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Don’t manipulate media’s role, advises Uganda’s D/Speaker

Don’t manipulate media’s role, advises Uganda’s D/Speaker
By George Chellah in Kampala, Uganda
Wednesday February 21, 2007 [02:00]

UGANDA'S Deputy Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has said the media's responsibility to society should not be manipulated. And Kadaga observed that opposition parliamentarians in Africa sometimes unnecessarily take an opposing view on matters in Parliament. Addressing journalists at a training course organised by the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) at Kampala's Hotel Africana on Monday, Kadaga said the media had a huge responsibility in society, which should not be manipulated.

Kadaga noted that the media was a partner in any country's quest for good governance. "The media are complementary in activities and we can't do without you. I have never understood why legislators in the previous parliaments did not allow coverage of parliamentary debates," Kadaga said. "Since we are the chief makers of laws and news, you are entitled to report on us what you feel and how you see it.

Sometimes we disagree with you the media because sometimes you over-step the boundary and report falsehoods. You tend to over-dramatise this and that, I don't know whether this creativity is part of your training. "But it's important to get clarifications then you will be able to write better. Your responsibility to the public is very big so it should not be manipulated."

Kadaga urged the media to be sensitive to the interests of the nation in its reporting. "Like that, we are going to have a good working relationship," she said. Kadaga further said some people especially politicians normally avoided the press because they were cognisant of the fact that the media could either make or break them.

And Kadaga observed that some opposition members of parliament in Africa sometimes oppose unnecessarily during parliamentary debates. "Opposition members of parliament sometimes oppose just for the sake of it. And you even know when they stand that this one will oppose no matter how good the decision is, they will just oppose," Kadaga said. "But we do have some members who think freely and speak freely. But those are the challenges of democracy."

Kadaga said opposition parliamentarians sometimes fail to reflect their party's stance on certain matters in their debates. "Sometimes the opposition member will speak and debate so well but his colleague from his own party will also stand and oppose him. So you wonder what the party position is on some matters," said Kadaga.

Labels: MEDIA

posted by MrK @ 5:28 AM