IS THE REVOLUTION HERE YET? IMPACT OF MOBILE PHONES AND THE INTERNET ON UGANDA'S NEWS MEDIA AND PUBLIC LIFE GAAKIKIGAMBO Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journalism School of Journalism and Communication Carleton University Ottawa, Canada April, 2010 © Gaaki Kigambo 2010 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-68657-7 Our file Notre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-68657-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada ABSTRACT This thesis argues that new information technologies, particularly the Internet, the Web, and the mobile phone, like elsewhere in the world, are transforming news and journalism in Uganda and forcing news organizations to restructure in order to centrally integrate them in their operations. They, particularly mobile phones, have expanded the horizon for expression, enabling many ordinary citizens, who hitherto had no opportunity, to become involved in public debates and express their views and perspectives. They are critical alternative platforms against restrictions to the media and free expression. Yet challenges remain. They are easily susceptible to abuse, which has the negative effect of creating misunderstanding, animosity and disrupting any meaningful debate. This also devalues their impact. Moreover, their levels of penetration, relative to the total population, remains low. Any significant impact they potentially have, especially, on the country's democratic processes over time is dependent on how fast this penetration increases. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My foremost thanks are to my advisor Prof. Kirsten Kolozanka. Her acceptance to supervise this thesis, her interest in the subject, her patience with rne, her never-ending encouragement and unwavering support, her extremely careful and diligent interest in even the tiniest of details have all made this thesis what it is. It is very much my work as it is hers. I am in her debt. To Allan Thompson and the graduate admissions committee for selecting me among all the applications received. I hope your faith has been vindicated. To the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Richard Van Loon for all the funding, which made it possible for me attend the Master of Journalism program. I am indebted to you too. To all the people that accepted and participated in this research as well as all the authors of scholarly works cited in this work. This thesis would not have happened without you and your work respectively. I thank my classmates for their cordial and mature relations, rich experiences, unending encouragements and advice. It was worthwhile studying together. To my mates, what can I say? I have lived life with each one of you individually. I will take the memories of our experiences everywhere I go. To my sister Cissy 'Cece' Kobugabe: This degree is founded on your risks and sacrifices of many years ago. I remain indebted to you. Finally, my infinite thanks are to my father in whom I derive my life, meaning and inspiration. Your little light still shines. If the gods will it, it will shine on even farther. in TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv CHAPTERS: 1. INTRODUCTION: SHIFTS IN THE NEWS MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE 1 Focus of the Thesis 4 Technology, Change and the Western Media 7 Theoretical Contestations and Media Failures 12 Technology, Change and Eastern Africa Media 16 Thesis Organization 20 Methodology 22 Significance of Study............................................................................... 26 2. THEORIZING TECHNOLOGY, CHANGE AND NEW MEDIA 28 Technology, the Old Debate 30 New Media: Definition(s) and Features 35 New Media and Democracy 38 The Revived Public Sphere 42 New Media; Utopia vs. Dystopia 45 New Media, Democracy and the South 47 3. NEWS MEDIA, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN UGANDA 55 Media Repression after Colonialism 59 The Period of Turbulence 63 Post-1986: The Media as Unofficial Opposition 67 The Restrictive Laws That Won't Go Away 73 FM and Mobile Phones: The Twin Revolution 79 4. THE INTERNET AND UGANDA'S PRINT NEWS MEDIA: CHANGES AND CHALLENGES 85 The Tension RadioKatwe.com Stirred 92 IV Situating RadioKatwe.com Within the Ugandan Media Environment.... 96 The Real Transformation: Readers Migrate Online 101 Beyond Online Migration: The Other Transformations 107 Towards Participation, Free Expression and Democracy........................ 110 5. MOBILE PHONES, TEXT MESSAGING AND THE AGE OF PARTICIPATION 114 Prelude to a Scandal 119 Save Mabira Campaign, Send a Text Message 121 Beyond Mabira; The Number to Call Is 127 Political Expression vs. Non-political Expression 132 New Media as Crisis Media 135 6. CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE OF NEWS AND NEWS MEDIA IN UGANDA 139 The Problem with Comparisons 140 New Media Takeover 145 New Information Technologies and Democracy 150 Conclusion............................................................................................... 157 BIBLIOGRAPHY 160 INTERVIEWS 172 v LIST OF FIGURES Caller Profile 128 Table 5.1: Age of Respondents 128 Table 5.2: Gender of Respondents 128 Table 5.3: Education of Respondents 128 Table 5.4: Source of Income 129 Mobile Phone Profile 130 Table 5.5: Mobile Phone Ownership 130 Table 5.6: Number of Mobile Phones Owned 130 Table 5.7 Motivation for Texting/Calling 130 VI CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: SHIFTS IN THE NEWS MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE Throughout time, human beings have faced unique needs and challenges that have compelled them to find ways, techniques and tools with which to tackle them. These solutions have, in turn, changed their ways of life and inadvertently set the course of generations that have followed. The most salient solutions have been inventing or improving upon existing technologies, which has led some scholars to note that technologies are "a vitally important aspect of the human condition" (MacKenzie & Wajcman, 1999, p. 3). These scholars have added that, "For good or ill, [technologies] are woven inextricably into the fabric of our lives from birth to death" and that, "all our lives are intertwined with technologies, from simple tools to large technical systems'" (Ibid.). Technologies feature prominently in how, as human beings, we communicate and exchange information. And as we have invented or improved upon them, they have inevitably changed the way we communicate, the quantity of, the speed at which we move information from one point to another and how far we are able to extend it. In the United States, for example, as James Carey has noted, the construction of the railroad and the invention of the telegraph enabled something nearing a regular and periodical national system of communication because the railroad and telegraph linked every American town and synchronized all time zones (1998). More broadly, as other observers have noted, "Every significant new publishing phenomenon has been midwifed by a great leap in technology" (Welch, 2005, p. 374). The movable-type printing press gave rise to the 1 2 Gutenberg Bible, the offset press the alternative newspapers, while laser printers and desktop publishing underwrote newsletters and magazines and helped spawn the business journal (Ibid.). There is little, if any, disagreement that today's leading information technologies are chiefly the Internet, or simply the Net, the World Wide Web, or simply the Web, and the mobile phone, particularly in many regions of the world categorized as underdeveloped or developing. These technologies are widely perceived as new and are generically referred to either as new information technologies or new media in most cases. This