By Molly Miron
When Macalester College’s World Press Institute offered me a second opportunity this summer to host a journalist visiting from a foreign country, I again responded eagerly.
The list of WPI fellows included men and women from many parts of the world. I e-mailed WPI that I would be glad to have anyone stay with me, but I checked as top choice the names of people who work in editorial and feature writing departments.
The woman designated as our guest was Loy Nabeta, the features editor of the Kampala, Uganda, Monitor. It seemed a good fit to me, because I enjoy writing features for the Pioneer.
Loy, 29, joined the Monitor staff when she graduated from university and has worked her way up the ranks. Inevitably, Loy and I spent our days together comparing and contrasting our jobs and the relationship between the newspaper and the community.
Of course, we had experiences in common dealing with newsroom colleagues, unreliable sources and hectic deadlines. But these conversations weighed heavily on the side of contrast.
As with the Pioneer, the Monitor’s revenue is mainly based on advertising. However, until recently, her one-party government had decided the Monitor’s criticism was unacceptable and placed an advertising ban on the newspaper.
Safety was another big issue. I have almost never felt in danger, even covering tense news situations. For Ugandan newspaper writers, danger is an everyday affair. Journalists have been murdered for writing something unpopular with the administration.
Her editor also had to go to court more than 40 times in six months to face libel suits or accusations that the Monitor broke the law in some way. And the laws are written with built-in, no-win factors. Following one could mean breaking another.
Visits to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Bemidji Fire Department also impressed her. The idea that a quick call opens doors for a tour of a hi-tech state laboratory and fire station showed the generally easy relationship Minnesotans have with officials.
She also contrasted Bemidji’s well-equipped fire department with Kampala’s fire protection: two trucks for the capital city, and nothing for the rest of the country. Looking at Shevlin’s new rig last week brought Uganda’s lack back to me even more strongly.
Loy employs a housemaid, partly to keep her house secure while she is at work, but also for the usual cleaning and cooking.
I expressed wonder that someone could afford live-in help on newspaper wages, but she explained that such help comes quite cheap as girls move into the city from rural areas. Hiring them as housekeepers saves them from prostitution, which could be their only other resource to make a living.
Other social issues also saddened me. AIDS is a serious plague worldwide, but I don’t know anyone who has died of it. “I wish I could say that,” Loy told me.
She said a long list of her family members, classmates and friends have succumbed to the disease. Her mother has 11 people living with her, including two orphan children, because they have no other place to go.
Nevertheless, when I asked if she had considered immigrating to the United States, as some of her cousins have, she said she would never be tempted. In spite of the advantages here, she loves her country and will stay there trying through her work to improve conditions.
