Volume 1. Issue 1. June 2014 Is thi s emai l not di spl ayi ng correctl y?

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A newsletter to savour

We at African Centre for Media Excellence get up to a lot of things in
pursuit of our goal of helping promote excellence in journalism and
mass communication in Uganda and beyond. We work with mid-
career journalists for improved coverage of issues old and new; we
train various corporate, governmental and civil society organisations
to use the media intelligently so the world can know about their good deeds; we conduct
media research; and we advocate freedom of the media.
To deliver on the areas just outlined, we run several programmes and projects. They range
from data journalism training to monthly screenings and discussion of documentaries and
dramas on journalism and public affairs. We thus think it sensible for us to communicate
what we do using various channels. On top of using our website (www.acme-ug.org) and the
various social media channels, we have chosen to publish a monthly newsletter as well.
Please, receive it, read it, enjoy it. Then get in touch via info@acme-ug.org
News
Here come the good times for Ugandan
journalists
In May we began
implementation of a
project titled
Enhanced Media
Reporting for
Transparency and
Accountability. EMERTA is 28-month project
funded by the Democratic Governance Facility.
One of its key elements is a fellowship
programme for journalists. The pioneer lot of 12
fellows four women and eight men selected
competitively from newsrooms all over Uganda
Noteworthy
Some 22 journalists
from Tanzania and
Ghana came to
ACME on 4 June for
a 10-day training in
covering oil, gas and
mining. They joined 10 Ugandans: Abas
Ruhweza (Hits FM), Abdulaziizi Tumusiime
(Daily Monitor), Agather Atuhaire (Uganda Radio
Network), Barbara Among (freelance), Baz
Waiswa (East African Business Week), Denis
Olaka (Uganda Radio Network), Flavia Nalubega
(Oil in Uganda), Irene Namajja (NBS TV), Joan
is focussing on local government. The first part
of the groups six-month training and
mentorship ran from 12-16 May at ACMEs
purpose-built training centre in Bunga-Soya (off
Ggaba Road), Kampala. Apart from revisiting
journalistic skills such as story spotting, the
journalists heard from various guest speakers,
who included Mr Norbert Mao, a former
chairman of Gulu District and currently the head
of the Democratic Party. The journalists will be
back at ACME two more times to focus on data
journalism. Their key output is two major story
projects, funded to a combined tune of Shs2.5
million.

We also issued a call for journalists of all sizes
and shapes as long as they are Ugandan to
apply on a rolling quarterly basis for grants of up
to Shs1,750,000 per project to do in-depth
stories in various subject areas. Any keen
journalist would have already seen a poster up
somewhere in his or her newsroom. All it takes
is a compelling story idea, fully supported by
the reporters editor. And bingo. You have the
money. You hit the field. The rest of us then do
nothing but wait for the blockbuster story.
Ugandan journalism has never been so
promising. STOP PRESS! Winners of the
inaugural round are here.
Akello (Independent), and John Odyek (New
Vision). They are the fifth class to undergo this
demanding six-month training that involves field
trips, mentorship, and reporting grants all
largely funded by the New York-based Natural
Resource Governance Institute, formerly
Revenue Watch Institute. The second 10-day
face-to-face training where each group focuses
on its home country, will take place early in
September. While at ACME, the journalists took
turns to blog on the course. See their unedited
stories on this specially created course blog.
Earlier, 29-30 May, we played host to 11 Indiana
University trainee journalists with an interest in
reporting health, particularly AIDS, in Africa.
Their professor and one other official
accompanied the students. They appear to have
had a good time. Their word on this is here. We
believe them.

Our Executive Director, Dr Peter Mwesige, spent
the week of 18 May in Nairobi attending
meetings on non-academic research and what it
can do for development. Colleagues Lydia
Namubiru and Grace Natabaalo, geeks of some
stripe, flew to Sweden the week of 25 May to
attend the Stockholm Internet Forum 2014. It
was held under this sobering theme: Internet -
privacy, transparency, surveillance and control.
An editors' affair
The African Writers Trust,
founded and run by Ugandan
writer Goretti Kyomuhendo,
completed a five-day (16-20
June) training on literary editing
at ACME. The 10 participants
came from Uganda, Kenya,
Rwanda and Tanzania. The
training was one of the spin-off
IMF country chief comes
to ACME
We said it already. We get
about doing stuff. Much of
which we think will change the
world. Why else would we do
it?
On 15 May we hosted Mr
Gideon Badagawa, the head of
Training on oil
coverage for editors and
bloggers
This is one to watch out for.
We will issue a call in the
coming weeks for applications
for two training workshops on
covering oil, gas and mining.
Each workshop will last two
days. The first, targeting
interested editors from all
around Uganda, will take place
in August Tuesday 19th and
events from the
Commonwealth Writers Short
Story Prize festivities held in
Kampala the week before. If
you missed the news, you
may be pleased to know that
the overall prize-winner was Ms
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Ugandas very own. And
wonder no more why the
training took place at ACME.
We have a purpose-built
training room meaning it has
all the paraphernalia you need
to conduct a successful
training in the twenty-first
century. We hire it out for a
small fee, which we channel
back into work that advances
our obligations as a not-for-
profit organisation. So, please,
come check out our facility.
And get to use it some day.
Private Sector Foundation
Uganda, for our monthly talk
we have called An Evening
With He spoke on private
sector expectations of the
national budget. He was all for
energy and transportation
infrastructure. Well, and a little
more. We suspect Madam
Maria Kiwanuka delivered the
goods. For the June talk, we
elected to stay with the budget
money matters are very
serious after all. On Thursday,
19 June, therefore, we hosted
Ms Ana Lucia Coronel, the IMF
senior resident representative
and mission chief in Uganda.
She placed the 2014/15 budget
within the context of the
national economy. We will tell
you a little bit of what she said
in the next edition of this
newsletter. Do feel
encouraged, however, to visit
our online resource centre to
listen to the podcasts of some
of the talks we have had. Keep
visiting because more
podcasts are being prepared
for upload. Besides, there is a
lot more to chew on over there.
Wednesday 20th. The second
workshop, targeting TV/radio
producers, bloggers, and
online journalists (i.e.
journalists who do not work for
the mainstream media) from
across Uganda, will take place
on 21st and 22nd of the same
month of August. Both
trainings, supported by US-
based Fund for Global Human
Rights, will take place at
ACME. Experts from the
government, oil companies and
civil society will speak. To not
miss out on the enlightening
opportunity, keep your eye at
the ACME website for details.
Women particularly are
encouraged to apply.
www.acme-ug.org | @ACME_Uganda | f b: ACME.UG I| inf o@acme-ug.org
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