Good food and good journalism...

Food is a lot like journalism, from my perspective, or is it journalism's a lot like food? It's either good or bad. Not much, if any, falls in between.

Edridge, Kabs and Joyce preparing
our Ugandan feast.

Today, as we noted on Facebook, Kabs (Swamadu Kabagambe), my driver during the week (though I often drive him on weekends because he's become our good and trusted friend), and his neighbor-friend Edridge, came to our aerie (The Seventeen atop Kololo on Hill Lane) to teach us to cook "Ugandan."

They both are delightful, and we revel in their company and conversation.

As I write this, we haven't yet tasted the fare (though we expect it to be wonderful and likely will taste it before the end of this blog). Oh, and shopping here is filled with more excitement than at home. The grocery markets here don't really have a great selection -- and I think it's because the place to get the best (and the least expensive) fruits and vegetables is at the open markets, and the one in the center of the city is not far from us.The market area, about the size of half a football field, is cram-packed with vendors and a wide variety of produce, from fresh avocado to ripe watermelon, from banana to okra and a variety of yams.

As for prepared food, we've found our favorite burger (and maybe the best-ever anywhere) at the Crocodile Cafe (though we're told there's an even better place), and the best fish and chips ANYWHERE (and you know both Joyce and I are snobs when it comes to our fish and chips) at the Cafesserie. Both are just down the hill from us.

So, we've found a great selection of good food.

Joyce at the market! Beats the heck out
of Hy-Vee and Dillon's (sorry, guys!)

As for the journalism, I continue to be struck by what even some experienced people take as acceptable, and today I am confronted with another step in what is now likely to be a long journey to acceptable and then to excellent. Though, I must note enthusiastically, we have many in our news operation who do produce excellent journalism and others who are working hard to get there. That's the encouraging part; today's example was the discouraging part.

It involves a story assessing the sitting president's popularity in some areas of the country versus that of the prime minister, who is being promoted by some within the party. Both are members of the National Resistance Movement, the party in power for the past 28 years.

It's an incredibly sensitive issue.

Reporters went out and talked to politically-engaged folks to gauge the feelings of those of the two principals. The issue with the coverage is two-fold: the first was the accompanying chart, that presented evidence that one was decidedly more popular in some districts than the other.

The problem is that the sample is so small and ill-defined, only being supported by phrases such as "a section of voters" or "a big number of residents."

I am requiring that we be precise and exact in all we do, down to our word choice. And I'm also insisting that we be transparent in all we do, and that would be to tell exactly -- giving the exact numbers -- of whom we surveyed to come to such definitive results.

It has consequences beyond just falling short of our goals. It might not be accurate. It's only a guess. And we shouldn't guess in journalism.

The other consequence is that, on this day, a Saturday, when Joyce and I are trying to learn to cook good Ugandan food with our new-found friends, I, instead, have to answer a summons, along with Managing Director Alex Asiimwe, from the Minister of Information at 5 p.m. to explain why that story was published as it was.

As I said, food and journalism is either good or bad -- not much, if anything, in between.

I'm always honest in my assessments, to which my former colleagues and, certainly, my former students can attest. So you can guess (which is OK in this case because you'll be correct) what I'm going to be telling the Minister of Education.

Anyone got an Alka-Seltzer? And it's not needed because of the food.

We're having that now, and it's great!