Journalists tipped on Statistics-backed reporting

By Our Reporter

Kampala – As Uganda prepares to join other African National Statistical Organisations (NSOs) to commemorate the Africa Statistical Day on 18th November, 2024, journalists have been urged to embed statistical information to enhance their reporting on matters of national importance.

This clarion call was made by government communicators on the sidelines of a media breakfast held at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Headquarters on Friday 13th November, 2024, during an interactive session between editors, reporters and senior public relations personnel from the various government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

The deputy executive director, Uganda Media Centre, David Albert Katungi in his remarks to journalists cautioned journalists to avoid making simple mistakes, that in the long run proves costly when reporting about government. He further urged them to use the triple C formula i.e. clarity, context and coherence. Katungi was also appalled by the level of lack of information about certain topics by journalist, who ask questions that are sometimes out of touch with topical discussions at hand, citing the recent Coffee Amendment Bill that was recently passed by Parliament, where he said that many scribes asked funny questions about it at Uganda Media Center pressers.

Frank Baine, the Uganda Prisons Services Spokesperson, presented a paper on crisis management in the public sector, where cited the 2020 Moroto Prisons Escape, where over 200 prisoners escaped. He said that it was one of the issues that gave him sleepless nights but because he had the statistics on his fingertips, they managed to nip it in the bud through internal cohesion, speaking to the media about it through multiple media channels. “In crisis management, a communicator must be available but not hide,” he concluded.

According to information from Uganda Bureau of Statistics, there are currently 78,661 inmates in Uganda prisons spread across 269 prisons and 19 regions in the currently manned by a population of over14,000 warders and wardresses

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson ASP Luke Owoyesigire in his remarks, said Uganda Police managed to curb the recent spate of crime, fires and road accidents through effective use of statistics.

However, when asked about the functionality of the 3,600 CCTV cameras in the Kampala Metropolitan Area, he said that most of them do function but they are hampered by the many roadworks ongoing in Kampala, whereby cables are sometimes cut which ends up affecting their functionality coupled with power outages.

Owoyesigire said that the problem of power outages has been solved by installing standby generators to ensure the seamless operation of the cameras.

Betty Nawoova, the head of the Public Relations Department at UBOS, in her presentation tipped journalists to breakdown statistical information for the target audience, adding that huge numbers can be deceiving to the eye, but when broken down in simple terms it is easily conceptualized by the different news audiences.

She has encouraged journalists to use charts, graphics among others to explain statistical information.

The 2024 Africa Statistics Week is running under the theme: “Supporting education by Modernizing Production of Fit for Purpose Statistics.”

In common, the speakers at the function, advised journalists to migrate from the traditional 5Ws and H in news writing and reporting and put emphasis on the So What? As in why should your audience give ear to what story you are trying to tell.