By Ivan Tsebeni
Student and graduate interns currently practicing journalism at the Uganda Christian University’s (UCU) community newspaper The Standard were delighted to host Mr. Thomas Froese, one of the co-founders of the newspaper, who had visited after a long time. Commonly called Thom had lived and worked at UCU for 12 years. He still returns annually to mentor writing students. He lives in Canada, where he will be headed after contributing for three weeks at UCU.
A budding team of budding journos led by John Semakula, former Supervisor of The Standard, met with the man inside the newsroom on Friday, January 21, 2022. The man- Thom- who inspired the culture that has since his days stuck, of removing shoes before on enters the newsroom, commended the media practitioners for continuing to observe the practice. He argued saying “ Journalism is a sacred/ holy craft” and that, therefore, the newsroom ought to be treated as holy ground.
He conducted a brief technical writing clinic for the young writers who he said he was excited to meet and pledge to support while his transient stay on the UCU campus lasts. Thom who is a seasoned writer and columnist for several media platforms back in his home country, emphasized the golden journalistic principles of accuracy, the use of simple and clear sentences, the 5Ws and H, and more, during a session that lasted nearly two hours.
The community newspaper, which has not been in print for nearly two years due to COVID-19-related financial constraints is likely to become operational again, indicating progress which Thom urged the members present to pray. “Pray that the Standard may be opened. This is a very special place for your professional growth. Pray and God will hear our prayers”, he said.
The current writers training at The Standard, through contributing stories for its digital platform may easily form the first team of official reporters for the ‘paper’, hence, the importance of such training on writing, as Tom’s.
Among key University officials that attended the meeting were Frank Obonyo, UCU manager of the Communication and Public Relations Department; former staff of the newspaper and Geoffrey Ssenoga, senior lecturer at UCU; and pioneer broadcast journalist.
When addressing them, Obonyo urged the students and graduate interns to stay focused and to work hard even when their labour is not yet yielding much money. He recalled working on an empty stomach “ just to keep The Standard paper running,” he said, reminiscing on his days as a fresh graduate of journalism, nearly two decades ago. “You need to believe in your dreams. Nothing is impossible,” Obonyo added.
During the meeting, Semakula who also heads the Undergraduate studies at the UCU School of Journalism announced that Ssenoga would with immediate effect oversee operations at the newspaper until a substantive supervisor for the Standard is named in due time.
