By Julius Mugaga Tukacungurwa/Umoja Standard.
Nakasero, Kampala: With journalism being regarded as the Fourth estate, it needs to be handled with care because it’s products are so impactful in various ways. With this background therefore, there’s need for experts to always guide journalists on how to execute their duties with a positive impact to society.
Under the theme, ‘Positioned As Heralds of the Gospel’ derived from (Isaiah 52:7), the Diocese of Kampala headquartered at All Saints Cathedral Nakasero in Kampala organized a media engagement to deliberate on how media can become a premier tool in nation building.
The visiting facilitator, Rev. Oyugi Peter, from Kenya highlighted on the impact of responsible journalism in the development path of any nation. He expressed concerns around the thrive of negative stories in relation to good ones which is holding back the take off of most African countries yet we’re able to change the course.
In his facilitation, Rev. Oyugi concentrated on 5Is, that included, INFLUENCE, that journalism practiced should have a positive impact on society in this regard, INDUSTRY, that a journalist should be a hardworking one to unearth credible information, IDENTIFICATION, that there should be a product you’re promoting or advocating for the food of the society, INTEGRITY, that in all a journalist does, should not divert from the ethical principles of information dissemination and INFORMATION, that as journalists are meant to inform in the first place, it should be done with passion and in an ethical way.
He went on to appeal to journalists to mind their work with prayer prayer guidance. He cited a number of scriptures like Colossians 3:24, Isaiah 52:7, 1Peter 2:9 and many others where journalists can always draw inspiration while executing their duties.
He went to appeal to journalists to seek truth of matters they are intending to report on as this will give them credibility. He likened this to stories crafted by the colonialists on the future of Africa which many have believed in yet in actual sense it was meant to blind Africans.“I want to give the example of the African story where whites come and discover physical features—that’s colonial ideology which is not paid attention to and it has killed our African story,” he stated.
At the opening of the engagement, (PROVOST) The Very Rev. Canon Rebecca Nyegenye recognized that, ‘journalists are an essential resource cutting across the church and populous as they enjoy what they produce, therefore engaging with them is essential to support their efforts in producing more accurate and informative content.
The president of the Church of Uganda Media Association (CHOUMA) expressed concerns about the lack of attention from church leaders towards journalists. “We try to come near the church, however, the church leaders are not paying attention to us, which has led to disunity among Christian journalists and limits their ability to register the association,” he noted.
He never spared their efforts to register the Association that has not yet paid off due to NAME issue with fear that the future may not be good if they don’t go with a central name that cuts across and in this, he sought for backing from church leadership.
This comes at the time when the Diocese of Kampala is holding a mission week and they sought, having this would be impactful.
DIOCESE OF KAMPALA.
Founded in 1972 from Namirembe diocese, the Diocesan Bishop of Kampala has always been Archbishop of Uganda.
The Diocese of Kampala (Church of Uganda) has, as its primary functions, the preaching of the Gospel, nurturing of believers, teaching, making disciples, and holistic healing in the power of the Holy Spirit in fulfilment of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As the Church grows in numbers, there should be corresponding growth in systems to accommodate this growth.