The President of the Online Media Publishers Association (OMPA), Giles Muhame has advised Public Relations practitioners and communication managers to build business relationships with new media houses for them to have assured publicity of their campaigns.
“Know who runs the top news sites and give them business. Some PR firms use online media platforms to secure budgets from clients but don’t buy ads or make any expenditure for the stories and coverage. Let’s learn to do smart business,” he said.
Muhame was Friday speaking at the Public Relations Association of Uganda’s networking event famously known as the PRAU Nite where he delivered a keynote address on “Breaking the story and picking up the pieces.”
During his presentation which mostly centered on how public and private organizations should handle their Public Relations in light of new age of technology, Muhame urged practitioners to always be responsive on their social media platforms saying it earns them admiration and trust by editors.
He advised PR Managers to always stay in touch with editors of major online news sites to provide quick information when needed.
“Being online based, we may not wait long. Sometimes it’s better to respond with quick emails to avoid being misquoted,” he said.
Muhame who is also the Managing Editor for ChimpReports recounted the starting days of the media house which has enjoyed lime light over different scandals unearthed in top government agencies and the different investigative stories that have attracted national attention.
“ChimpReports was started six years ago without a laptop. Due to lack of a gadget and internet, I used to operate from Makerere University ICT Lab for Masters’ students,” he revealed.
Commenting about the infamous ‘6 billion Handshake’ scandal that the website uncovered, Muhame said that the situation would have been controlled if PR officials of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) were willing to reveal some information.
“We contacted the URA executive and PR officials for comments. Frankly speaking, they were not forthcoming,” he said.
“They referred us to the attorney general who was flying in and out. Had URA given us the much-needed facts in the case, the situation would not have been explosive.”
Muhame hence advised the PR professionals to “always be open-minded and truthful” adding that “Playing games is not sustainable.”
He warned against compromising journalists to write ‘favoring’ stories saying; “Our enlightened audience is allergic to spin.”
Among the other panelists that shared with the PR practitioners included Christine Alupo, the Director Communications at the Bank of Uganda, Samuel Apedel, the Public Relations Manager at National Water and Sewerage Corporation and Bernard Tabaire, Director of Programmes, at the African Center for Media Excellence.