Ugandan 2021 Elections MEDIA COVERAGE - PRELIMINARY REPORT - African Centre for Media Excellence

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Ugandan 2021 Elections MEDIA COVERAGE - PRELIMINARY REPORT - African Centre for Media Excellence
Ugandan
 MEDIA COVERAGE
of the2021 Elections
                     Oct–Nov 2020

     PRELIMINARY REPORT
Ugandan 2021 Elections MEDIA COVERAGE - PRELIMINARY REPORT - African Centre for Media Excellence
Ugandan 2021 Elections MEDIA COVERAGE - PRELIMINARY REPORT - African Centre for Media Excellence
Ugandan
 MEDIA COVERAGE
of the2021 Elections
                        Oct–Nov 2020

   PRELIMINARY REPORT

        DECEMBER 2020
Published by
African Centre for Media Excellence
Plot 130 Kalungu Road (Bunga-Soya), off Ggaba Road
P. O. Box 11283 Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256 393 202 351
info@acme-ug.org
www.acme-ug.org
Facebook: ACME.UG
Twitter: @ACME_Uganda

Layout & Design by: Murshid Lutalo, murshid.lg@gmail.com
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   iii

                     CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS                                                                        V

INTRODUCTION                                                                             1

BACKGROUND                                                                               2
     Media role in elections                                                             2
     The media landscape in Uganda                                                       2
     Findings of previous monitoring reports on media coverage of elections              4
     Principles identified in guidelines on media coverage of elections                  5

RESEARCH QUESTIONS                                                                       6

METHODOLOGY                                                                              7

     Scope of the study                                                                  7
     Methods of data collection                                                          9
     Type of election (Parliamentary vs presidential)                                   13
     Type of articles published in newspapers                                           16
     Type of stories broadcast on TV and radio stations                                 16
     Time allocated to election-related stories on TV and radio                         17

KEY FINDINGS                                                                            19

     Frequency of stories on presidential candidates                                    19
     Frequency of front-page stories on presidential candidates                        24
     Frequency of pictures of presidential candidates                                  25
     Space allocated to presidential candidates in newspapers                          27
     Time allocated to presidential candidates on TV and radio                         29
     Tone of coverage (general)                                                        32
     Tone of coverage of presidential candidates                                       33
     Use of right of reply                                                             36
iv   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

                Event- vs issue-based reporting                           38
                Origin of election stories                                42
                Reporting format of election stories                      44
                Number of sources in election stories                     49
                Type of sources in election stories                       54
                Gender of sources in election stories                     57
                Use of background and Context                             62
                Interrogation of claims made by presidential candidates   62
                Topics/issues addressed in election stories               64

       CONCLUSION                                                         68

                Key takeaways                                             69
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T
       his research report was written by Brian Ssenabulya (ACME Programme Associate, Media
       Monitoring and Research), Elijah Mangeni (Programme Officer, Monitoring and Evaluation),
       and Executive Director Peter G. Mwesige (Ph.D).

The coding for the content analysis was conducted by 12 research assistants.

ACME thanks the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) for funding the research. Monitoring media
coverage of elections is part of ACME’s 32-month project entitled “Enhanced Media Reporting for
Civic Engagement and Accountability (EMERCEA).” The project aims to contribute towards the
realisation of a vibrant and reliable media that consistently produces quality public affairs journalism
that empowers citizens to engage in democratic processes.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   1

INTRODUCTION

T
       his report looks at Ugandan news media coverage of the 2021 elections, focusing on five
       key publications, six television stations, and 35 radio stations. It explores the attention these
       newspapers and a news magazine, television and radio stations paid the election-related
news and issues in October and November 2020 and the nature of their coverage. The publications
studied are Bukedde (a Luganda-language daily), Daily Monitor, New Vision, The Observer, and The
Independent newsmagazine. The television stations monitored are Baba TV, Bukedde TV, NBS, NTV,
TV West, and UBC. The radio stations are listed in the methodology section.

Relying mainly on quantitative content analysis, the report explores the volume of coverage of
election-related news and issues by these selected media houses, the types of elections covered, the
types of articles published (news, analysis, opinion, features, etc.), the reporting formats employed,
the topics covered, and the tone of coverage. The analysis also covers the voices in the coverage,
including the occupation and gender of sources.

The report also pays particular attention to the coverage of the 11 presidential candidates, focusing on
who appeared on the front pages of the newspapers, the volume of coverage on each of them, how
much space or time was dedicated to each candidate across the three media platforms monitored,
and the tone of coverage of the contenders.

Finally, conclusions are shared.
2   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

    BACKGROUND

    A
            s the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has noted, given the key
            role the media play in elections, “any observation effort should pay significant attention to
            the activities of the media and their coverage of elections”.1

    Media monitoring is particularly critical this election cycle because the Electoral Commission directed
    that campaigning be conducted “scientifically” (i.e. soliciting votes largely through the media rather
    than the usual public rallies and other canvassing techniques that are said to violate social distancing
    regulations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic).

    Media role in elections
    The media (can) play five essential roles in elections: provision of information to enable voters
    make informed decisions; provision of platforms for debate through allowing exchange of opinions
    amongst the different contending groups and citizens; acting as a watchdog for fairness during
    election campaigning and polling; educating the public about election processes; and providing
    voice to the voters.2

    The media landscape in Uganda
    The media landscape in Uganda is characterised by a liberal regime of investment (at least on paper)
    and stringent regulation across print, radio, and television channels. Online and social media are
    increasingly becoming a major source of information and debate for middle class Ugandans.

    Radio remains the biggest source of information for 80% of Ugandans (Afrobarometer, 2020)3.
    Television comes second at 31%, followed by the internet (14%) and social media (13%). While
    newspapers come last at 12%, they remain influential agenda setters for the public, political class,
    as well as other media.

    Although Uganda has some of the most vibrant media in east and southern Africa, for very many
    years the country has been characterised by the international press freedom watchdog Freedom

    1   OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (2012). Handbook on Media Monitoring for Election
        Observation Missions. Warsaw, Poland.
    2   Marie-Soleil Frère (2010). The Media and Elections in Post-Conflict Central African Countries. Brussels: University
        of Brussels.
    3   Afrobarometer (2020).”Feasible but unsuitable? Examining the practicality of a media-only 2021 election
        campaign during COVID-19: Findings from the Afrobarometer Round 8 Survey in Uganda.”
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   3

House as “partly free”. And although the country’s constitution provides for the right to freedom
of expression, including press freedom, several factors undermine these guarantees. They include
obnoxious laws and regulations, government interference, regulatory overreach, harassment and
intimidation by security officials, advertiser influence, media ownership, professional and human
resource challenges within newsrooms, and low levels of media literacy among the population.

These challenges notwithstanding, the media landscape has grown from only state broadcaster in
the early 1990s to a multi-player, diversified industry today. The two biggest media houses — with
interests in radio, television, print, and online — are the majority state-owned Vision Group, and
Nation Media Group, a Nairobi-based conglomerate that is privately owned. In addition to the two
market leaders, there are a number of other small privately owned entities: The Red Pepper, a daily
tabloid; the weekly The Observer and The Independent. There are nearly 300 radio stations, and 30
TV stations. The state-run Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) has the widest TV and radio
reach, broadcasting in multiple local languages as well as in English and Kiswahili.

Although UBC was supposed to have transformed into a public broadcaster, it has over the years
remained very much a state broadcaster subservient to the ruling party and rarely providing for
views critical of the government. In the 2016 election petition filed in the Supreme Court by former
Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi against the re-election of President Yoweri Museveni, the accusation
of UBC favouring the incumbent, contrary to the law, was the only ground that was upheld. Ensuring
that public media provided equitable coverage to all candidates as required by the constitution
and the law was one of the recommendations that the Supreme Court asked the attorney general
to address within 18 months after its March 2016 decision. The Presidential Elections Amendment
(Act) 2020 was subsequently enacted to provide for sanctions against public media that violate the
requirement of equitable coverage of candidates. According to the amended act, a pubic media
house that is found to have breached this requirement will pay a maximum fine of Shs10 million and
the person in charge of that media house shall upon conviction be liable to a fine of up to Shs10
million or a maximum jail term of two years or both.

The Uganda Communications (Content) Regulations of 2019 extend this requirement of equitable
coverage of presidential candidates to all broadcasters, including private ones. Using language from
the “Minimum Broadcasting Standards” enshrined in the Uganda Communications Act 2013, the
regulations provide that an operator shall ensure that:

      “(a) Where a programme that is broadcast is in respect to a contender for a public
      office, that each contender is given equal opportunity on the programme in accordance
      with the Regulations;

      “(b) Equitable coverage and opportunity is given to political parties and organisations
      participating in an election.”

The regulations also extend the requirement of equitable treatment to political parties and
organisations. Regulation 18 (1) says, “Where, during an election period, the coverage of any
broadcasting service extends to the discussion of elections, political parties and related issues, the
4   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

    broadcaster shall afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views and shall
    treat all political parties equitably.”

    Concerns remain that many private radio stations are owned by politicians in the National Resistance
    Movement (NRM) or business people who are close to the ruling party, and that this plays a major
    role in determining the content of these stations, and who gets access to them.

    Although the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has in the past put radio ownership by
    politicians at about 15 per cent, some media watchers contend that it could be well over 70 per
    cent, especially in the countryside.4 Such ownership patterns have raised concerns about media
    diversity, especially given that many radio stations owned by politicians have been known to turn
    away members of the opposition and other voices of dissent.

    The Catholic Church and other faith-based groups also own several radio stations that are influential
    in their regions of operation.

    There are also fears that conglomeration could in future undermine the media pluralism and diversity
    that democracy demands.

    Findings of previous monitoring reports on media coverage of elections
    Previous media monitoring reports on Ugandan elections have observed several gaps in media
    coverage including the following:

    ll   bias;
    ll   disproportionate attention to the incumbent on public media;
    ll   inaccurate reporting;
    ll   self-censorship;
    ll   poor portrayal of women candidates;
    ll   denial of space or time for political advertising to opposition candidates;
    ll   attempts by political actors, especially those in government, to influence visuals in newspapers
         and on television;
    ll   disproportionate attention to candidates and political parties at the expense of voters;
    ll   lack of serious interrogation of candidate promises and claims;
    ll   predominance of episodic reporting and dearth of issue-based coverage; and
    ll   the shortage of investigative reporting.

    4    Report of the International Mission on Freedom of Expression in Uganda, September 2010.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   5

Principles identified in guidelines on media coverage of elections
The African Centre for Media Excellence and others, including the Uganda Communications
Commission and the Electoral Commission, have developed guidelines for Ugandan journalists on
covering the 2021 elections. Key principles in those guidelines include the following:

ll   Accuracy
ll   Fairness
ll   Multiple sourcing
ll   Corrections and the right of reply
ll   Focus on issues
ll   Equitable coverage of key candidates
ll   Rejection of bribery
ll   Independence from vested interests
ll   Interrogation of claims and promises by candidates and parties
6   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

    RESEARCH QUESTIONS
    1.    What is the volume/quantity or frequency of election coverage in the media?
    2.    How much attention do the media pay to the different types of elections?
    3.    What type of reports do the media produce [news, commentary/opinion, features/special
          reports, etc]?
    4.    What election-related topics do media cover?
    5.    What is the nature of the reporting [conventional, enterprise, interpretive, or investigative]?
    6.    Who are the sources in media coverage [ordinary people, party officials, candidates,
          regulators, civil society actors, diplomats, religious leaders, central government officials,
          local leaders, police/security officials, etc]?
    7.    What is the gender of the sources?
    8.    What is the level of sourcing in election stories? (How many sources are used)?
    9.    Which presidential candidates are focused on in media coverage?
    10.   How much time or space is dedicated to each presidential candidate?
    11.   Which candidates appeared on newspaper front pages?
    12.   Which candidates’ pictures were used on newspaper front pages?
    13.   What is the tone of coverage of the presidential candidates? (positive, negative or neutral
          rating)?
    14.   How often do news stories interrogate candidate or party promises?
    15.   Are political candidates who are attacked given the right of reply?
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   7

METHODOLOGY

Scope of the study

T
       he study focuses on Ugandan newspaper, radio, and television coverage of the 2021 election
       process. The monitoring was designed to cover all articles related to elections published in
       Bukedde, Daily Monitor, New Vision, The Observer and The Independent from 1 October–30
November 2020. These include all articles that fell under news, commentary/opinion, features, letters,
Q & A, and profiles. A total of 459 newspaper articles from October and 871 from November were
analysed. Two daily news bulletins and one weekly talk-show were monitored for each TV and radio
station. A total of 763 stories and show episodes from October and 1,493 from November from six
major television stations, namely, Baba TV, Bukedde TV, NBS, NTV, TV West, and UBC, were analysed.
The 35 radio stations monitored produced 1,118 stories and talk show episodes in October and 2,486
in November for this analysis.

Bukedde, Daily Monitor, and New Vision were selected because they are Uganda’s major dailies and
are considered to have significant influence on the national conversation. The Independent, a weekly
newsmagazine, and The Observer, a weekly newspaper, were selected because of their major focus
on public affairs reporting. It is expected that their publication frequency would force them to offer
more depth and investigation than the dailies. For television, NBS and NTV were included because
they are the leading stations in public affairs programming, while UBC is the national broadcaster. It
is expected to offer comprehensive news and a diversity of programming without paying as much
attention to profit as the private stations. Baba TV, Bukedde TV, and TV West were included to add
a regional flavour to the analysis. The schedule of TV programmes monitored is as follows:

 TABLE 1: TV news shows and programmes monitored

TV station      Time of 1st news bulletin   Time of 2nd news bulletin    Name of weekly talk-show

NBS                     7.00pm                      9.00pm              Frontline
NTV                     7.00pm                      9.00pm              On the spot
UBC                     7.00pm                      10.00pm             Behind the headlines
Baba TV                 1.00pm                      9.00pm              The platform
Bukedde                 7.00pm                      10.00pm             Akabinkano
TV West                 1.00pm                      8.00pm              Akadaara
8   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

    The following radio stations, representing the different political regions of the country, were
    monitored:

     TABLE 2: List of radio stations monitored by region

    REGION                                      RADIO STATION

    Kampala (7)                                 Capital FM
                                                CBS FM
                                                KFM
                                                Pearl FM
                                                Radio Sapientia
                                                Radio Simba
                                                UBC Blue Channel
    Central (4)                                 Buddu FM
                                                Heart FM
                                                Mambule FM
                                                Radio Ssese
    Eastern (7)                                 Baba FM
                                                Busoga One
                                                Etop
                                                NBS FM
                                                Open Gate
                                                Step FM
                                                Teso Broadcasting Service
    Western (9)                                 Kasese Guide
                                                KRC
                                                Radio Kitara
                                                Radio West
                                                Spice FM
                                                Voice of Kamwenge
                                                Voice of Kigezi
                                                Voice of Muhabura
                                                Voice of Toro
    Northern (4)                                Mega FM
                                                Mighty Fire
                                                Radio Rupiny
                                                Unity FM
    West Nile (3)                               Arua One
                                                Paidha FM
                                                Radio Pacis
    Karamoja (1)                                Etoil A Karamoja
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)       9

Methods of data collection
The study relied mainly on quantitative content analysis of election coverage by the selected
publications, television, and radio stations. Key informant interviews with selected reporters and
editors provided context for the findings.

Content analysis
In the main we analysed manifest content. “Manifest content refers to what is explicitly stated and
draws on the objective and replicable qualities of quantitative methods” (Hilton and Hunt (2010).5
However, where appropriate and necessary, we also undertook qualitative analysis of latent content.6

Content analysis was used to get an all-round sense of the nature of coverage in terms of both quantity
and quality. Stories were coded and analysed based on a detailed coding sheet that contained a
number of variables that were necessary to answer the research questions. The variables included
the following7:

The variables of interest included the following:

1.      Publication/TV/radio station
2.      Volume of election coverage
3.      Type of election (Parliamentary vs presidential)
4.      Type of articles published in newspapers
5.      Type of stories broadcast on TV and radio stations
6.      Space allocated to election-related articles in newspapers
7.      Time allocated to election-related stories on TV and radio
8.      Frequency of stories on the different presidential candidates
9.      Frequency of front page stories on the different presidential candidates
10.     Frequency of pictures of the different presidential candidates
11.     Space allocated to presidential candidates in newspapers
12.     Time allocated to presidential candidates on TV and radio
13.     Tone of election coverage (general)
14.     Tone of coverage of presidential candidates
15.     Use of the right of reply
16.     Event- vs issue-based reporting

5     Hilton, S. & Hunt, K. (2010). UK newspaper representations of the 2009-10 outbreak of swine flue: one health
      scare not over-hyped by the media?” Research Report, J Epidemiol, Community Health
6     See, Krippendorf, K. (2004). Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
      Publications.
7     A full list of the variables and their definitions is detailed in the coding sheet in Annex 1.
10   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     17.   Origin of election stories
     18.   Reporting format of election stories (conventional; enterprise/interpretive; investigation)
     19.   Number of sources in election stories
     20.   Type of sources in election stories
     21.   Gender of sources in election stories
     22.   Use of background and context used in election stories
     23.   Interrogation of claims made by presidential candidates
     24.   Topics/issues addressed in election stories

     The content analysis was conducted by 12 research assistants who coded the data after attending
     a short training workshop. Samples of the preliminary data entered were analysed at different
     points to test intercoder reliability (or the level of agreement between the different assistants
     doing the coding). Two reliability tests were conducted and the results showed a high degree of
     agreement on the way different variables were coded.

     For newspapers, as well as television and radio news, the unit of analysis was the story; each story
     was be treated as a whole unit of meaning. For radio and television talk shows, the programme (e.g.
     talk show and in some cases, the segment) was the unit of analysis.

     The data were gathered using standard coding forms administered by the coders. They relied on
     a detailed codebook containing definitions of all the content categories that were monitored. The
     coding procedure involved a rigorous and methodical process of identifying and analysing election-
     related stories. The data were captured, processed, and analysed using SPSS.

     The presidential candidates
     In October, there was still no clarity on how many candidates would eventually stand. Most newspapers
     focused on President Yoweri Museveni, National Unity Platform’s Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, Forum
     for Democratic Change’s Patrick Oboi Amuriat, and Alliance for National Transformation’s Gregory
     Mugisha Muntu.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   11

The eventual list of candidates nominated in November has the following:

  Candidate                                  Political Party/Affiliation

  Fred Mwesigye                              Independent
  Gregory Mugisha Muntu                      Alliance for National Transformation
  Henry Tumukunde                            Independent
  John Katumba                               Independent
  Joseph Kabuleta                            Independent
  Nancy Kalembe                              Independent
  Norbert Mao                                Democratic Party
  Patrick Oboi Amuriat                       Forum for Democratic Change
  Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu                 National Unity Platform
  Willy Mayambala                            Independent
  Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                     National Resistance Movement

Volume of stories
In October, although elections dominated media coverage, the volume of stories was still relatively
low. The five newspapers monitored published 459 stories, with New Vision leading the pack with a
share of 36.6% followed closely by Daily Monitor with 32.5%. The two weeklies, The Observer and
The Independent combined published only 15 election stories or less than 5% of the total published
by the two English-language dailies.

 TABLE 3A: Number of newspaper stories by publication

                                       October                                   November

Publication                Frequency             Percent          Frequency                 Percent

New Vision                       168               36.6                    318                36.5
Daily Monitor                    149               32.5                    308                35.4
Bukedde                          127                27.7                   209                24.0
The Independent                    8                 1.7                    17                 2.0
The Observer                       7                 1.5                    19                 2.2
Total                           459               100.0                    871               100.0

Newspaper election coverage almost doubled from 459 stories in October to 871 in November.

In both months New Vision had the highest share of stories followed closely by Daily Monitor.
12   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

      TABLE 3B: Number of television stories by station

                                               October                                  November

     TV station                   Frequency                Percent           Frequency             Percent

     NBS                               232                   30.4                285                     19.1
     NTV                               202                   26.5                371                    24.8
     UBC                               130                     17               330                     22.1
     Bukedde                              98                  12.8               271                    18.2
     Baba TV                              76                   10                 161                   10.8
     TV West                              25                  3.3                 75                     5.0
     Total                             763                    100               1493                100.0

     In both October and November, the six television stations monitored carried more stories than the
     newspapers. NBS led in October with nearly a third of the story count, while NTV had the highest
     share of election stories in November.

      TABLE 3C: Number of radio stories by region

                                                         October                             November

     Region              Radio stations        Frequency           Percent      Frequency           Percent

     Kampala                     7                417                37.3          868                  34.9
     Eastern                     7               254                 22.7           579                 23.3
     Western                     9                216                19.3          563                  22.6
     West Nile                   3                 70                 6.3          203                   8.2
     Northern                    4                 63                 5.6           137                  5.5
     Central                     4                 71                6.4                88               3.5
     Karamoja                    1                 27                2.4                48               1.9
     Total                      35               1,118               100         2,486              100.0

     In both months, Kampala had the lion’s share of stories (37.3% and 34.9%), followed by the eastern
     region. The western region, which had a slightly higher number of radio stations monitored, was third.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   13

Type of election (Parliamentary vs presidential)
 TABLE 4: Type of election stories by media platform

 Type of election       NEWSPAPERS                   TELEVISION                        RADIO

                     October    November        October      November       October       November
                     (n=459)     (n=871)        (n=763)      (n=1,493)      (n=1,118)     (n=2,486)

Both                    23.7         21.8           24.1          16.9          23.6            16.8
Parliamentary          58.4           12.1          48.2           7.9          55.6             7.6
Presidential            17.9         66.1           27.7          75.2          20.8            75.7

The parliamentary election garnered a lot of attention in October because of the increased activity
around NRM party primaries, selection of National Unity Platform flag bearers, and the nomination
of Members of Parliament by the Electoral Commission. The nomination of presidential candidates
and the start of the campaigns in November saw the presidential election overtake the parliamentary
election in terms of attention across all the three media platforms.

Percentage of different types of election stories by media platform
14   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Trend in type of election in newspaper coverage
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   15

Trend in type of election in television coverage

Trend in type of election in radio coverage
16   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Type of articles published in newspapers
      TABLE 5A: Frequency of different types of newspaper articles

                                                            October                       November

     Type of article                           Frequency           Percent       Frequency      Percent

     News                                            363               79.1          662              76.0
     General commentary or opinion                    36               7.8               87           10.0
     Feature                                          26               5.7               53             6.1
     News analysis                                     10              2.2               15             1.7
     Editorial                                         10              2.2               24            2.8
     Letter to the Editor                              10              2.2               24            2.8
     Q&A interviews                                    2               0.4                6            0.7
     Profile                                           2               0.4                0            0.0
     Total                                           459               100           871             100.0

     News stories accounted for nearly 8 out of every 10 newspaper stories published in the two months.
     There was a slight increase in general commentary and opinion in November, but the share of news
     analysis went down.

     Type of stories broadcast on TV and radio stations
      5B: Frequency of different types of television stories/shows

                                                   October                           November

     Story type                       Frequency              Percent          Frequency        Percent

     News                                   668                 87.5              1382               92.6
     Commentary                               41                 5.4               24                  1.6
     Package/feature                         27                  3.5               33                 2.2
     Interview                               27                  3.5               54                 3.6
     Total                                  763                  100             1493            100.0
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)              17

 TABLE 5C: Frequency of different type of radio stories/shows

                                                October                                 November

Story type                      Frequency                 Percent              Frequency             Percent

News                                   1,054                     94.3              2,401                   96.6
Commentary                                55                      4.9                  67                    2.7
Interview                                  9                      0.8                  16                   0.6
Package/feature                            0                       0                    2                    0.1
Total                                   1,118                    100              2,486                   100.0

Space in CM2 allocated to election-related articles in newspapers

 TABLE 6: Newspaper space dedicated to election coverage

                                            October                                     November

Publication                   Space (cm2)           %            Pages       Space (cm2)        %           Pages

Daily Monitor                          75,132        35.9               91        124,924        35.8              151
New Vision                            70,135         33.5               85        136,556         39.1             165
Bukedde                               60,532         28.9               73        76,398         21.9              92
The Observer                           3,568            1.7             4          11,492           3.3             14
The Independent                             -              -             -                  -         -              -
Total                                209,367          100           253          349370         100.0            423

Space dedicated to election coverage by the newspapers monitored increased from nearly
210,000cm2 (the equivalent of 235 full pages) in October to about 350,000 cm2 (about 423 full
pages) in November. This translates to about 10% of total newspaper space. The November space
was the equivalent of 3.5 pages per day for each of the four newspapers.

Time allocated to election-related stories on TV and radio
 TABLE 7A: Time allocated to election coverage by television stations

                                      October                                          November

TV station             Time (Minutes)              Percent               Time (Minutes)             Percent

NBS                          1,178                      31.8                   1,429                      21.0
NTV                          1,037                      27.9                   1,764                      26.0
UBC                           499                       13.5                   1,524                      22.4
Bukedde                       434                         11.7                 1,083                      15.9
Baba TV                       285                         7.7                   546                        8.0
TV West                       276                         7.4                   446                        6.7
Total                       3,709                       100                    6,791                  100.0
18   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Television dedicated a significant amount of time to elections. NBS led the way in October, followed
     by NTV, with UBC a distant third. In November, NTV dedicated the highest share of time to elections,
     followed by UBC, and NBS. The November numbers suggest NTV dedicated nearly an hour to election
     coverage each day, while UBC gave about 51 minutes and NBS 48 minutes daily.

      TABLE 7B: Time allocated to election coverage by radio stations

                                                      October                       November

     Region               Radio stations    Time (Minutes)         Percent   Time(Minutes)     Percent

     Kampala                      7               1,937             45.5          2,890          38.7
     Western                      9                949              22.3           1,906         25.5
     Eastern                      7                722               16.9          1,633         21.9
     Northern                     4                 154              3.6             381          5.1
     West Nile                    3                 176               4.1            315          4.2
     Central                      4                268               6.3            254           3.4
     Karamoja                     1                 54                1.3            89           1.2
     Total                       35              4,260             100.0          7,468        100.0

     On average radio dedicated less time to election coverage than television in both October and
     November. The total time dedicated to election coverage on radio grew by more than 3,000 minutes
     (or 50 hours) in November.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   19

KEY FINDINGS

Frequency of stories on presidential candidates

 TABLE 8A: Volume of stories on presidential candidates across the three media
 platforms (OCT)

                                Newspaper               TV                     Radio

Candidates – October         Frequency    Percent    Frequency    Percent    Frequency    Percent

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni           34          30.4         43        23.0          67         28.0
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu       27           24.1        42         22.5         48          20.1
Patrick Oboi Amuriat             22          19.6         39        20.9          46          19.2
Mugisha Muntu                     7           6.3          21         11.2        20          8.4
Henry Tumukunde                   5           4.5         14          7.5         16           6.7
Norbert Mao                       5           4.5          13         7.0         16           6.7
Joseph Kabuleta                   2            1.8           1        0.5          6           2.5
Willy Mayambala                    1          0.9            1        0.5          2          0.8
Nancy Kalembe                      1          0.9            3        1.6          3           1.3
Fred Mwesigye                      1          0.9          4           2.1         2          0.8
John Katumba                       -             -           1        0.5           -            -
Other                             7           6.3            5        2.7          13         5.4
Total                            112       100.0         187       100.0         239        100.0
20   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

      TABLE 8B: Volume of stories on presidential candidates across the three media
      platforms (Nov)

                                          Newspaper                 TV                       Radio

     Candidates – November           Frequency      Percent      Frequency     Percent     Frequency   Percent

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu            224            27.1           329      26.1          667      28.3
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                 197          23.8            320     25.4            391      16.6
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                  100            12.1           183      14.5          289       12.3
     Henry Tumukunde                        75             9.1           108      8.6           242       10.3
     Mugisha Muntu                          73            8.8             98       7.8           179       7.6
     Norbert Mao                            50            6.0            60       4.8            159      6.7
     Nancy Kalembe                          35            4.2             61      4.8           104       4.4
     John Katumba                           24            2.9            46       3.6            129      5.5
     Willy Mayambala                         21           2.5             23       1.8           83       3.5
     Joseph Kabuleta                         19           2.3             22       1.7           85       3.6
     Fred Mwesigye                           9             1.1            12       1.0           30           1.3
     Total                                 827          100.0        1262       100.0          2358     100.0

     NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi attracted the highest proportion of stories across all three platforms.
     Museveni followed in second place, particularly closely in the newspapers and on television. The
     gap between the two was much wider on radio. Amuriat was third.
     In October Museveni had received the highest share of stories across the three platforms. It would
     appear that the incessant harassment Kyagulanyi by police and security forces earned him more
     publicity.

      TABLE 8C: Volume of newspaper stories on presidential candidates by publication (OCT)

     Candidates – October                 Bukedde           Daily Monitor      New Vision     The Independent
                                           (n=42)              (n=43)            (n=22)             (n=5)

     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                   40.5                14.0             40.9                40.0
     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu               28.6                23.3             13.6                40.0
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                      14.3               25.6             18.2                20.0
     Mugisha Muntu                                2.4              9.3               9.1                0.0
     Henry Tumukunde                              0.0              7.0               9.1                0.0
     Norbert Mao                                  2.4              9.3              0.0                 0.0
     Joseph Kabuleta                              0.0              4.7              0.0                 0.0
     Willy Mayambala                              2.4              0.0              0.0                 0.0
     Nancy Kalembe                                0.0              0.0              4.5                 0.0
     Fred Mwesigye                                0.0              0.0              4.5                 0.0
     Other                                        9.5              7.0              0.0                 0.0
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)      21

TABLE 8D: Volume of television stories on presidential candidates by TV station (OCT)

Candidates – October           Baba TV              Bukedde          NBS       NTV              UBC
                                (n=3)                (n=19)         (n=66)    (n=75)           (n=24)

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu        33.3                31.6           22.7       21.3            20.8
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                0.0             31.6            19.7      22.7            25.0
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                  0.0             15.8            19.7      21.3            29.2
Mugisha Muntu                         0.0              5.3            12.1      14.7             4.2
Henry Tumukunde                       0.0             0.0             15.2       5.3             0.0
Norbert Mao                           0.0              5.3             6.1       5.3            16.7
Fred Mwesigye                         0.0             0.0              1.5      4.0              0.0
Nancy Kalembe                         0.0             0.0              1.5       2.7             0.0
Joseph Kabuleta                   33.3                0.0             0.0       0.0              0.0
John Katumba                          0.0              5.3            0.0       0.0              0.0
Willy Mayambala                       0.0             0.0             0.0        1.3             0.0
Other                             33.3                 5.3             1.5       1.3             4.2

TABLE 8E: Volume of radio stories on presidential candidates by region (OCT)

Candidate – October          Central Eastern Kampala Karamoja Northern                 West Western
                             (n=20) (n=45)    (n=76)  (n=10)   (n=16)                   Nile (n=65)
                                                                                       (n=7)

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu    30.0          35.6        35.5          20.0    12.5     14.3       20.0
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni        20.0          15.6             11.8     20.0    37.5      57.1      24.6
Patrick Oboi Amuriat           15.0         24.4        22.4          10.0    12.5     14.3        16.9
Mugisha Muntu                  5.0           4.4             7.9      10.0    12.5      0.0        12.3
Norbert Mao                    10.0          6.7             7.9       0.0     0.0      0.0         7.7
Henry Tumukunde                5.0           11.1            3.9      20.0    12.5      0.0        4.6
Joseph Kabuleta                5.0          0.0              1.3      10.0     6.3      0.0            3.1
Nancy Kalembe                  5.0          0.0              1.3       0.0     6.3      0.0        0.0
Fred Mwesigye                  0.0          0.0              1.3       0.0     0.0      0.0            1.5
Willy Mayambala                0.0          0.0          0.0          10.0     0.0      0.0            1.5
Other                          5.0           2.2             6.6       0.0     0.0     14.3         7.7
22   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

      TABLE 8F: Volume of newspaper stories on presidential candidates by publication (Nov)

     Candidate – November              Bukedde              Daily          New               The               The
                                       (n=212)            Monitor         Vision         Independent         Observer
                                                          (n=296)        (n=286)            (n=12)            (n=21)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu             34.0                 28.0           19.6           50.0              33.3
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                 25.9                 22.6           23.8           16.7              23.8
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                    10.8                12.8           12.2           16.7               9.5
     Henry Tumukunde                             6.1              9.5            11.2           8.3               4.8
     Mugisha Muntu                               5.7              8.8            11.5           0.0               9.5
     Norbert Mao                                 5.7              5.1            7.7            8.3               0.0
     Nancy Kalembe                               3.8              4.7            4.2            0.0               4.8
     John Katumba                                3.3              2.4            2.4            0.0              14.3
     Willy Mayambala                             3.3              1.0            3.8            0.0               0.0
     Joseph Kabuleta                         0.9                  4.4            1.4            0.0               0.0
     Fred Mwesigye                               0.5              0.7             2.1           0.0               0.0

     Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of coverage in all the publications monitored, except
     New Vision. In October, both New Vision and Bukedde had given Museveni the highest share of
     stories, while Daily Monitor had paid more attention to Amuriat.

      TABLE 8G: Volume of television stories on presidential candidates by station (Nov)

     Candidates – November           Baba TV           Bukedde        NBS             NTV      TV West          UBC
                                     (n=123)           (n=224)      (n=272)         (n=322)     (n=81)        (n=240)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu          30.9             32.1          33.8            24.5          14.8       15.0
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni              26.8            29.9           29.0            17.4      23.5           27.5
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                13.0             14.7          10.3            18.0          14.8       15.0
     Henry Tumukunde                      3.3             6.3            4.8             8.7      16.0           15.0
     Mugisha Muntu                        5.7             4.9            7.7             8.4          12.3        9.2
     Nancy Kalembe                        5.7              2.7           3.7             6.8          2.5         5.8
     Norbert Mao                          6.5              3.1           3.3             6.8          6.2         3.8
     John Katumba                         4.9              1.8           3.7             4.3           1.2        4.6
     Willy Mayambala                      0.8              2.7           1.8            0.9           3.7          2.1
     Joseph Kabuleta                       1.6            0.4             1.1            2.5          3.7          2.1
     Fred Mwesigye                        0.8              1.3           0.7             1.6           1.2        0.0
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   23

Kyagulanyi received the highest share of stories on four of the six television stations monitored,
namely Baba TV, Bukedde TV, NBS, and NTV. Museveni had the highest proportion of stories on TV
West and UBC.

In October, TV had offered a more mixed picture.

 TABLE 8H: Volume of radio stories on presidential candidates by region (NOV)

Candidates – November         Central   Eastern Kampala Karamoja Northern             West Western
                              (n=62)    (n=502) (n=903)  (n=48)   (n=81)               Nile  (n=577)
                                                                                     (n=185)

Robert Kyagulanyi               29.0      29.9       26.7        22.9       22.2       24.9      31.7
Ssentamu
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni           11.3      16.9       15.1       18.8       24.7        15.1     18.4
Patrick Oboi Amuriat             14.5       11.2      12.1       18.8        17.3       14.1     11.4
Henry Tumukunde                   8.1       7.4       11.7       10.4        2.5        11.4     11.4
Mugisha Muntu                     8.1       7.8        8.1        6.3        3.7        5.9       7.8
Norbert Mao                       8.1       5.8        7.9        6.3        6.2        5.4      6.2
John Katumba                     9.7        5.8       4.9         6.3         11.1      7.6      4.2
Nancy Kalembe                    4.8        6.0       4.7         6.3        2.5        5.4      2.4
Joseph Kabuleta                   1.6      4.0         3.1         2.1       6.2        5.4      3.5
Willy Mayambala                  3.2       4.0        4.0          2.1       2.5        4.9       2.3
Fred Mwesigye                     1.6       1.4        1.9        0.0         1.2      0.0       0.7

On radio, Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of stories in all regions, except northern Uganda
where Museveni was top. Museveni was second in all the other regions.

The October results had shown notable regional variations, with Kyagulanyi receiving the highest
proportion of stories in Kampala, central and eastern Uganda, while Museveni led in West Nile,
northern and western Uganda.
24   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Frequency of front-page stories on presidential candidates
         TABLE 9A: Frequency of front-page stories about presidential candidates

                                                                 October                            November

     Presidential candidate                           Front page          Percent        Front page        Percent

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu                              1              16.7               13           24.5
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                  1              16.7               13           24.5
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                    2             33.3                 7              13.2
     Henry Tumukunde                                         -                  -               5               9.4
     Mugisha Muntu                                           1              16.7                4               7.5
     Willy Mayambala                                         -                  -               4               7.5
     Fred Mwesigye                                           -                  -               2               3.8
     Norbert Mao                                             -                  -               3               5.7
     Nancy Kalembe                                           -                  -               1               1.9
     Joseph Kabuleta                                         -                  -               1               1.9
     John Katumba                                            -                  -              0               0.0
     Other                                                   1              16.7
     Total                                                   6           100.0                53          100.0

     Front-page stories on the candidates grew from 6 in October to 53 in November. In October, Amuriat
     received the highest number of stories on the front page. Museveni and Kyagulanyi were tied in
     second place, while in November the two attracted the same number of stories to claim first place.

         TABLE 9B: Frequency of frontpage stories on presidential candidates by publicat’n (Oct8)

     Presidential candidate – October                            Bukedde (n=5)                 Daily Monitor (n=1)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu                                          20.0                            0.0
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                                20.0                           100.0
     Mugisha Muntu                                                       20.0                            0.0
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                              20.0                            0.0
     Other                                                               20.0                            0.0

     8     Only Bukedde and Daily Monitor carried front-page stories about the candidates in October.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   25

 TABLE 9C: Frequency of frontpage stories on presidential candidates by publication (Nov)

Candidates                    Bukedde        Daily        New Vision        The            The
                              % (n=5)       Monitor        % (n=24)       Observer     Independent
                                            % (n=22)                      % (n=2)

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu       0.0            31.8             25.0            0.0          -
(Bobi Wine)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni          60.0            13.6             25.0        50.0             -
Patrick Oboi Amuriat             0.0           22.7               8.3            0.0          -
Henry Tumukunde                  0.0            13.6              8.3            0.0          -
Mugisha Muntu                    0.0             9.1              4.2        50.0             -
Willy Mayambala                40.0             0.0               8.3            0.0          -
Norbert Mao                      0.0             9.1              4.2            0.0          -
Fred Mwesigye                    0.0            0.0               8.3            0.0          -
Joseph Kabuleta                  0.0            0.0               4.2            0.0          -
Nancy Kalembe                    0.0            0.0               4.2            0.0          -

Frequency of pictures of presidential candidates
 TABLE 10A: Frequency of pictures of presidential candidates on the frontpage (Oct–Nov)

                                            October                              November

Presidential candidate            Pictures             Percent          Pictures        Percent

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                  3               37.5               26               43.3
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu              2               25.0                17              28.3
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                    2               25.0               10               16.7
Mugisha Muntu                           1                12.5               4                6.7
Willy Mayambala                         -                   -               2                3.3
Nancy Kalembe                           -                   -                1               1.7
Henry Tumukunde                         -                   -                -                    -
Norbert Mao                             -                   -                -                    -
Joseph Kabuleta                         -                   -                -                    -
John Katumba                            -                   -                -                    -
Fred Mwesigye                           -                   -                -                    -
Total                                   8              100.0               60               100
26   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Museveni received the highest proportion of pictures on the front pages in both October and
     November. Kyagulanyi came second in both months, followed by Amuriat (they tied in October).

      TABLE 11A: Frequency of pictures of candidates on the front page by publication (Oct)

     Candidate – October          Daily Monitor    New Vision          The         Bukedde       The
                                    % (n=4)         % (n=2)        Independent                 Observer
                                                                     % (n=2)

     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni               25.0          50.0                50.0           -            -
     Robert Kyagulanyi                     0.0          50.0                50.0           -            -
     Ssentamu
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                 50.0            0.0                0.0           -            -
     Mugisha Muntu                        25.0            0.0                0.0           -            -

      TABLE 11B: Frequency of pictures of candidates on the front page by publication (Nov)

     Candidate – November             Bukedde %      Daily           New           The     The Observer
                                        (n=21)      Monitor         Vision     Independent   % (n=3)
                                                    % (n=15)       % (n=20)       % (n=1)

     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni              28.6          13.3         85.0            0.0          33.3
     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu           38.1         46.7           5.0           0.0          33.3
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                 14.3         33.3           5.0          100.0          0.0
     Mugisha Muntu                         4.8          6.7           5.0           0.0          33.3
     Willy Mayambala                       9.5          0.0          0.0            0.0           0.0
     Nancy Kalembe                         4.8          0.0          0.0            0.0           0.0

     New Vision gave Museveni the highest proportion of pictures in November. Out of the 20 candidate
     pictures the newspaper published on the front page, 17 were Museveni’s while Kyagulanyi, Amuriat
     and Muntu had one each.

     Daily Monitor had a higher proportion of Kyagulanyi front-page pictures. Amuriat was second in the
     paper while Museveni came third.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)          27

Space allocated to presidential candidates in newspapers
 TABLE 12A: Newspaper space allocated to presidential candidates

                                              October                                  November

Candidate                           Space (cm2)          %       Pages       Space (cm2)     %         Pages

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                  13,438           29.6        16         90,557       23.8          110
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu               12,351          27.2        15        106,350       28.0          129
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                     7,989           17.6        10        48,830        12.8           59
Mugisha Muntu                            4,195            9.2            5      34,127        9.0           41
Henry Tumukunde                         2,349             5.2            3      33,334        8.8           40
Norbert Mao                               1,715           3.8            2      22,856        6.0           28
Joseph Kabuleta                           608             1.3            1       7,649        2.0            9
Willy Mayambala                           420             0.9            1       6,367           1.7         8
Fred Mwesigye                             344             0.8            0       3,665        1.0            4
Nancy Kalembe                             344             0.8            0      16,360        4.3           20
John Katumba                                 0               0           0      10,025        2.6           12
Other                                    1,694            3.7            2
Total                                  45,447            100         55        380,120      100.0          460

Stories about Kyagulanyi took up the biggest share of space allocated to presidential candidates
in November (28%). Museveni came in second with 23.8% and Amuriat third with 12.8%. In October,
Museveni stories had received the biggest share of space (29.6%) followed closely by Kyagulanyi’s
(27.2%). Amuriat was again third. The top three candidates took up 64.6% of the space, down from
74.4% in October.

 TABLE 12B: Space allocated to presidential candidates by publication (October)

Candidate – October       Bukedde      Daily Monitor         New Vision           The       The Observer
                            (%)             (%)                 (%)           Independent

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni       33.3                 21.4           40.6              -                   -
Robert Kyagulanyi            38.8             25.5                13.0             -                   -
Ssentamu
Patrick Oboi Amuriat         10.5             22.8                17.6             -                   -
Mugisha Muntu                 2.5                 13.4           10.9              -                   -
Henry Tumukunde              0.0                  6.2            10.9              -                   -
Norbert Mao                   3.2                  6.1            0.0              -                   -
Joseph Kabuleta              0.0                  3.0             0.0              -                   -
28   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Candidate – October              Bukedde       Daily Monitor       New Vision        The       The Observer
                                        (%)              (%)               (%)        Independent

     Willy Mayambala                      2.8                0.0            0.0            -             -
     Fred Mwesigye                       0.0                 0.0                3.5        -             -
     Nancy Kalembe                       0.0                 0.0                3.5        -             -
     Other                                8.9                 1.7           0.0            -             -

         TABLE 12C: Space allocated to presidential candidates by publication (November)9

     Candidate – November                       Bukedde (%)         Daily Monitor     New Vision    The Observer
                                                                         (%)             (%)            (%)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu                      39.6                28.3            21.3          24.0
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                          27.6               20.3             26.2          20.4
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                             9.8                15.5            12.7            3.2
     Mugisha Muntu                                    5.0                 8.3             11.8          12.3
     Henry Tumukunde                                  5.0                 8.1             11.6          10.4
     Norbert Mao                                      4.7                 6.6             6.8           0.0
     Nancy Kalembe                                    2.4                 5.7             3.0           10.4
     John Katumba                                      2.2                2.3              1.2          19.3
     Joseph Kabuleta                                  0.9                 3.7             0.9           0.0
     Willy Mayambala                                  2.4                 0.5             2.8           0.0
     Fred Mwesigye                                    0.4                0.8               1.7          0.0

     Kyagulanyi took up more newspaper space in all the newspapers monitored in November, except
     New Vision. Bukedde gave the NUP leader the highest proportion of space (39.6%) followed by Daily
     Monitor (28.3%). In New Vision Museveni took up 26.2% of the space against Kyagulanyi’s 21.3%.

     In October, New Vision had given Museveni disproportionately more space than the other top
     candidates.

     9     The Independent is not listed because it published online.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)    29

Time allocated to presidential candidates on TV and radio
 TABLE 13A: Time allocated to presidential candidates on television

                                                  October                               November

Candidates – TV                   Time (Minutes)             Percent        Time (Minutes)     Percent

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu                  139                18.9             1,360              25.2
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                      157                21.4             1,358              25.1
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                        149               20.3               779               14.4
Henry Tumukunde                              41                5.6               524                9.7
Mugisha Muntu                               159                21.6              470                8.7
Nancy Kalembe                                14                 1.9               351               6.5
Norbert Mao                                 39                 5.3               194                3.6
John Katumba                                 2                 0.3                181               3.4
Willy Mayambala                              4                 0.5                73                1.3
Joseph Kabuleta                              3                 0.4                67                1.2
Fred Mwesigye                                14                 1.9               46               0.9
Other                                        14                 1.9                 -                 -
Total                                    735                 100.0              5401           100.0

Museveni and Kyagulanyi were tied in time allocated to them in television stories in November. Amuriat
was third. In October, Muntu had received the highest share of TV time, followed by Museveni and
Amuriat. Kyagulanyi was fourth.

 TABLE 13B: Time allocated to presidential candidates by TV station (October)

Candidate - October              Baba TV          Bukedde               NBS          NTV       UBC (n=85)
                                  (n=8)            (n=46)             (n=258)      (n=336)

Mugisha Muntu                         0.0             4.3               20.5            30.4          2.4
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                0.0            34.8               24.0            17.0          27.1
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                  0.0             17.4               19.8           18.8         32.9
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu           37.5            34.8                16.3           17.9         20.0
Henry Tumukunde                       0.0             0.0                9.7             4.8          0.0
Norbert Mao                           0.0             2.2                5.4             3.6         12.9
Fred Mwesigye                         0.0             0.0                 1.2            3.6          0.0
Nancy Kalembe                         0.0             0.0                2.7             2.1          0.0
Willy Mayambala                       0.0             0.0                0.0             1.2          0.0
Joseph Kabuleta                      37.5             0.0                0.0             0.0          0.0
John Katumba                          0.0             4.3                0.0             0.0          0.0
Other                                25.0             2.2                 1.2            1.2          4.7
30   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

      TABLE 13C: Time allocated to presidential candidates by TV station (November)

     Candidate – November            Baba TV      Bukedde           NBS       NTV        TV West       UBC
                                     (n=381)      (n=654)         (n=973)   (n=1390)     (n=373)     (n=1630)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu         33.0            34.5        33.2      30.2           12.2        13.5
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni             26.3            28.7        28.6       17.4          19.0       29.3
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                12.1           14.5         10.9      17.6          12.2       14.8
     Henry Tumukunde                     2.5             5.9          5.1      6.2           30.4       13.9
     Mugisha Muntu                       5.5             4.9          7.8       7.4          10.6        12.1
     Nancy Kalembe                       6.2             3.0         3.6        7.1           2.1       10.2
     Norbert Mao                         5.5             2.4         3.2       5.8            4.8         1.7
     John Katumba                        5.2             2.4         3.6       4.6            1.4        2.5
     Willy Mayambala                     0.7              2.1         2.1      0.7            3.0        0.9
     Joseph Kabuleta                     2.0             0.6          1.0       1.4           2.9         1.0
     Fred Mwesigye                         1.1           0.9          1.0       1.5           1.3        0.0

     Kyagulanyi stories received the highest proportion of time on four of the six television stations
     monitored. These were Baba TV, Bukedde TV, NBS and NTV. Independent Henry Tumukunde received
     the biggest share of time on TV West, where Museveni was second, while UBC gave the incumbent
     the most time.

      TABLE 13D: Time allocated to presidential candidates on radio

                                                       October                           November

     Candidate                         Time(Minutes)             Percent    Time(Minutes)           Percent

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu                  196                33.7          2666                 26.8
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                      139                23.9              1991             20.0
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                        100                 17.2             1169              11.7
     Henry Tumukunde                              31                 5.3              899               9.0
     Mugisha Muntu                               44                  7.6              730               7.3
     Nancy Kalembe                                5                  0.9              587               5.9
     Norbert Mao                                 23                  4.0              550               5.5
     John Katumba                                 0                  0.0              533               5.4
     Joseph Kabuleta                              11                  1.9             363               3.6
     Fred Mwesigye                                3                  0.5              243               2.4
     Willy Mayambala                              3                  0.5              225               2.3
     Other                                       26                  4.5                 -                -
     Total                                       581               100.0          9955                100.0
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   31

Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of time on the radio stations monitored in both October
and November. Museveni received the second biggest share of radio time while Amuriat was third.

 TABLE 13E: Time allocated to presidential candidates on radio by region (October)

Presidential candidate -       Central     Eastern      Kampala Karamoja Northern West Western
October                        (n=136)     (n=111)      (n=124)  (n=12)   (n=32)   Nile (n=160)
                                                                                  (n=7)

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu         43.6         35.5      44.4             20.4         7.2    9.5   23.1
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni             45.5          12.1         11.0         23.3        22.3   45.2   23.2
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                 3.2        21.2          23.8          7.5        44.4   22.6   16.5
Mugisha Muntu                        1.0         7.8           5.5         12.4         8.6   0.0    14.6
Henry Tumukunde                      1.0        14.7           2.6         20.4         9.2   0.0     2.9
Norbert Mao                          2.2         6.3           5.3          0.0         0.0   0.0    4.0
Joseph Kabuleta                      1.0         0.0          0.8           8.0         4.4   0.0    4.0
Nancy Kalembe                        1.6         0.0            1.1         0.0         3.9   0.0    0.0
Fred Mwesigye                        0.0         0.0            1.1         0.0         0.0   0.0     1.3
Willy Mayambala                      0.0         0.0          0.0           8.0         0.0   0.0     1.3
Other                                1.0         2.5           4.3          0.0         0.0   22.6    9.1

 TABLE 13F: Time allocated to presidential candidates on radio by region (November)

Candidates - November      Central    Eastern Kampala Karamoja Northern  West   Western
                              %          %        %       %       %     Nile %    %
                           (n=193)    (n=1715) (n=3942) (n=88) (n=352) (n=308) (n=3359)

Robert Kyagulanyi            27            33           26            24          26          23     25
Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni        15           18            18           23          18          18     25
Patrick Oboi Amuriat          13           13            14           17          23          13      8
Henry Tumukunde               8            6             11           9            2          12      9
Mugisha Muntu                 8             7            5             5           1           7      11
Nancy Kalembe                 3            6             7             5           2           7      5
Norbert Mao                   7            4             6             5          9           4       6
John Katumba                  13            7            7            6           4           8       2
Joseph Kabuleta               2             2            2             3          9            5      6
Fred Mwesigye                  1            1             1           0            5          0       5
Willy Mayambala               3            4             3             3           1           3      0
32   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Kyagulanyi received more radio time than all other candidates in all regions except western Uganda
     where he tied with Museveni.

     Tone of coverage (general)
      TABLE 14A: Tone of coverage across the three media platforms (October)

     Tone of coverage - October          Newspaper (n=73)          TV (n=188)        Radio (n=224)

     Negative                                     4.1                   1.1                1.3
     Neutral                                    87.7                 86.2                95.5
     Positive                                    8.2                  12.8                 3.1

      TABLE 14B: Tone of coverage across the three media platforms (November)

     Tone of coverage - November        Newspaper (n=483)          TV (n=969)       Radio (n=1607)

     Negative                                     8.1                  2.3                6.0
     Neutral                                    86.5                 94.0                90.7
     Positive                                    5.4                   3.7                 3.3
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   33

Most election stories took on a neutral tone in both October and November. In November, television
returned the highest proportion of stories with a neutral tone. Newspapers had the highest share
of both stories with a positive and negative tone.

Tone of coverage of presidential candidates
 TABLE 15A: Tone of newspaper coverage of presidential candidates (October)

Candidate - October                               Negative (%)      Neutral (%)       Positive (%)

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                  6.7             83.3              10.0
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)                  4.2              91.7              4.2
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                    5.0             90.0               5.0
Mugisha Muntu                                           0.0            100.0               0.0
Henry Tumukunde                                         0.0            100.0               0.0
Norbert Mao                                             0.0            100.0               0.0
Joseph Kabuleta                                         0.0             50.0             50.0
Willy Mayambala                                         0.0            100.0               0.0
Nancy Kalembe                                           0.0            100.0               0.0
Fred Mwesigye                                           0.0            100.0               0.0
Other                                                   0.0            100.0               0.0
34   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

      TABLE 15B: Tone of television coverage of presidential candidates (October)

     Presidential candidate - October                     Negative (%)   Neutral (%)   Positive (%)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)                        2.4      73.8          23.8
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                        0.0      89.5           10.5
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                          2.7       81.1          16.2
     Mugisha Muntu                                                 7.7       61.5         30.8
     Henry Tumukunde                                               0.0      84.6           15.4
     Norbert Mao                                                   0.0      76.9           23.1
     Fred Mwesigye                                                 0.0     100.0           0.0
     Nancy Kalembe                                                 0.0      66.7          33.3
     Joseph Kabuleta                                               0.0     100.0           0.0
     John Katumba                                                  0.0       0.0         100.0
     Willy Mayambala                                               0.0     100.0           0.0
     Other                                                         0.0     100.0           0.0

      TABLE 15C: Tone of radio coverage of presidential candidates (October)

     Candidates - October                                 Negative (%)   Neutral (%)   Positive (%)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)                        2.0       94.1           3.9
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                          0.0      95.3            4.7
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                        2.3      95.3            2.3
     Mugisha Muntu                                                 0.0       81.3          18.8
     Norbert Mao                                                   0.0      93.3            6.7
     Henry Tumukunde                                               0.0      92.9             7.1
     Joseph Kabuleta                                               0.0      83.3           16.7
     Nancy Kalembe                                                 0.0     100.0           0.0
     Fred Mwesigye                                                 0.0     100.0           0.0
     Willy Mayambala                                               0.0     100.0           0.0
     Other                                                     16.7         83.3           0.0
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   35

 TABLE 15D: Tone of newspaper coverage of presidential candidates (November)

Candidates - November                             Negative (%)      Neutral (%)      Positive (%)

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)                 12.9             85.5               1.6
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                  6.2              80.1             13.7
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                   12.8             83.7               3.5
Henry Tumukunde                                         5.9             89.7               4.4
Mugisha Muntu                                            3.1            93.8                3.1
Norbert Mao                                             6.4              85.1              8.5
Nancy Kalembe                                           3.0             90.9               6.1
John Katumba                                            4.5             90.9               4.5
Willy Mayambala                                         4.8             90.5               4.8
Joseph Kabuleta                                         5.3             94.7               0.0
Fred Mwesigye                                           0.0            100.0               0.0

Kyagulanyi and Amuriat had the highest proportion of stories with a negative tone, while Museveni
received the highest share of stories with a positive tone. The incumbent had received the highest
proportion of negative stories in October.

 TABLE 15E: Tone of television coverage of presidential candidates (November)

Candidate - November                              Negative (%)      Neutral (%)      Positive (%)

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)                   11.6            86.2               2.2
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                   3.2             88.7                8.1
Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                     3.4             96.0               0.6
Henry Tumukunde                                          4.8             93.3                1.9
Mugisha Muntu                                            0.0             96.7               3.3
Norbert Mao                                               5.1            94.9               0.0
Nancy Kalembe                                            12.5             85.7               1.8
John Katumba                                             13.3            84.4               2.2
Willy Mayambala                                          4.5             90.9               4.5
Joseph Kabuleta                                          0.0             95.5               4.5
Fred Mwesigye                                            0.0            100.0               0.0

Kyagulanyi received the highest proportion of stories with a negative tone in November. Incumbent
Museveni received the highest share of stories with a positive tone.
36   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

      TABLE 15F: Tone of radio coverage of presidential candidates (November)

     Candidates - November                                Negative (%)           Neutral (%)       Positive (%)

     Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)                        8.2               89.1                 2.6
     Yoweri Kaguta Museveni                                        6.7              86.9                  6.4
     Patrick Oboi Amuriat                                          6.9              89.8                  3.3
     Henry Tumukunde                                               6.4              89.8                  3.8
     Mugisha Muntu                                                 2.3              94.3                  3.4
     Norbert Mao                                                   5.9              90.8                  3.3
     John Katumba                                                  5.6               91.2                 3.2
     Nancy Kalembe                                                 0.0              92.9                   7.1
     Willy Mayambala                                               3.7              93.8                  2.5
     Joseph Kabuleta                                               10.1             83.5                  6.3
     Fred Mwesigye                                                 0.0              92.3                  7.7

     Joseph Kabuleta received the highest proportion of stories with a negative tone, followed by
     Kyagulanyi, Amuriat, Museveni and Tumukunde (in that order).

     Use of right of reply
      TABLE 16A: Use of the right of reply across media platforms (November)

     Right of reply              Newspaper (n=227)                 TV (n=115)                  Radio (n=77)

     No                                  79.7                             86.1                     80.5
     Yes                                 20.3                             13.9                     19.5

     This variable applies only to stories that contain attacks on presidential candidates by their opponents
     or others. Where such attacks happen, the regulations governing media coverage in Uganda require
     that the attacked candidate is given the opportunity to respond. In about 8 out of every 10 cases
     where such attacks occurred, candidates were not given the right of reply. The problem was more
     pronounced on television.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   37

 TABLE 16B: Right of reply by publication (November)

Publication - November                                       No                        Yes

Bukedde (n=99)                                               87.9                        12.1
New Vision (n=77)                                            76.6                      23.4
Daily Monitor (n=50)                                         68.0                      32.0
The Observer (n=1)                                          100.0                       0.0
The Independent (n=0)                                             -                          -

Daily Monitor offered the right of reply more than its competitors.

 TABLE 16C: Right of reply by TV station (November)

TV station - November                                        No                        Yes

Bukedde (n=64)                                               85.9                       14.1
NTV (n=27)                                                   92.6                        7.4
NBS (n=19)                                                   73.7                      26.3
Baba TV (n=5)                                               100.0                       0.0
UBC (n=0)                                                         -                          -
TV West (n=0)                                                     -                          -
38   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Among the TV stations monitored, NBS had the highest proportion of stories where the right of
     reply was offered.

     Event- vs issue-based reporting
      TABLE 17A: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting (October)

     Reporting type - October         Newspaper (n=399)            TV (n=695)    Radio (n=1054)

     Event-based                                  81.2               90.6             91.2
     Issue-based                                  18.8                 9.4             8.8

      17B: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting (November)

     Reporting type              Newspaper (n=730)             TV (n=1415)      Radio (n=2403)

     Event-based                           87.1                     94.4              98.5
     Issue-based                           12.9                      5.6               1.5

     All three media platforms monitored relied heavily on event-driven reporting and much less on
     issue-based coverage. Event-based reports were far more prevalent on radio in both October and
     November.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   39

 TABLE 17C: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting by publication (October)

Publication - October                      Event-based                    Issue-based

Bukedde (n=124)                                86.3                            13.7
Daily Monitor (n=118)                           74.6                          25.4
New Vision (n=148)                             82.4                            17.6
The Independent (n=7)                           71.4                          28.6
The Observer (n=2)                            100.0                            0.0

 TABLE 17D: Frequency of event-vs issue-based reporting by TV station (October)

TV station - October                       Event-based                    Issue-based

NBS (n=200)                                    85.0                           15.0
NTV (n=179)                                     83.2                           16.8
UBC (n=129)                                     97.7                           2.3
Bukedde (n=95)                                100.0                            0.0
Baba TV (n=70)                                   97.1                          2.9
TV West (n=22)                                100.0                            0.0
40   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

      TABLE 17E: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting by publication (November)

     Publication - November                              Event-based              Issue-based

     New Vision (n=278)                                         86.7                   13.3
     Daily Monitor (n=229)                                      83.0                   17.0
     Bukedde (n=207)                                            94.2                   5.8
     The Observer (n=8)                                         87.5                   12.5
     The Independent (n=8)                                      37.5                  62.5

     The Independent had the highest proportion of issue-based coverage. Among the dailies, Daily
     Monitor returned the highest proportion of issue-based stories. Bukedde had the highest percentage
     of event-based reports.

      TABLE 17F: Frequency of event- vs issue-based reporting by TV station (November)

     TV station                                   Event-based                   Issue-based

     NTV (n=357)                                         91.6                          8.4
     UBC (n=323)                                        96.3                           3.7
     Bukedde (n=266)                                     98.1                           1.9
     NBS (n=241)                                        89.2                          10.8
     Baba TV (n=156)                                    96.2                           3.8
     TV West (n=72)                                    100.0                           0.0

     TV West had no issue-based story in November, while Bukedde TV had only 5 issue-based stories
     out of a count of 266.
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   41

Trend in event- vs issue-based reporting in newspapers

Trend in event- vs issue-based reporting in TV coverage
42   UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)

     Trend in event- vs issue-based reporting in radio coverage

     Origin of election stories
      TABLE 18A: Newspaper story origin (October-November)

                                                                    October               November

     Origin – Newspaper                                  Frequency             %     Frequency       %

     Party activity                                           141         35.3          68       9.3
     Electoral Commission                                     88              22.1       79      10.8
     News conference                                          57              14.3      69       9.5
     Independent reporting, research or investigation          41             10.3       77      10.5
     by the journalist/outlet
     Newsworthy occurrence                                     17             4.3        76      10.4
     Document e.g. report, study/research                      11             2.8        19          2.6
     NGO/civil society activity                                7               1.8       10          1.4
     Parliament or legislative process                         6               1.5        1          0.1
     Government activity or governance process                 6               1.5        8           1.1
     Court or judicial process                                 6               1.5       19          2.6
UGANDAN MEDIA COVERAGE of the 2021 ELECTIONS (Oct–Nov 2020)   43

                                                               October                 November

Origin – Newspaper                                  Frequency             %       Frequency       %

Campaign rally/event                                       3             0.8         282       38.6
Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc)                      3             0.8           3        0.4
News release                                               3             0.8           3        0.4
Story from local media/agency                              2             0.5           2        0.3
Expert/Specialist                                          2             0.5           3        0.4
Other                                                      6              1.5         11          1.5
Total                                                   399              100        730       100.0

In November campaign rallies overtook other political party activities as the biggest source of election
news in the newspapers. Independent reporting, research or investigation by journalist accounted
for only 1 out of every 10 newspaper election stories. Most stories originated from events or actions
by the key players (other than ordinary people).

 TABLE 18B: Television story origins (October-November)

                                                               October                 November

Origin – TV                                         Frequency       Percent       Frequency   Percent

Campaign rally/event                                      15              2.2       653        46.1
News conference                                          127             18.3        211       14.9
Newsworthy occurrence                                    42                6         138          9.8
Electoral Commission activity                            189             27.2        135          9.5
Party activity                                           219             31.5        108          7.6
Independent reporting, research or investigation          61             8.8          75          5.3
by the journalist/outlet
Court or judicial process                                  6             0.9          17          1.2
NGO/civil society activity                                 8              1.2         16           1.1
Government activity or governance process                  5             0.7          14          1.0
Expert/Specialist                                          1              0.1          7        0.5
Document e.g. report, study/research                       1              0.1          6        0.4
Story from local media/agency                              -                  -        3        0.2
Parliament or legislative process                         14               2           2          0.1
News release                                               1              0.1          1          0.1
Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc)                      -                  -        1          0.1
Other                                                      6             0.9          28        2.0
Total                                                   695              100        1415      100.0
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