Frequency of different type of radio stories/shows

Story type Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

News 1,054 94.3 2,401 96.6

Space in CM2 allocated to election-related articles in newspapers

TABLE 6: Newspaper space dedicated to election coverage

Publication Space (cm2) % Pages Space (cm2) % Pages

Daily Monitor 75,132 35.9 91 124,924 35.8 151

Time allocated to election-related stories on TV and radio

TV station Time (Minutes) Percent Time (Minutes) Percent

NBS 1,178 31.8 1,429 21.0

TABLE 7B: Time allocated to election coverage by radio stations

Region Radio stations Time (Minutes) Percent Time(Minutes) Percent

Kampala 7 1,937 45.5 2,890 38.7

Frequency of stories on presidential candidates

Candidates – October Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 34 30.4 43 23.0 67 28.0