The influence of media ownership on media content. A case study of vision media group and monitor publications

ABSTRACT

The study was set to assess the influence of media ownership on media content, a case study of Vision media group and Monitor publications in Uganda, Media ownership has remained an intriguing factor in understanding the news production process. Various studies have proven that ownership influence do affect how journalists cover stories. The said influence takes various forms including direct censorship and coercion of editorial staff. This study critically examines how media ownership patterns, shape content in the Ugandan media, it was guided by the following objectives to establish the nature of media ownership in Uganda, to establish the different types of contents and to determine the effect of media ownership on content The researcher employs the use of descriptive survey design and coding of raw data retrieved from the internet sites of two leading Ugandan newspapers as outlined in the research methodology and findings chapters. The data retrieved from the interviews and questionnaires and also from internet sites of the two newspapers was then analyzed to prove how ownership patterns influence daily news coverage. Of note is also the use of two case studies — The New Vision group and the Daily monitor newspapers. It emerges that ownership indeed influenced news coverage in the 2019 Ugandan elections. The emerging winner in the elections was also the candidate with the most coverage in the two newspapers. Also emergent is the factor that the election was widely personality driven. The implications of the research findings is that objectivity though practiced in some instances, was widely affected by the editorial line of the New Vision newspapers. the editorial line was largely pegged to ownership influences in most cases