Rolling Stone Uganda's terrifying new tactics

The Ugandan newspaper that outed several alleged homosexuals in early October was banned from publishing any more names and pictures at the beginning of this month. The paper responded in true loose canon fashion, with its latest issue accusing terrorist group Al-Shabaab of being a front for "bloodthirsty homosexual generals".

By Theresa Mallinson

19 Nov 2010

"Being an editor of an investigative newspaper is one of the most complicated, demanding and stressing jobs in life. I have the best stories,,,i know not which to use as main story...or drop....very trying time...." (Republished verbatim - Ed). So wrote Giles Muhame on a Facebook update on 7 November.

We wonder exactly how Muhame knows about the pressures of such a job; one can call Rolling Stone a lot of things, but the term "investigative newspaper" doesn't immediately spring to mind.

In the end, Muhame didn't choose to run with any of the hard-hitting investigative stories at his disposal (supposing they exist). Instead, the 15 November issue of Rolling Stone led with a piece of creative writing called: "Homosexual generals plotted Kampala terror attacks".

The three subheads read: "Sodomy experts plan overthrow of regional anti-gay presidents"; "New evidence shows homos given support to Kony, ADF and Al-Shabaab"; and "Silent pressure mounts on gov't to amend constitution and legalise homosexuality". For a newspaper that isn't shy about publishing other people's names, the byline was a coy: "Our Investigator".

Read the full article on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.

Source: Daily Maverick

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Theresa Mallinson

About Theresa Mallinson

Theresa Mallinson has lived and worked as an itinerant writer, subeditor and sometimes teacher, plying her trade in such exotic destinations as Vaduz, Dubai, and Cape Town. But that's all changed since she became a journalist at the Daily Maverick (www.thedailymaverick.co.za) and managing editor at Free African Media. For now, she's very happy to be living in Jozi. Follow her on Twitter at @tcmallinson and contact her on moc.liamg@nosnillam.asereht.