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ItemFrom print to digital: evolution, adoption and contribution of ePapers in the Ugandan press(Makerere University, 2026)The evolution, adoption, and contribution of electronic newspapers (ePapers) remain underexplored in Global South media scholarship, particularly Uganda. Existing literature often conflates ePapers with social media or frames them as threats to print journalism, overlooking their distinct potential. A key unanswered question is whether ePapers can viably deliver traditional newspaper services amid digital transition. This study addresses that gap by examining the case of New Vision and exploring factors responsible for the evolution of ePapers, the drivers behind theuir adoption and their contribution in the Ugandan press. Grounded in technological determinism, social shaping of technology, and critical political economy, the study highlights how technological innovation, socio-economic pressures, and institutional dynamics shape the evolution, adoption and contribution of ePapers in the press. Using key informant interviews and netnography, findings reveal that technology and socio-cultural factors such as the Structural Adjust Programmes of the 1990s, internet/ telecommunications penetration, social media, and COVID-19, are central to ePaper uptake in the Global South. ePapers have transformed news dissemination, redefined economic models, elevated digital archival journalism, and offer potential resistance to press censorship. The study introduces an ePaper Business Viability Model offering insights into sustainable revenue and digital resilience for newspapers in the Global South. Recommendations include further research on the digital divide, cultural-technological intersections, and more case studies. The study further recommends that newspapers should improve accessibility, innovate content formats, monetize archives, and integrate Artificial Intelligence into their ePapers for better results. Strategic partnerships with other industries are essential. Policy interventions must prioritize broadband infrastructure, digital literacy, media freedoms, and fair competition to foster public-private collaboration and digital transition. This study contributes to rethinking digital press viability in Uganda and offers a roadmap for sustainable media transformation across similar contexts.
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ItemRepresentation of socio-cultural and political change in the poetry of Kagayi Ngobi(Makerere University, 2025)This study examines how poetry serves as a means of engaging with socio-cultural and political realities in post-independence Uganda, with a specific focus on the works of Kagayi Ngobi, a notable Ugandan poet and performer. Through a critical analysis of his written and performed poetry, the research investigates how Kagayi navigates and critiques Uganda’s complex postcolonial landscape. The study is rooted in two theories: performance theory, drawing on scholars such as Richard Schechner, Richard Bauman, and Victor Turner, and their ideas on embodiment and restored behavior, and decolonial thought. It specifically incorporates Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni’s concepts of epistemic disobedience and the coloniality of power, knowledge, and being. These frameworks provide perspectives through which Kagayi’s poetic voice is understood not only as a performative act but also as a decolonial gesture that challenges the dominant narratives inherited from colonial structures. The research examines how his diction, themes, and oral aesthetics confront issues such as inequality, cultural alienation, failed leadership, and social stratification. By exploring how Kagayi uses poetry to reflect and respond to lived experiences in Uganda, the study highlights poetry’s ability to reclaim indigenous knowledge systems and to revive public consciousness. In this way, the research not only analyzes the artistic and thematic elements of Kagayi’s work but also situates his poetry within the larger struggle for cultural identity, civic awareness, and historical justice. Through the interaction of performance and text, Kagayi’s work becomes a space for resistance, memory, and hope. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that contemporary Ugandan poetry, as exemplified by Kagayi’s work, is a vital form of social commentary and a dynamic medium for envisioning alternative futures based on justice, dignity, and self-determination.
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ItemAssessing fake news on X during the 2021 Ugandan presidential election(Makerere University, 2026)The study assessed fake news on X during Uganda’s 2021 presidential elections using three objectives: (1). The first objective established how X users interacted with the fake news, while the second objective identified the themes in X fake news. The third objective identified ways through which fake news can be mitigated without prejudicing free speech. Two theoretical views of political communication, agenda setting and social cognition were utilized to assess fake news during Uganda’s 2021 presidential elections. It was mixed methods research which involved collecting data using tools such as content analysis, interviews and survey. The key findings indicate the dominance of young people aged 25-34 as X users during the 2021 presidential elections. The study also found that the majority of X users could not distinguish between fake news and genuine information shared on the microblogging platform. The findings also suggest that fake news themes intended to incite the public, instill fear to show rivals as violent and hooligans, to show that some political candidates had bowed out of the race, engaging in voter bribery and ballot staffing. Furthermore, the study outcomes showed that fake news can be mitigated by providing factual information and addressing public ignorance. The study recommends that the communication regulator, Uganda Communication Commission (UCC), should partner with reputable media houses to conduct mass sensitization on how to fact-check social media information to reduce the huge percentages of social media users who just share and comment about social media information before verifying whether it’s true or concocted. The researcher recommends that politicians at all levels should be sensitized on the impact of creating, sharing or circulating fake news on society. Also, political parties should take initiative to educate their supporters on how to spot, and respond to fake news.
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ItemThe representation of an eco-community in Timothy Wangusa's selected poetry(Makerere University, 2025)This study investigates the representation of an eco-community in Timothy Wangusa's selected poetry. It explores how the poet articulates ecological consciousness and communal identity through imaginative and linguistic strategies rooted in African cosmology and cultural heritage. The research is framed around three central themes that together shape an eco-poetic vision: the tripartite connection between humans, the landscape, and animals; the human-nature-spirit connection; and language as a tool for mapping interconnectivity from an eco-linguistic perspective. First, the study examines the tripartite connection between humans, the landscape, and animals, arguing that Wangusa constructs a vision of an eco-community where these entities coexist in reciprocal and interdependent relationships. The landscape, particularly elements like "mountains, soil, and rivers," are depicted not merely as physical features but as living entities that hold memory, sustains life, and interacts meaningfully with humans and non-human creatures. Animals, in Wangusa's poetry are not passive subjects but active participants in the ecosystem, reflecting the world view that challenges anthropocentric models and embraces holistic interdependence. Secondly, the study explorers the human-nature-spirit connection, showing how Wangusa blurs the boundaries between the physical and metaphysical. Nature is portrayed as both material and spiritual, acting as a mediator between the living and the ancestral realm. Through his poetic imagination, Wangusa presents natural elements as sacred repositories of memory, origin, and identity. This connection affirms the belief in nature's animacy and its role in embodying cultural and spiritual values. It also reflects how traditional African ecological thought recognises the sacredness of the land and it's centrality to personal and communal being. The study will focus on language and the representation of connectivity, drawing from eco-linguistics to examine how Wangusa employs language as both a cultural and ecological tool. His use of indigenous terms, bilingual expressions, and poetic narrative techniques localises his poetry and situates the environment within the lived experiences of the community. This linguistic rootedness reinforces ecological meaning by showing that language itself reflects relationships with the land. It further reveals how communication between humans and nature is culturally constructed and symbolically powerful. The study is grounded in ecocriticism, particularly drawing on the Biophilia Hypothesis theory developed by Kellert and Wilson (1993), which suggests an innate human affinity with nature. It also incorporates Lawrence Buell's concept of environmental representation to examine how ecological relationships are constructed in literary texts. The research employs a qualitative, library-based approach using textual analysis. It involves close reading of Wangusa's selected poems, focusing on both thematic and structural elements, to explore intertextuality and the construction of ecological awareness. Overall, this study argues that Wangusa's poetry offers a compelling ecological vision grounded in the African experience. His poetic strategies do more than celebrate nature for they challenge dominant discourses by presenting interconnectedness as a cultural, spiritual, and ecological truth. In doing so, Wangusa contributes to the broader field of African eco-poetics by emphasising the need to view humans, landscapes, and non-human beings as part of one coexistent system.
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ItemAn analysis on the usage of artificial intelligence for public relations in Uganda(Makerere University, 2025)This study examined the use of AI within public relations practice in Uganda. Given the limited body of scholarship on this subject in the Ugandan context, the study sought to address this gap by exploring how AI is utilized in the country’s public relations and communication management sector: Specifically, the AI tools used, its effectiveness, and the challenges faced by public relations practitioners in employing AI for PR work. The study was quantitative in nature and guided by the Domestication Theory and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The Domestication Theory offered insights into how these AI technologies are appropriated, adapted, and integrated into everyday professional routines within specific cultural and organizational contexts, while TAM provided a framework for understanding how perceived usefulness and ease of use influence practitioners’ attitudes and intentions toward adopting AI tools for public relations. The survey method was used, and the data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire developed and administered using Google Forms and analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS V25). Study findings indicate that PR practitioners were familiar with using AI in public relations, though they lacked formal training in its application. It was found that AI has helped to enhance the efficiency of public relations tasks, improve the accuracy of data analysis in PR campaigns, and aid decision-making. However, challenges related to high costs associated with acquiring tools and software, lack of technical knowledge, limited availability of AI tools tailored for PR work, and resistance from colleagues and management, among others, affect its use. The study recommended that to enhance the effectiveness of AI usage, organizations should provide formal training programs specifically tailored for PR practitioners to bridge the knowledge gap. Since a significant portion of PR practitioners use AI tools daily, it is recommended that firms incorporate continuous learning and up-skilling initiatives to help PR professionals keep pace with the rapid advancements in AI technology.