REPORT ON Media Coverage and Communication of Refugee Issues in Uganda

Despite ongoing concerns about the media coverage of refugees and related issues in Uganda, there is limited research and analysis of media coverage as well as communication on the same. Many commentators believe there is dominant negative framing of refugee issues, negative and dehumanizing frames and limited sourcing of refugee issues within Uganda’s media.

This report presents findings of study on media coverage and communication of refugee issues by four leading Uganda newspapers, online publications as well as communication (and conversations) about refugee issues in social media platforms.

The study has been conducted by Ultimate Multimedia Consult as part of the Media Challenge Expo 2018 organized by the Media Challenge Initiative (MCI) under the theme:  “Reframing Media Coverage of Refugee issues in Uganda” (November 16-18^th 2018).

We analysed coverage and mention of refugee issues in The New Vision, Daily Monitor, The Observer and Bukedde newspapers from May 1^st 2018 to October 31^st 2018. We did not track coverage from the broadcast stations on air but did capture those that publish or post online (their websites and social media). Other than resource considerations, we wanted to capture coverage and mentions from media of record (that can easily be referenced).

We also analyzed the mention and coverage of refugee issues in Uganda within online publications (tracked across the World Wide Web) as well as communication and conversations on refugee issues in Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from May 1^st –October 31^st 2018.

This was based on the understanding (by UMC) that desirable media coverage of refugee issues should result from or inform communication and conversations on refugee issues.

Media coverage as used in this study refers to the amount of attention that television, radio, newspapers and online publications give to something, or the way in which something is reported. Communication in this study is used to refer to the deliberate preparation, sharing (sending) of messages from organisations dealing with refugees and refugee related issues as well as the conversations about refugees online, including in social media platforms.

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