By Hedwig Arinaitwe
According to a report by the International Women’s Media Foundation, even though the number of women taking up journalism roles has increased, a significant gender disparity still exists, with only four out of every 10 female journalists doing investigative journalism in Uganda. The question is why?
When Shanitah Nabwabye Mutatya joined the newsroom in 2014, she was driven by immense passion, and she was excited to try every aspect of journalism. In 2016, she was assigned to cover the general elections which, for many journalists, is a dream opportunity and significant career boost.
However, for Nabwabye, this major assignment instead killed her passion, and she abandoned her aspirations of pursuing investigative reporting altogether.
Nabwabye was arrested while covering the elections along with three male colleagues. The arrest, being the first experience for her, left her traumatized and too demoralized to return to field reporting. She recalls alerting her supervisor at the time and to her shock, he promised to attend to her case the next day. By the time he came to the police station, she had been rescued by family and friends.
“The second time I was arrested while heavily pregnant. I was slapped and my colleagues were beaten with batons. We decided to [take] the case to court with the help of a non-profit organization (Human Rights Network for Journalists), [and this is when] I started receiving numerous threats and intimidation, with [some people] warning that they will beat me until I lose my baby. This shook me and I decided to take a step back,’’ Nabwabye narrates.
These incidents made Nabwabye realize that investigating politics and stories of national importance comes with greater risks and costs. This informed her decision to concentrate on pursuing feature stories for the sake of her safety. She decided to focus on writing feature stories as a safety strategy.
There is hope
Like Nabwabye, Joyce Namugambe, a journalist who tried to pursue an investigative story a few years ago, dreads the experience. At the time, Namugambe had just secured a job at a church owned radio station. Eager to realize her dream, she pitched an investigative story to the editor about some issues within Buganda Kingdom and he authorized it, until the day she presented her first draft.
“When he saw what I had unearthed, he got [angry] and instructed that I end the investigation. He said that if things backfired, he had no idea about it and I would suffer the consequences alone. A few days [later], I received anonymous calls cautioning me not to proceed with the investigation because it was sensitive and had many parties involved with unknown motives,’’ she reveals.
Namugambe disclosed that she later found out the editor was protecting himself because he feared that if we broke the story, it would be traced to him and he would be deemed to be against the kingdom. However, she remains optimistic and says if she secured funding and a team to work with, she would definitely do investigative reporting.
“If I have a backup team and not working individually, I would investigate, because with a team you share consequences and easily navigate risks,” says Namugambe.
Male dominated Newsrooms
Irene Abalo Otto, a former investigative journalist highlights the need for gender balanced newsrooms.
“The problem is we do not have spaces that are inviting for females, even at investigation desks, the majority are men. The setup of our newsrooms give more opportunities to men, for example if it is a [political] event that may involve violence, a male journalist is likely to be assigned and not a female,’’ she says.
“Another [issue] is lack of intentional mentorship. We live and work in very stressed newsrooms, you’re so stretched and if you’re not intentional as an individual editor, then you can’t lend a hand and mentor a young person who is interested in [investigating stories],’’ she adds.
Most female journalists The Other Voice interviewed raised the need for supportive work environments, a concern that needs to be addressed by media houses. Abalo recommends that newsrooms should carry out situation analysis to rule out risks and provide contingency plans as a way of building support systems for the safety of their investigative journalists.
Skilling and Mentorship
According to Ruth Nagudi, a project officer at Media Focus Africa, investigative reporting is more of skill than theory, and therefore requires a lot of training and mentorship.
Nagudi emphasizes the need to create safe spaces for female journalists because she believes women are capable if trained and mentored well.
“We have to do whatever it takes, go an extra mile and be very intentional about getting women to participate meaningfully,” she says.
“Let’s have specialized approaches for female investigative journalists. It could be in the form of technical training, specialized grants for women, as well as encouraging them to cover these kinds of stories,’’ Nagudi advises.
Solomon Serwanjja, an award winning investigative journalist and founder of African Institute of Investigative Journalism says although investigative reporting is risky, it is impactful.
“It is not for the faint hearted, it needs skill and communication to create change, however it is worth the risk,’’ he opined.
