Writer: Odoobo C. Bichachi. PHOTO/COURTESY
A few months ago, a senior Ugandan military officer kicked up a public furore when he suggested that editors and media owners be taken to the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi.
What would media leaders be doing at a partisan, para-military, and political indoctrination school?
To be indoctrinated or intimidated?
These were some of the questions that came up from the public.
The “explanation”, from some quarters was that this would foster harmony between the military and journalists.
As they say, there are many ways of skinning a rat.
So let us turn it the other way round: should some soldiers be sent to work in the newsrooms as a way of fostering understanding between journalists and the military?
More uproar!
Many will wonder whether this could foster understanding or would instead deliver intimidation.
Such thinking is not without reason.
We have seen military personnel beat up journalists to near pulp, the most recent incidents being during the Kawempe by-election in Kampala two months or so ago.
An absolute no for many journalists and the members of the public who will say, perhaps rightly so, that “Mtoto wa nyoka ni nyoka” (meaning a child of a snake is a snake in Kiswahili).
“A soldier is a soldier,” others will say; that violence is their predisposition.
While Ugandans may have misgivings, out there in the USA, there is an attempt to bridge the journalism-military divide by having soldiers join newsrooms.
It is an interesting proposition that could achieve the Kyankwanzi agenda, albeit differently.
Sorry, it is not about placing serving soldiers into the newsroom [that was just my way to jolt you], but veterans that have served their time in the military and retired.
What’s the difference, some will ask?
After all mtoto wa nyoka…
Zack Baddorf is the man pushing this military agenda in newsrooms.
He is the founder of Military Veterans in Journalism.
His recent report, “Bridge the Divide” was brought to my attention in the regular newsletter of the American Press Institute (API) that I subscribe to.
Baddorf, himself a veteran of the US military who found his way into journalism, outlines the benefits of letting retired soldiers into the newsroom and the many roadblocks that stand in their way of practicing journalism.
His June 6, 2025 article, “We can’t keep ignoring veterans in America’s newsrooms” (www.mvj.network) is quite interesting and illuminating in this area.
He says veterans in the newsroom bring skills and values, particularly in the areas of discipline, adaptability, leadership and resilience.
Elaborating further on this, he says “Veterans bring vital skills that every newsroom needs: the ability to work under pressure, to navigate chaos, to stay calm in crisis.
They know how to lead and how to take feedback.
Many [like him] also have the firsthand knowledge of conflict, national security, and the human costs of war – topics the media covers but too often without the depth of real experience.”
He notes that veterans make up 7 percent of the US population but only make 3 to 4 percent representation in newsrooms across the country, which is an under-representation.
Yes, he admits that there are a lot of perception issues about the military that journalists – and the wider public – carry.
These have created a big journalism-military and military-civilian divide that has in turn engendered skepticism about letting the military, even veterans, anywhere near the newsrooms.
And perhaps that is where we are in Uganda and much of Africa.
In these conversations about bridging the media-military divide, there will be questions as to the value different categories of veterans could bring to journalism in general and to the newsrooms in particular.
A good question will be what a veteran who spent years in the trenches fighting for the country on selfless missions like in Somalia will add to the newsroom compared to one who has spent years beating up civilians, opposition supporters, and journalists, and driving roughshod over other motorists.
Yes, good veterans can certainly bring to the newsroom invaluable insights of conflicts journalists only covered from afar.
Can rogue veterans bring any good beyond confessions and identifying co-rogues?
Well, USA may be there already with many veterans in the newsroom.
But in Uganda – and Africa – boots in the newsroom are still far away, except covertly as embedded spy journalists.
And these we have!
The writer, Odoobo C. Bichachi, is NMG-Uganda's Public Editor
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