[UAH] DAILY MONITOR.A BIASED NEWSPAPER

Daily Monitor: a biased newspaper

I wish to express my disappointment with the
conduct of the news editors of the Monitor. For
some time, I have observed how these
"professional" news editors write headlines in
their print media and how they compose the same
in the broadcast media.

When I heard about the arrest of Justice Forum
(Jeema) President Basalirwa Asuman, I had to visit
the Monitor online edition to know the reason why
he was detained past midnight. To my surprise,
the headline read: "City lawyer arrested on his
way to represent Kawempe Mayor in Kabale."
I may not be a journalist but what I know is that
the headline determines the value the audience
attaches to a story.

This sounded like a normal or ordinary city lawyer.
For your information, Mr. Basalirwa is a Political Party
Leader who needs proper representation, not
favours. Instead of underrating the importance of
Basalirwa or JEEMA as a party, Monitor
management needs to examine the level of ethics
observed by their editors. It's a shame for such
an organization to maliciously deny some political
parties and individuals reasonable coverage. It's
surprising that management lacks the very values
of professionalism and ethics it demands of their junior
employees.

It's not a favour to be fair; it's an act of
professionalism. Many people sympathized with
the Monitor when it was besieged by government
recently, not because the public benefits so much
from the media house, but because the
government transgressed all bounds in its abuse
of media freedom. Despite the public solidarity
that the Monitor benefited from during that trying
moment, the newspaper is not ashamed to
underrate the very groups and individuals that
came to its aid when it needed them most.
Jeema as a party under its leadership joined other
Ugandans to condemn the government's decision
to close business at the Nation Media Group, but
I feel disappointed if JEEMA could be amongst
groups that can get proper representation in the
Monitor and its sister publications. Is this the
"truth everyday" they claim to be? Is this the
impartial reporting they claim to observe? Is that
the professionalism they have talked about for a
long time?