By our reporter
The past couple of weeks have seen leading private media company Nation Media Group merge its media operations in Uganda under one roof.
Monitor Publications, NTV Uganda, East African newspaper, KFM and Dembe Fm were merged as the company makes efforts to cut costs amidst declining profitability of the media conglomerate.
After a few workers were showed the exit door, and merging of departments took place, this website understands that NTV editors have take over as overall sections heads for various news beats.
As NTV and Monitor gear up to working under one roof at Celtel House on Wampewo Avenue, part of editorial operations which have undergone the merger have been moved to the spacious premises with Samuel Settumba heading the Business desk for the new structure, while Emmanuel Mutaizibwa will lead the Investigations desk. Herbert Ziwa who left KFM and has thrived at NTV as a political reporter, will be heading NMG’s Parliament reporting team. The three journalists are now household names in their fields.
In the morning re-alignment, Carol Beyanga has been left as managing editor in charge of digital.
The changes were announced by Editorial director for Nation Media Group Uganda, Daniel Kalinaki, in a morning email.
Email below;
Team, As part of our on-going convergence efforts, I am pleased to announce the following changes:
1. The teams covering business have been converged into one Business Desk under the stewardship of Sam Ssetumba. They will sit on the Editorial Floor at Airtel house and will be responsible for business news and information on all our platforms, on top of creating new programmes to reach new audiences, including digital natives.
2. The social media and website teams at ABUL and MPL have also been moved to Airtel House under the stewardship of Carol Beyanga assisted by Emmanuel Waiswa. Working very closely with the Content Generation Hubs, the team is responsible for making sure we are first with accurate breaking news and information online and on mobile, and that our websites and social media properties are updated regularly and frequently. The team is also charged with delivering web-exclusive content, driving the production of mobile videos, and making data analytics a key part of our operations and decision-making.
3. Working closely with HR, Carol will also coordinate the skilling, training and newsroom exchange programmes. Senior editors at MPL and ABUL are expected to support this effort and I would like to see this kick off in earnest this month.
4. A cross-platform investigations team has been set up coordinated by Emmanuel Mutaizibwa. Although set up as a small unit, it will work with subject experts and beat reporters in the newsrooms on a story-by-story basis to produce regular multi-media investigations. 5. The team covering Parliament has also been converged under the coordination of Herbert Zziwa. It will operate out of the House and at Serena. Please support the teams and continue to suggest ways we can improve our processes and journalism.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
