Clare Muhindo is a Ugandan journalist with about 8 years of experience in print and digital media. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Communication from Makerere University and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts Degree in Journalism and Communication. Ms Muhindo’s research focuses on understanding the relationship between humour and rhetoric in political cartoons. She is committed to media sustainability in Uganda through research, mentorship and advocacy.
Clare Muhindo has served as a Social Media Specialist at Daily Monitor where she led efforts to grow digital audiences, engagement and revenue. With a team of dedicated content producers, the team worked towards incorporating new content formats such as video, audio and art. These stimulated the growth of the Newspaper’s digital audiences, hence contributing to revenue growth.
Ms Muhindo has graduated the Women In News one-year mentorship programme that focuses on empowering women in media to lead and mentor others. It is under this programme that she discovered her desire to support and train other people in digital and new media.
Currently, Clare Muhindo serves as the Online Content Producer at African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME), a media support NGO, based in Kampala, Uganda. Here, she supports the development of content for the organisations’ digital platforms, developing training modules on digital journalism and delivering the modules. This work has helped change the way journalists in Uganda perceive and use digital media in their work.
In 2021, Ms Muhindo was selected to be part of the Media Viability Consultancy Programme by DW Akademie in collaboration with Ultimate Multimedia Consult, The Innovation Village and Media Focus on Africa. This Programme is aimed at helping small and medium-sized media houses to survive, adapt, develop and thrive by producing high-quality journalism in a fast-changing world, by finding solutions to the complex challenges they face.
| What motivates you to be part of the Media Viability ecosystem?
The media is a very powerful tool and yet the sustainability of the media industry in less-developed economies and repressive environments like my home country Uganda remains a key question. A lot of these long-standing challenges were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to the closure of some media houses, layoff of journalists and generally changing the way media houses operate. Noteworthy, many media houses in my country were unable to generate enough revenue due to the stringent lockdowns put in place to curb the spread of the disease. Being a part of the media viability ecosystem puts me at the forefront as part of the leadership that is finding key solutions to these long standing issues, identifying key innovations to change the narrative. |
| What impact do you want to make in the media sector?
I hope to see media houses survive, adapt, develop and thrive by producing high-quality journalism in a fast-changing world. A lot of media houses have failed to thrive because they are stuck in the old way of doing things, they are not changing with the changing world. I would like to see the media adapt and strive to change. |
| What can media organisations as beneficiaries expect when they work with you?
Media Organisations can expect a better understanding of the environment in which they operate and to discover solutions by taking time to reflect on their hits and misses. |
