UGANDA: Nebbi Diocese hosts 2018 Communications Week
Diocesan Communication coordinators and heads of Catholic Media institutions in Uganda last week converged in Nebbi Catholic Diocese for the Annual Communications Week meeting and celebration of the 2018 World Communications Day (WCD).
The annual meeting was held from 1st -7th May, 2018 under the theme “The truth will set you free (Jn 8:32): Fake news and Journalism for Peace” as released by Pope Francis. The week-long event attracted over 50 Catholic communicators from all the five ecclesiastical provinces in Uganda and one communicator from Nakuru Diocese in Kenya. The Bishop Chairman of the Social Communications Commission, Rt. Rev Joseph Franzelli, who is also the Bishop of Lira Diocese was in attendance.
Bishop of Lira Diocese and
Chairman Communications Commission
Uganda Episcopal Conference
Speaking at the WCD celebration
While speaking during the opening ceremony, Bishop Franzelli called upon the communicators to desist from spreading fake news and information in their reporting.
“As communicators of Uganda, we are called upon to communicate the truth and desist from spreading poisonous news and lies which is rampant in today’s fast-changing world. It is our duty as a church to do so,” he said while emphasizing on the importance of truth in communication.
In his remarks, the Bishop of Nebbi Diocese, Rt. Rev. Sanctus Linus Wanok, who attended the opening ceremony, noted that the world is taken up by fake news, which tends to threaten peace and sets one group against the other, and tribes against tribes.
He warned the communicators against careless reporting as it can be dangerous to the people receiving it. He further urged them to always verify facts before disseminating news to the public.
The Communicators also took part in a two-day Online Journalism training held from 2nd – 3rd, May, 2018. They were taken through various topics of discussion such as how to write for digital media/online journalism, the dangers of online journalism, how to verify information online and essential components of online journalism. The communicators also got a chance to learn how to update blogs: add articles, photos, videos, place a map and add a link in an article to curb fake news.
Bishop Franzelli also highlighted the Pope’s message for the 2018 WCD to the participants which emphasized the need to stemming the spread of fake news and to rediscovering the dignity of journalism and the personal responsibility of journalists to communicate the truth.
The Bishop told the communicators that Holy Father is asking them to take responsibility in their reporting and desist from spreading of disinformation online or in the traditional media.
“……It has to do with false information based on non-existent or distorted data meant to deceive and manipulate the reader. Spreading fake news can serve to advance specific goals, influence political decisions, and serve economic interests,” Bishop Franzelli read part of the Pope’s message.
Eucharistic celebration to mark the 52nd
World Communications Day
Meanwhile, one of the participants, Simon Byakatonda, the president of the Association of Catholic Communication Practitioners in Uganda (ACCPU) said it was his first time to attend the Communications Week.
He said that the church has many departments which cannot do without communication hence; the organizers should organize more training in future in line with journalism and communication to help the communications team.
“We have done online journalism, but it is not enough, people need to learn more, some don’t even know how to use computers and their phones. These people should be given basics on how to use computers,” he said.
He, however, noted that the training on ‘Online journalism’ was of great value to him as it filled in his knowledge gap in digital journalism.
Sr. Michelle Njeri from Nakuru Diocese in Kenya said she was glad to be part of the participants, although she had come to see how it is done in Uganda.
The week-long event concluded with the colourful celebration of the 2018 WCD at Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral in Nebbi Diocese which was the climax of the Communications Week. The celebration was marked the 52nd WCD celebration at national level.
WCD is usually celebrated by the Catholic Church annually on the Sunday before Pentecost, however, the communicators in Uganda usually hold their national celebration in anticipation.
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