The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

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 published by the Vision Group, which has its head office on First Street, in the Industrial Area of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and R ...

, Uganda's capital and largest city in that

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

n country.

History

It was established in its current form in 1986 by the Ugandan government. It was founded in 1955 as the ''Uganda Argus'', a British colonial government publication. Between 1962 and 1971, the first Obote government kept the name of its daily publication as ''Uganda Argus''. Following the rise to power of

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

in 1971, the government paper was renamed ''Voice of Uganda''. When Amin was deposed in 1979, the second Obote government named its paper ''Uganda Times''. When the

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla ...

seized power in 1986, the name of the daily newspaper was changed to ''New Vision''. The ''Uganda Argus'' and its successors always presented as the "official" newspaper of the government in power.

Vision Group

The Vision Group incorporated as the New Vision Printing & Publishing Company Limited (NVPPCL), started business in March 1986. It is a multimedia business conglomerate, that publishes newspapers, magazines and internet content. It also owns television stations, radio stations for which it provides some original programming. In addition, NVPPCL carries out commercial printing and advertising. NVPPCL is listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange, where it trades under the symbol NVL.

Leadership

On 12 October 2006, William Pike,

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

(CEO) of the newspaper, resigned followed by

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

David Sseppuuya less than two weeks later. Pike had a long history with the paper, starting there as a sports journalist 19 years before. Pike was largely credited with maintaining a degree of

editorial independence Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising ...

for the newspaper. It was reported in 2006 that "press freedom in Uganda might be in jeopardy",and that Pike was being "forced to resign apparently at the behest of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni". Pike's departure was followed by the appointment of Ugandan government spokesman

Robert Kabushenga Robert Kabushenga, is a Ugandan lawyer and corporate executive who was the managing director and chief executive officer of the New Vision Group, from January 2007 until January 2021. He currently serves as a non-executive board member of KCB B ...

as CEO. As of July 2014, Kabushenga was still the CEO. In late November 2006, Belgian journalist and activist Els de Temmerman became editor-in-chief after receiving written guarantees of her editorial independence. She resigned her post on 24 October 2008, stating "I have concluded that I can no longer count on the assurances I received when I accepted the job and so I must resign". In February 2009, Els de Temmerman returned as the editor-in-chief after a four-month absence. She resigned for the final time in mid April 2010, making room for her deputy, Barbara Kaija, who was formally appointed as the editor-in-chief.

References

External links