THERE WILL BE INK - Initiative for Policy Dialogue

have such difficulty obtaining information from reliable sources. 165SalariesThe 2006 Africa Media Development Initiative (AMDI) report on Uganda noted, “Journalists arepaid relatively well compared to other occupations, such as teaching.” 166 The report estimatedaverage salaries for freelance journalists at $165 per month and for salaried reporters at $380 to$3200 per month. Journalists in Uganda, however, reported monthly salaries of between $100 and$350. 167 The AMDI report compares this salary to an average monthly salary of $165 for secondaryschool teachers, which it claims is a comparable profession. However, media organizations oftencannot afford to supply journalists with the transportation, mobile phone airtime, audio recorders oreven notebooks and pens necessary to report, meaning journalists must pay for these supplies out oftheir own pockets. The majority of those interviewed mentioned low pay as a serious challenge tothe quality of their reporting.Lack of funds causes journalists to miss out on reporting opportunities: one editor for anindependent weekly was unable to travel to Ruhiira, approximately three hours by car fromKampala, to report on the Millennium Villages Project there. Several reporters working at both dailyand weekly newspapers felt the quality of their reporting on the oil industry had suffered becausethey had been unable to travel to the oil fields in Hoima in southwestern Uganda.Several reporters and editors noted that journalists are often reluctant to do investigative reportingbecause attending corporate- or government-sponsored events, where travel and food expenses arecovered, is easier. One editor said that in Ugandan journalism, “hard work doesn’t pay.” 168This lack of funding affects reporters’ resources on the job, but a reporter at an independent weeklypaper noted that it also makes it difficult to cultivate sources. Several reporters said they were unableto go to the places where major businesspeople spend their time – including Kampala’s major clubsand casinos – to make contact with them. One reporter at a daily newspaper noted that during hertraining experience with the International Institute for Journalism she had been encouraged to takecontacts out for drinks to cultivate them as sources, but that few freelancers or even staff journalistshave the financial capacity to do this. 169CorruptionBusiness is “one of the most corrupt journalist beats in this country,” said a reporter for anindependent weekly magazine. 170 Because salaries are low, journalists are more easily susceptible tobribes: “Some reporters receive the brown envelope, and even when the bank governor talks trashthey will praise him,” said a reporter at a weekly magazine. 171 Some writers reportedly work side jobsas public relations officers for the companies they cover as journalists.165 Ugandan Interviewee #8. 2009. Interview by Rebekah Heacock. Kampala, Uganda, January 8.166 John Watsuna Khamalwa, “Uganda: Research findings and conclusions,” BBC World Service Trust: Africa MediaDevelopment Initiative (2006).167 Ugandan Interviewee #1. 2009. Interview by Rebekah Heacock. Kampala, Uganda, January 5; Ugandan Interviewee#18. 2009. Interview by Rebekah Heacock. Kampala, Uganda, January 14.168 Ugandan Interviewee #13. 2009. Interview by Rebekah Heacock. Kampala, Uganda, January 10.169 Ugandan Interviewee #3. 2009. Interview by Rebekah Heacock. Kampala, Uganda, January 5.170 Ugandan Interviewee #7. 2009. Interview by Rebekah Heacock. Kampala, Uganda, January 8.171 Ugandan Interviewee #18. 2009. Interview by Rebekah Heacock. Kampala, Uganda, January 14.– 63 –