Media practitioners in Uganda have been urged to report accurately and consistently about LGBT persons. This call was made recently our Director, Vincent Kyabayinze while addressing journalists, bloggers and social media activists who participated in a 2 day media training in Kampala.
The media training was funded by GIZ under the theme: “Media for Equality” Enhancing non-discriminatory representation of LGBT in Uganda”. In his remarks, the Director said that media is a powerful tool in the fight for human rights and justice if media practitioners report without bias.
“Accurate media coverage of LGBT persons to make their voices heard is just as important and fundamental as it is for any other persons or communities” he said.
The Director expressed concern over the continued negative and inaccurate reporting about LGBT persons across media platforms, saying that the East African Visual Artists (EAVA) as an organisation has embarked on an initiative to train media practitioners about LGBT rights and to remind them of journalism ethics.
“We realised that most of the negative reporting on LGBT persons is largely driven by ignorance on the side of journalists” the Director noted, adding that; most journalists or media houses have limited or no capacities to document and report on human rights violations faced by LGBT persons as well as the great work done by LGBT persons as Ugandans.
The Executive Director of the Uganda Health and Science Press Association, Kikonyogo Kivumbi was one of the facilitators during the media training.
In his submission, Kikonyogo lauded EAVA for organizing the media training which he said was long over due. In a special was, he commended GIZ for funding the media training and a series of others to come.
On the LGBT community in Uganda, Kikonyogo, who is also a renowned LGBT rights advocate said that the rights and freedoms of LGBT persons in Uganda are repeatedly violated by state agencies, service providers as well as society in general. He however noted that despite these wide spread rights violations against LGBT persons, hardly any of them make it to the news.
“Stigmatizing attitudes towards LGBT are widespread in Ugandan society; this also influences the mindset of journalists and there is a clear bias leading to stories about LGBT being practically absent from mainstream media” Kikonyogo said.
He noted that when LGBT issues are covered, it is mostly done with a negative overtone, while reinforcing already existing stereotypes.
Umar Weswala, an independent blogger and the Managing Editor of The Community Agenda was one of the media training participants. Asked about his take on the media reporting on LGBT persons, he said that there is little knowledge amongst journalists on who LGBT persons are and also regarding the legal framework that affect them in Uganda.
“These misconceptions cause factually wrong media reporting of stories concerning LGBT persons which leave the Ugandan community with no useful information about the situation and rights of LGBT in the country” he said.
