Journalists WIN BIG at “the 2022 Rwenzori Peace Journalism Awards”

By Birungi Barbara

The Rwenzori Media Development Foundation (RMDF-Uganda) in its effort to promote peace Journalism in Uganda’s conflict-prone Rwenzori sub-region has awarded six (6) journalists for their reporting about peace and reconciliation processes in the region.

In May 2022, RMDF-Uganda with support from the UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) conducted a four-day training workshop for community journalists and social media influencers on peace and conflict sensitive reporting in the Rwenzori sub-region of Uganda.

Two sets of trainings were conducted in Fort Portal and Kasese respectively with the first workshop held from 23rd May 2022 to 24th May 2022 at Whispering Palm Gardens in Fort Portal city and the second from 26th May 2022 to 27th May 2022 at White House Hotel in Kasese. The training workshops targeted broadcast, print, online reporters, announcers and media house managers as well as community leaders drawn from various media houses across the region.

The Peace Journalism Reporting Contest

The final activity of the project was the peace journalism reporting contest involving those who were trained in Fort Portal and Kasese. The contest was coordinated by Mr. Patrick Bamanyisa from the Rwenzori Journalists Forum and Mrs. Caroline Magara from the RMDF with support from the press clubs and associations that included: The Umbrella for Journalists Kasese headed by Mr. Simon Bikeke; the Tooro Media Practitioners Association headed by Mrs. Patra Kirungi Kebisembo; and the team at the Center for Investigative Reporting of Uganda headed by Mrs. Bridget Kisembo.

The aim of the reporting contest was majorly to motivate and encourage peace reporting. The contest attracted 46 entries. A pre-selection was held by the RMDF team to select finalists based on the following criteria:

• Pitches and stories that illuminate peace efforts, nonviolent communication and reconciliation in the Rwenzori sub-region.

• Stories that help us understand nonviolent solutions to conflict, stories of ordinary people and communities working for peace, and stories of emerging leaders attempting to realize their vision for peace.

• Stories that help policymakers think about responses to conflict in new ways; stories that highlight the hidden costs of conflict; stories that voice or bring out the perspective missing from the way the conflict is framed; stories that highlight what it will take for peace to be achieved or sustained in the Rwenzori region.

• Stories that capture peace negotiations or community efforts to prevent violence and preserve peace.

In this contest, contestants were encouraged to go beyond traditional conflict reporting and to consider telling the stories of conflict in ways that speak to peace and inspire the community to overcome the challenges that resulted from the conflict/violence.

After the pre-selection, the stories that met the above criteria were assigned a mentor, Mr. Mathias Mayombwe Mulumba, a media consultant and trainer at Uganda Radio Network, to help improve them.

After the mentoring process, a vetting committee was constituted to evaluate the six finalist entries. The vetting jury comprised of Dr. William Tayeebwa, a Senior Lecturer of Journalism and Communication at Makerere University who was also the lead trainer in the workshops; Ms. Sylvia Nankya the Chief Editor at Uganda Radio Network; and Mr. Thembo Kahungu Misairi a senior journalist with the New Vision who hails from the Rwenzori region. The evaluation criteria included the following:

Table 1: Evaluation criteria for stories in the contest

The lead:	Is the lead appealing to the reader/listener/viewer? How attractive is it to enable one to read or listen/watch the whole story?
Creativity:	Whether the idea is original, innovative or inventive. Is it meeting the proximity test as per the completion scope e.g. regional based?
Sourcing:	How were the sources picked and how relevant are they to the subject matter? What about multiple sourcing in the story?
Statement of issues:	How are the issues being raised in the story? Is the story based on facts or imagination? Did the reporter express personal opinion? What about the aspect of clarity?
Proper Diction/ writing techniques:	Does the story reflect research and freshness? Is there effective use of quotes? Is the story informative, interesting and entertaining? Does the story uphold journalistic integrity? PRINT: Are paragraphs and sentences written clearly, concisely and vividly? What about the proper use of grammar?
Story impact:	What are the likely positive impacts of the story to the reader? What are the likely negative impacts of the story to the reader?
Complements:	Quality of the photographs accompanying the story. Any visualizations aspects to the data included in the story? Does the story have multimedia effects?
Appropriateness:	Is the language used by the writer fitting to the audience? What about examples?

After the evaluations, the following stories were selected and awarded prizes:

Table 2: Winners of the story contest (Kasese group)

	Winners	Story Title	Awarded
1st	Baluku Alex	Longstanding conflict over land use by farmers, pastoralists in Kasese threaten government programs to peace	Laptop
2nd	Mbambu Jolly	Women in Kasese say delays in women council Elections frustrate their full participation in peace processes	Audio recorder
3rd	Ashaba Alex	Youth groups join new efforts to reduce sexual violence in Ntoroko District	Cash prize of Uganda shillings 200,000

Winners of the story contest (Fort Portal group)

	Winners	Story Title	Awarded
1st	Kajumba Harriet Kisaakye	Women inclusion in Peace building efforts key to achieving sustainable peace in Rwenzori region	Laptop
2nd	Muhumuza Edwin	Religious leaders call for urgent action to address the underlying causes of conflicts in the Rwenzori sub-region	Audio recorder
3rd	Muthabali Moses	Kateebwa Youth Alliance launch initiative to promote peace in Bunyangabu District	Cash prize of Uganda shillings 200,000

The first award ceremony was held in Fort Portal at the RMDF premises and was graced by the area Member of Parliament and the chairman of RMDF-Uganda Board of Directors. The second ceremony was held at Virina Gardens in Kasese town and was graced by Mr. Bwambale Lucas of the Shalom Mediation Institute as chief guest; and Mr. Muhindo John Carson from Creations Forum Africa.