Just To Be Fair
I do like to poke fun at the media, bad journalism in particular. I've made a few jab at reporters here in Uganda and their badly-reported stories. Well, I came across a great one from the BBC, so I must pass it on... To be fair. It's a short one, so I'll copy and past it below.
The Ugandan capital is waking to streets littered with stones and burnt tyres used during running battles between rioters and security forces in Kampala's business district.
At least seven people are feared dead in violence sparked by a disagreement between police and a senior official from one of the country's four ancient kingdoms, Buganda.
The official had been stopped from entering the Kayungaa surburb.
Deep into the night there was further rioting in Kampala, as Joshua Mmali reports.
Mr. Mmali not only spelled Kayunga incorrectly (I acknowledge that it could be a typo), but he referred to it as a suburb. It is much more than that; it's a district of Uganda. Do you research! Or just look at a map. Because of the brevity of this report, I think taht it is all the more important that the fact be correct.On a positive not, I do agree with his choice of the word "sparked" instead of "cause by" or "because of". I think "sparked" more accurately describes the relationship between the parties' disagreement and the violence.
Is the situation any better today? I was wishfully thinking earlier, but we ended up closing school early today so people could be sure to go home safely. Three teachers were unable to come to school today. These of some of my friends' facebook status updates:
- is at a "riot party" with colleagues.
- About 6 people dead and 2 were in Kansanga, Am in Muyenga now so its too close. Apparently 2 Bakiga killed. This is not just about visiting Bugerere. Hatred has been building.
- there are gunshots outside my workplace... gotta get home.
My personal experience is not that exciting. I continued with my marathon training and ran intervals at the Kololo airstrip this afternoon. I felt the area around Lugogo to be eerily quiet. I'm now having a relaxing evening in Mbuya.
1 comment:
Nice one that! Worth noting though, is that whereas Joshua Mmali may report from Kampala, he doesn't ultimately post the content on the BBC website- it's done by other people in London, who may for some reason (call it ignorance) get the facts wrong. Joshua has lived in Uganda more than half his life, and knows too well that Kayunga is not a Kampala suburb (and being a BBC reporter, he is among the very few people who know every corner of Uganda). Nice criticism, though. I think you could make a great journo when you are done with your books!
Post a Comment