By: Geoffrey Abraham Bakiraasa Ssenoga
Doom and Naysayers have a dim view of the future of the Press in this digital age of social media. Not so to Majanga Patrick the leader of the St. Joseph Naggalama press club. The student explains that the press has its inalienable right in any community. It is a watch dog keeping authority in check, it offers opportunity to speak out and publicizes issues of society. In their school, The Bee, which is a prospective school newspaper will be a voice of the voiceless, a mischief watcher, holding the authorities accountable while branding the school.
UCU’S School of Journalism, Media and Communication was part of a universities and tertiary institutions exhibition at St. Joseph Naggalama over the weekend on Saturday, the 16th of June 2024 . This exhibition is a school initiative to support students to make informed career choices in their educational journey.
UCU is well known here with numerous alumni from the school. It is regarded highly as a positive career institutional of choice for many students as Majanga confirms: ” UCU ‘s School of Journalism is well known for its practical approach to teaching journalism and communication as well as its diversity into other media categories like film making. It is a positive choice for many A’levels candidates here.”
The idea of setting up a press club at St. Joseph Naggalama came from “above” says Majanga Patrick who recounts that Monsignor Richard Kayondo from Lugazi Diocese, asked the students to start a press club in 2023, which he then funded , and the students were very excited about the initiative.
They want to ran a newspaper, called The Bee, as part of the press club activities . The name Bee is derived from the sting activity of the bee which is vital to keeping vices at bay: “ We are here to act as a watchdog that stings those vices that happen at school, bringing them out in a good way so that we can bring about change”, he said.
The club also conducts video coverage of all school events. It is a hub for all those interested in writing , graphics and media.
School press clubs like this one at St. Joseph SSS Naggalama help to entrench the importance of the press in society and ensure its continuity, feeding it with nascent press workers; training institutions like UCU’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication help to professionalise the enthusiastic youngsters and prepare them for their inalienable vital role in society through academic training .
