THE ROLE of RADIO TALK SHOWS in the TRANSITION to MULTI-PARTY POLITICS and DEMOCRACY in UGANDA a Case Study

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THE ROLE of RADIO TALK SHOWS in the TRANSITION to MULTI-PARTY POLITICS and DEMOCRACY in UGANDA a Case Study UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE Christine Nabunya THE ROLE OF RADIO TALK SHOWS IN THE TRANSITION TO MULTI-PARTY POLITICS AND DEMOCRACY IN UGANDA A Case Study Master’s Thesis Department of Journalism and Mass Communication International School of Social Science May 2009 ABSTRACT University of Tampere International School of Social Sciences Department of Journalism and Mass Communication NABUNYA, CHRISTINE: The Role of Radio Talk Shows in the Transition to Multi-Party Politics and Democracy in Uganda. A Case Study Master’s Thesis, 135 pages May 2009 Key words: Uganda, multi-party politics, radio talk shows This study aims firstly at reviewing the transition to multi-party politics in Uganda after 20 years prior to the first election in February 2006 and at assessing how this system of governance has worked. Secondly, it seeks to explore how the media has evolved in response to this transition, particularly the radio talk shows using one of the popular radio stations in Uganda CBS and its Mambo Bado talk show programme as a case. The research employs the agenda-setting theory. The core of this theory is who sets the agenda, in this case the media agenda, public agenda and the politician’s agenda in regard to radio talk- show programmes and how they affect each other. The core of this theory is that the media is successful in telling people not what to think but what to think about. This theory attempts to explain how the various topical issues make it on the agenda of radio talk show programmes. The study analyses the interviews of the Members of Parliament as well as Mambo Bado talk show programmes. There is sufficient evidence that the media sets the public and politicians’ agendas by virtue of the fact that it is them who choose what issues to be discussed on the radio talk shows. According to the analysis of the interviews and the Mambo Bado talk show programmes, radio talk shows were at the center of the transition. Most of what the public knew was through the radio talk shows, they take what they hear on radio to be ‘gospel truth’ and keep making reference to it even after an issue is no longer being discussed on a radio talk show. This transition to multi-party politics has also shaken up the media with many radio stations settling for self censorship as opposed to being closed down by the government for being critical. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface................................................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 2 2. MULTI-PARTY POLITICS.......................................................................................... 8 2.1 The Concept of Multi-Party Politics...................................................................... 8 2.2 Multi-Party Politics in the USA, Europe and Asia ................................................ 9 2.2.1 Multi-Party Politics in the United States ...................................................... 9 2.2.2 Multi-Party Politics in Europe .................................................................... 11 2.2.3 Multi-Party Politics in Asia ........................................................................ 11 2.3 Multi-Party Politics in Africa............................................................................... 12 3. POLITICAL SYSTEM IN UGANDA......................................................................... 22 3.1 The Political History of Uganda .......................................................................... 22 3.1.1 Uganda before the British Colonial Rule.................................................... 22 3.1.2 British Colonial Rule in Uganda 1890-1962 .............................................. 23 3.1.3 Independence Regime................................................................................. 24 3.2 Multi-Party Politics 1962-1986............................................................................ 26 3.3 The Movement Political System 1986-2006 ....................................................... 28 3.4 Re-introduction of the Current Multi-Party Political System.............................. 30 3.5 General Remarks.................................................................................................. 34 4. MEDIA LANDSCAPE IN UGANDA ........................................................................ 39 4.1 History of the Media in Uganda........................................................................... 39 4.2 Evolution of the Media ........................................................................................ 41 4.3 Organization, Structure and Operation of the Media........................................... 46 4.3.1 Ownership................................................................................................... 47 4.3.2 Operation of the Private Media................................................................... 50 4.3.3 Organization Structure................................................................................ 52 4.3.4 Financing..................................................................................................... 53 4.4 Radio Talk Show Programmes ............................................................................ 53 4.5 Mambo Bado Talk Show ..................................................................................... 56 4.6 Media Under the Multi-Party Political System.................................................... 58 5. AGENDA-SETTING THEORY ................................................................................. 67 5.1 History of the Agenda-Setting Theory................................................................. 67 5.2 The First Level of Agenda-Setting Theory.......................................................... 70 5.3 Agenda-Setting and Framing ............................................................................... 71 5.4 The Agenda-Setting Theory and Radio Talk-Shows........................................... 74 5.4.1 Media Agenda............................................................................................. 75 5.4.2 Public Agenda............................................................................................. 77 5.4.3 Politicians’ Agenda..................................................................................... 78 6. METHOD AND DATA............................................................................................... 80 6.1 Interviews as a Method ........................................................................................ 80 6.2 Justification of Empirical Data ............................................................................ 82 6.2.1 Radio in Uganda ......................................................................................... 82 6.2.2 CBS Radio .................................................................................................. 83 6.2.3 Mambo Bado Talk-Show............................................................................ 84 6.2.4 The Six Mambo Bado Talk-Show Programmes ......................................... 85 6.2.5 Interviews of the MPs ................................................................................. 86 7. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS............................................................... 89 7.1 Analysis of the Mambo Bado Talk Show Programmes....................................... 89 7.2.1 February 11, 2006 ....................................................................................... 91 7.2.2 February 18, 2006 ....................................................................................... 93 7.2.3 February 25, 2006 ....................................................................................... 96 7.2.4 March 4, 2006 ............................................................................................. 98 7.2.5 March 11, 2006 ......................................................................................... 100 7.3 Analysis of the Interviews ................................................................................. 103 7.3.1 Progress and Experience........................................................................... 105 7.3.2 Opinion ..................................................................................................... 108 7.3.3 CBS........................................................................................................... 110 7.3.4 Talk Shows................................................................................................ 113 7.3.5 Elections 2011........................................................................................... 115 8. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................... 118 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................... 125 Preface I have been a radio journalist and parliamentary reporter over five years during which time I wrote and read news pieces, produced programmes like Parliament in Review and presented them on the air. I also had the privilege of hosting Mama FM’s first political talk show in 2001 for one year. Parallel to this professional work I pursued studies for a Bachelor in Mass Communication at Makerere University where I graduated in 2003. After that I was working with Uganda Radio Network, a news agency serving over 50 radio
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