Reporting Corruption and Media Ownership
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Reporting Corruption and Media Ownership A comparative study of how government and privately owned media report on corruption in Uganda GERALD WALULYA DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2008 2 Abstract This thesis discusses the relationship between the efforts of combating corruption and the role of the media. It focuses on the connection between media ownership and combating corruption. The research uses the 2005 Global Fund corruption scandal in Uganda as a case study. This scandal involved about US $200million from the Global Fund, meant to fight malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. The study is based on a comparative analysis of how the two main newspapers in Uganda; Daily Monitor (privately owned) and New Vision (government-owned) reported on this corruption scandal. Using this case study, the thesis discusses the role and feasibility of using the media to combat corruption. The research is based on theories of causes and means of combating corruption. Within these theories, the study deals with the relationship between the media and fighting corruption. The theory of media ownership and editorial independence has also been discussed with a view of tracing the relationship between ownership and editorial content. The findings in this study have been based on three research methods that include in-depth interviews with editors and journalists, qualitative and quantitative content analysis and document analysis. The study found out that there is a marginal difference in the way the government and privately owned media report about corruption. The study also found out that the media’s ability to combat corruption in Uganda is greatly hampered by unfriendly press laws and the media’s failure to mobilize resources and skills to do investigative journalism. As such, most of the reports are based on investigations of other agencies. This research strongly recommends that media owners should invest heavily in investigative journalism. In cases where this may not be possible, journalists should resort to existing charities that support investigative journalism. The media should also continue to lobby for a better legal environment that encourages more freedom and access to information in possession of the state. Keywords: Corruption, Global Fund, media, editorial independence, investigative journalism, media ownership, Daily Monitor, New Vision. 3 Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the people and organisations that have supported me in the course of this Masters Degree programme. I particularly want to thank all the people who contributed to the making of this thesis, starting with my supervisor Professor Helge Rønning. Dear Helge, your wise counsel, guidance and constructive criticism have been instrumental in writing this thesis. Your commitment and availability did not only keep me on my toes but also enabled me to finish the research ahead of time. Our shared vision and passion to explore means of empowering the media to combat corruption, particularly in Africa have been inspirational in this research process. I wish also to thank all the six interviewees who participated in this research. I was greatly humbled by your informative and courageous responses that were never hampered by any fears, the sensitive matters that were discussed notwithstanding. The efforts from my friends in Uganda who helped me in the data collection exercise are also greatly appreciated. I wish to thank my family, particularly my wife Margaret and my daughter Dorcas for their morale and material support. The dedication that brought you all the way from Uganda to Oslo, all in the name of giving me company in Norway are highly appreciated. I wish also to thank the Ugandan students’ community at the University of Oslo who always gave me an inspirational home talk. Lastly, and most importantly, I want to thank the Norwegian government for sponsoring my Masters degree through the Quota scholarship scheme. Without your financial support this achievement would only remain a distant dream. The author can be contacted at: Gerald Walulya, P.O. Box 31709, Clock tower, Kampala, Uganda E-mail: [email protected] 4 Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 7 1.1.1 Which case study?........................................................................................................ 8 1.1.2 The state of the media in Uganda ................................................................................ 9 1.1.3 A brief profile of the New Vision newspaper.............................................................. 12 1.1.4 About Daily Monitor newspaper................................................................................ 13 1.2 THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE MEDIA IN UGANDA............................................................. 14 1.3 BACKGROUND TO THE CASE STUDY - ABOUT THE GLOBAL FUND .......................................... 21 1.3.1 How it works .............................................................................................................. 21 1.3.2 Global Fund operations in Uganda ........................................................................... 21 1.3.3 How the Fund was managed in Uganda.................................................................... 22 1.3.4 Discovering the fraud................................................................................................. 22 1.4 HYPOTHESIS .......................................................................................................................... 24 1.4.1 Does it matter as to who owns the media?................................................................. 25 1.4.2 Private media key to exposing corruption.................................................................. 25 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTION............................................................................................................ 26 1.5.1 Sub-Question.............................................................................................................. 27 2. CHAPTER TWO – THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK........................................................ 28 2.1.1 Defining Corruption................................................................................................... 28 2.1.2 Causes of corruption................................................................................................. 30 2.2 COMBATING CORRUPTION: PROPOSALS FOR REFORM............................................................. 34 2.3 THE MEDIA AS AN ANTI-CORRUPTION TOOL.......................................................................... 38 2.3.1 Investigative journalism............................................................................................. 40 5 2.3.2 Media ownership: government versus private............................................................43 2.3.3 Editorial independence key to reporting corruption...................................................46 2.3.4 Access to information and reporting corruption.........................................................48 3. CHAPTER THREE – METHODOLOGY.............................................................................51 3.1 PHILOSOPHICAL ORIENTATION ...............................................................................................51 3.2 THE FIELDWORK ....................................................................................................................52 3.3 THE RESEARCHER IMPACT .....................................................................................................53 3.4 THE CASE STUDY APPROACH.................................................................................................53 3.5 TRIANGULATION AND VALIDITY ............................................................................................55 3.6 DEFINING VARIABLES ............................................................................................................57 3.7 QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS.......................................................................................57 3.8 QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS.........................................................................................58 3.9 QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS ....................................................................................................59 3.9.1 Selection of respondents .............................................................................................60 3.10 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY..............................................................................................60 3.11 ETHICAL CHALLENGES .....................................................................................................61 4. CHAPTER FOUR - FINDINGS ............................................................................................62 4.1 AN OVERVIEW ON CORRUPTION IN UGANDA ..........................................................................62 4.1.1 Inspectorate of Government (IG)................................................................................64 4.1.2 The Police ...................................................................................................................66 4.1.3 The Judiciary ..............................................................................................................67 4.1.4 The Auditor General and Parliament .........................................................................69