Parliament decries poor welfare, low pay for journalists
MPs during plenary session chaired by Speaker Anita Among on May 3, 2023. PHOTO/ PARLIAMENT PRESS TEAM
What you need to know:
- At least 67 journalists and media workers were killed last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists – the highest number since 2018 and almost 50 percent higher than in 2021.
Parliament has asked proprietor and management of privately owned media houses to improve on welfare of their staff, especially journalists which would in turn act as motivation for quality work in the country.
In her statement issued in commemoration of the World Press Day, Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among decried the meager pay earned by journalists, reasoning that this results into poor work and sloppy news copies.
"We want to wish you well but I also want to urge the private sector that as much as these people [journalists] work for you, you should be able to always pay them in time. I have got a lot of complaints from most of the people who work for TVs, radios and others. You hear they have spent over a year without being paid. So the private sector should ensure that they are paid on time [because] they have families and children that they cater for," Speaker Among said as journalists marked the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day.
She added: "In most cases they don't do good reporting because they end up being compromised. Pay them a salary and they do professional work."
Similar calls were relayed by the shadow Minister for Information, Ms Joyce Bagala who revealed that she had received complaints from a section of journalists who have gone for more than a year without pay.
"As the shadow Minister for information I have received a petition from employees of See TV. Over 60 employees have not been paid for more than a year. They were last paid in February in last year," Ms Bagala revealed and demanded that such private businesses should be compelled to pay the journalists and other staff who work for them.
Prior to this, a section of legislators held a press conference in which they decried the persistent torture and inhumane treatment of the journalists by the security forces in the country as they execute their duties.
Media freedom, free speech and freedom of expression remain under attack in many parts of the world, as do journalists.
At least 67 journalists and media workers were killed last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists – the highest number since 2018 and almost 50 percent higher than in 2021.
According to Reporters Without Borders, another watchdog, some 533 journalists were imprisoned in 2022, up from 488 the year before.
Uganda continues to register several threats and attacks on journalists, and the destruction of their professional and personal equipment. Despite repeated promises by security agencies, the worst offenders, to stop these unprovoked attacks, they remain rampant and culprits often go unpunished.
