THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION TO THE MEDIA FRATERNITY A CASE STUDY OF DAILY MONITOR BY MUHUMUZA JOEL BMC135437/ 113! DU A RESEARCH DISSERTATION SUBMI1TED TO THE COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ThE AWARD OF BACHELORS DEGREE IN MASS COMMUNICATION OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY JUNE, 2014 DECLARATION I, Muhumuza Joel, hereby declare that this is my original work and has never been presented to any other educational institution for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate. Signature ...~*~ ~ (STUDENT) ~ /~_i~,7_~L/ APPROVAL This is to certify that the research of Muhumuza joel has been under my supervision and is now ready for submission to the college of Humanities and social sciences department of Mass Communication of Kampala International University. Signature ~....... date ç~JUfl€~ ?~o(~f~ MR. Nthiga Nicholus (SUPERVISOR) DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my lovely parents, who took care of me right from childhood to date and also giving me lots of encouraging words towards my education. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I express my heartfelt gratitude to the almighty God for the protection and wisdom which enabled me to write this research. My appreciation is extended to my supervisor Mr. Nthigah Nicholus who availed me with both technical and academic knowledge which enabled me to write this dissertation. Finally my thanks go to my beloved family members and not forgetting my dear friends. I am dearly indebted to you friends, I thank you for your encouragement. God bless you all. iv Contents DECLAJ~.A1ION APPF~O~I’I~L ii DEDICA1~IOI’J iii ~ Contents V LIS’r OF 1ABLES vii I_IS1~ OF FIGURES v’iii ABS1~A~1 ix CEiAPTER. OF~iE 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 3 1.3 Objectives of the study 4 1.3.1 General Objective of the Study 4 1.3.2 Specific Objectives 4 1.4 Research Questions 4 1.5 Significance of the study 5 1.6Scope 5 1.6.1 Geographical scope 1.6.2 Theoretical scope 5 1.6.3Timescope 6 2.6.4 Context scope 6 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 7 2.1 The state of freedom of expression in Uganda 7 2.1.1 Government rights body silent 11 2.2 Relevance of Freedom of expression and media legislation 12 2.3 The importance of freedom of expression 13 2.4 Challenges of Freedom of expression 16 v CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .....................................~. 19 3.1 Research Design 19 3.2 Method of data collection 19 3.3 Sources of Data 19 3.4 Target population 20 3.5 Sample size 20 3.6 Sampling technique 20 3.7 Ethical considerations 21 3.8 Limitation of the study 21 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, FINDINGS INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS 22 4.1 Demographic characteristics 22 4.2 The freedom of expression experienced by the print media 23 4.2.1 The Governments’ take on freedom of expression 25 4.3 The relevance of freedom of expression to the Media 27 4.4 Challenges of operating media in Uganda 28 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 30 5.1 Summary and conclusion 30 5.2 Recommendations 31 REFERENCES 31 APPEN DICES 37 APPENDIX I: RESEARCH INSTRUMENT 37 A: QUESTIONNAIRE 37 B: INTERVIEW GUIDE 39 APPENDIX II: TIME SCHEDULE OF THE STUDY 40 APPENDIX III: BUDGET OF THE STUDY 41 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Sample size 20 Table 2: Marital status distribution of the respondents 22 Table 3: Education level of Daily Monitor respondents 22 Table 4 (a): Do you think media industry enjoy the freedom of expression7 23 Table 4 (b): Does your media enjoy the freedom of expression7 24 Table 5: Governments’ effects on freedom of expression 26 Table 6: Freedom of expression effects on quality of content 27 Table 7: Respondents take on challenges of operating media 29 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Marital status distribution of the respondents 22 Figure 2: Education level of Daily Monitor respondents 23 Figure 3: Do you think media industry enjoy the freedom of expression7 24 Figure 4: Media experience on freedom of expression 24 Figure 5: Governments’ take on freedom of expression 26 Figure 6: Freedom of expression effects on quality of content 27 viii ABSTRACT This research was concerned to investigate the applicability of freedom of expression in the print media. The researcher took time on the background of study to lay a foundation of the research. Statement of the problem acted like a backbone the entire study by critically showing the challenges on the ground. The Objectives followed, which were both general and specific, the researcher highlighted the benefits of doing this research. The scope of the study was well explained. Chapter two was a tentative research done by the researcher whereby he relied on the works of other Scholars. The study employed descriptive survey design which was used to discover casual relationships between the two variables. Slovene’s formula was used to arrive at the sample size. To ensure validity of instruments, content validity index was used and reliability of the instrument was established by corn-bachs coefficient alpha variable. Data gathering procedure before and after administration of questionnaires was followed to the letter. Data presentation, analysis and interpretation was tabulated, this included the analysis of demographic characteristics of respondents, the IV (Freedom of expression) and DV ( Print Media ) whose summary was done in terms of mean. The researcher found out violent and intimidating ways were not supposed to be used as a viable option and he did recommends diplomatic ways of solving problems to be used, ie dialogue. ix CHAPTER ONE 1.1 Background Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democratic rights and freedoms. In its very first session in 1946, before any human rights declarations or treaties had been adopted, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 59 (I) stating “Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated~’T Freedom of expression is essential in enabling democracy to work and public participation in decision-making. Citizens cannot exercise their right to vote effectively or take part in public decision-making if they do not have free access to information and ideas and are not able to express their views freely. The freedom of expression is a pivotal component of our individual development as human beings and as “political animals” and to mprove and radicalize democracies. The invention of the press therefore constitutes the turning point for the debates about freedom of expression. Guaranteeing each individualTs right to freely seek, receive or impart information while interacting with other individuals ceased to be enough. It was necessary to go beyond, upholding this right allied by an intermediary that radically magnified the outreach of opinions, information and ideas like the mass media. Under this perspective, many foundational pillars of the contemporary debate on human rights (the Glorious, American and French Revolutions; the writings of John Milton, Alexis of Tocqueville and John Stuart Mill, among others) dedicated substantial attention to freedom of expression and its links to the mass media. The idea of a free, independent, plural, and diversified media has become the ideal to be achieved in order to fully ensure the right to seek, receive and impart information. Finding the appropriate format for State participation in 1 this equation of fostering media systems endowed with these characteristics have quickly constituted one of the most relevant pieces of the puzzle. This challenge became particularly complex when broadcasting took over the system’s leading role in the beginning of the 20th Century. The possible hypothesis that each legitimate Interest from the different social groups might have been voiced In their own newspapers did not prove to be true In relation to television and radio. The electromagnetic spectrum Is a finite public resource and needs to be regulated, at least as far as frequencies are concerned. Therefore, media regulation started Its development hand In hand with guaranteeing, promoting and protecting freedom of expression. In fact, the ultimate goal for regulating media should be to protect and deepen this fundamental right For this reason, the most important International Instruments on human rights (the United Nations Charter; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on CMI and Political Rights; the Conventions on the Rights of the Child, on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity and Cultural Expressions, on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and on the Rights of Persons wIth Disabilities) address to the matter in different perspectives. The same holds true for regional human rights instruments and for legal Instruments of the world’s most consolidated and long fought democracies. The Media In Uganda has been transformed with the ever changing political and economic landscape & the nation, and since the liberaiization of the media in the early 1990s, the number of print and broadcast media outiets has rapidly increased. However, prior to media 2 liberalization, Uganda experienced limited access to independent, privately-owned media outlets. Today, while freedom of expression is enshrined in the 1995 Constitution, it is still subject to statutory and regulatory restrictions as well as regular government sanctioned attacks and interference. In 2006, Reporters without Borders ranked Uganda 116 out of 168 in its Annual Press Freedom Index. The 2006 ranking represents a sharp drop from the previous year when Uganda was ranked 80th. Similarly, Freedom House, in its 2007 Annual report on Press freedom ranked Uganda 116th out of 169 countries, a drop from 111th in 2006. While once heralded as one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s freest countries for the press, Uganda has dropped in the ranks over the past couple of years following the enactment of the anti-terrorism legislation and the tightening of controls on the media, especially in the run up to the 2006 General elections.