This is how to get media to ‘align’ with government plans

About a week after World Press Freedom Day — May 3 — President Museveni met with media owners and senior managers at State House Entebbe.
This year’s global theme for May 3 was ‘Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law’. According to Unesco, the custodian of the commemoration, the theme covered “issues of media and the transparency of the political process, the independence and media literacy of the judicial system, and the accountability of state institutions towards the public” plus “contemporary challenges of ensuring press freedom online”.

Despite what Sunday Monitor reported to have been a “jovial and frank” confab, the unequal power dynamic was obvious. The President lectured and made demands; the media begged and appealed.
The media leaders decried poor flow of information from the government, assault of journalists by security agencies, lousy use of digital and social media in key government institutions, multiple taxation, political fights that rope in media, control of social media, and political ownership of FM radio stations.

President Museveni demanded serious debate on patriotism, pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and ideological orientation. He lectured the media on their responsibility to filter information, to tell the difference between a talk show and a hate campaign, to be disciplined, and to be part of Uganda’s transformation process “otherwise you are parasites”.
As for social media, “we are going to control” it. “When I read what you write and broadcast,” the President reportedly said, “I feel sorry for Africa. No seriousness, no concern for Africa and Uganda.”

I have never understood what makes President Museveni take it for granted that his vision for Africa and Uganda is the ultimate vision that all must sign on to, failing of which means being anti-Africa, means lack of seriousness, and means lack of patriotism.

His vision, among other elements, includes him ruling Uganda for life with a hard hand, and pushing for a politically federated East Africa. Why he thinks this sort of thing demonstrates more genuine concern for Uganda and Africa and cannot be challenged defeats logic. We can, for example, be patriots and pan-Africanists without being so in the particular Museveni way. He has no ultimate measure of the content of one’s patriotism and ‘pan-Africanness’.

And he seems frustrated, hence the orders he directed at the media figures assembled before him. Social media? He will control it. Presumably he thinks that is a nice way to manufacture patriots and pan-Africanists.
President Museveni should be humble and make his case for what he believes in and hope that he can win disciples. He has the platform to persuade, he should use it. If he uses the platform to force, to threaten, to lampoon, he is not winning any converts.

The meeting was held under the theme, ‘The role of the media in nation-building: Aligning the media with government’s agenda 2040.’
What does it mean for the media to be aligned with the government’s agenda? ICT minister Frank Tumwebaze, in attendance as the man responsible for the media docket, has a clear idea: the media should play a complementary role to government plans.
Which is to say that the media should support the government’s agenda. It should not be lost on us that this meeting came as President Museveni is marking the end of his second year of his current term and the government is falling over itself to show how well it has implemented the big kahuna’s manifesto.

To be fair, I cannot begrudge the President and the minister. In their position, I would also expect a media that is more supportive and less adversarial.
The better way for media (and even government), however, is what the World Press Freedom Day theme is speaking to: keeping power in check by holding state institutions and officials accountable to the public.
The way the President spoke, as he usually does as the only one who knows what is good for Uganda and Africa, did not give hope that anyone can hold him accountable in any real way.

The easy thing for him, if he really wants media aligned with his government’s plans, is to run a competent government. The government should do so many good things that they become so self-evident that even the most unpatriotic and ideologically disoriented media will fail to miss the good times.
That way the President won’t need to waste his time lecturing and hectoring. The latter, though, is always easier to pull off. And that’s unfortunate.