Barbara Kaija (born 1964) is a Ugandan journalist and educator, who serves as the editor in chief of the

Vision Group The Vision Group of Companies, commonly known as the Vision Group, is a multimedia conglomerate in Uganda. It publishes the New Vision (newspaper), an English-language daily newspaper, that appears in print form and online, as well as newspa ...

of newspapers, including the English daily publication the ''

New Vision The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language newspaper published daily in print form and online. Overview ''New Vision'' is one of two main national English-language newspapers in Uganda, the other being the ''Daily Monitor''. It is publi ...

''.

Background and education

She was educated at

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

, Uganda's oldest public university, first graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education. She followed that with a Master of Arts degree in education, also at Makerere. Later, she obtained a Master of Arts in journalism and media studies, from

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

, in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, Eastern Cape, South Africa. She also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Practical Journalism, obtained in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the United Kingdom, under the sponsorship of the

Thomson Foundation The Thomson Foundation is a media development not-for-profit organisation based in London, United Kingdom but operating worldwide. It was founded in 1962 and was the first charitable foundation with the specific aim of training journalists in deve ...

Career

Her tenure at Vision Group spans over 25 years. In 1992, she was hired as a sub-editor trainee. Over time, she was given more responsibilities and rose to the position of Deputy Features Editor. Later she became the Features Editor, serving in that capacity for ten years. She was appointed deputy Editor-in-Chief in 2006 and she became Editor-in-Chief in 2010. In her current capacity, she oversees journalistic standards and strategy of all media platforms (print, radio, television, internet and social media) of the Vision Group. When she assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief in 2010, she became the first Ugandan woman to become a chief editor of a Ugandan major newspaper in the history of the country.

Personal life

Barbara Kaija is married. She is a born-again Christian and her religious beliefs strongly guide her life.

Other considerations

Barbara Kaija has a passion for journalism and commitment to teaching others. She has specialized in "development journalism", in which she has taught and supervised many Ugandan journalist. In 2012, she was awarded the National Jubilee Award, in recognition of her body of work. In March 2011, the Ugandan newspaper

Daily Monitor The ''Daily Monitor'' is a Ugandan independent daily newspaper. Its name is shared by the ''Saturday Monitor'' and ''Sunday Monitor'', which are also published by Monitor Publications Limited. ''Daily Monitor'' averaged a daily circulation of 24,2 ...

, part of the

Aga Khan Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim ...

-owned

Nation Media Group Nation Media Group (abbreviated as NMG) is a Kenyan media group listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. NMG was founded by Aga Khan IV in 1959 and is the largest private media house in East and Central Africa with offices in Kenya, Uganda, and Tan ...

, named her one of "''Today's Uganda Top Fifty Women Movers''".

References

External links

Website of Vision GroupWebsite of the New Vision NewspaperWe need independent media regulation – Vision Group Editor-in-Chief
As of 6 October 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaija, Barbara Living people Ugandan journalists People from Western Region, Uganda Makerere University alumni Ugandan women journalists Rhodes University alumni 1976 births