MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL

SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURE AND
COMMUNICATION
DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM &
COMMUNICATION

A Report on Internship At
Ultimate Multimedia Consult Ltd – Gabba
June 10, 2015 to August 4th 2015

BY

DAVIDSON NDYABAHIKA

12/U/24952
 Report submitted to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Journalism and Communication

Of Makerere University Kampala

Student

Signature: ……………………………………………………

Name: NDYABAHIKA DAVIDSON

University Supervisor

Signature: ……………………………………………………

Name: JOSEPH OKRUT

Field Supervisor

Signature: ……………………………………………………

Name: ANTONIO KISEMBO

Declaration
I declare that this internship report is my own original work. Where other people’s
work has been used, I have correctly acknowledged it with accordance to the university
standards.

I confirm that I have not used work previously produced by another student or any
other person to hand in as my own.

I have not allowed and I will not allow anyone to copy my work with intention of
passing it off as his or her own work.

Signature ………………………………………………………..
Acknowledgements

I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Antonio Kisembo, whose encouragement,

guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an
understanding of the online Journalism.

I also owe my deepest gratitude to my colleagues’ fellow students whom we interned

together at Ultimate Multimedia Consult (UMC) including Derrick Ssenyonga, Zahra
Abdul for the sacrifices they made during our stay at the company.

In a special way, the staff at Ultimate was very cooperative and did a lot in shaping me
in various ways through guidance, lectures, and encouragement. Special thanks go to
Mr. Philemon Badagawa, Mr. Desmond Wambi and Mr. Gerald Businge.

I have to appreciate the guidance given by other supervisor as well as my lecturer Mr.
Joseph Okrut whose wise advice and encouragement has improved our presentation
skills thanks to their comment and advices.
ABSTRACT

I chose to do my internship at Ultimate Multimedia Consult Ltd

multimedia organization offering news, information and knowledge for
best multimedia practices.

Ultimate Media Consult (U) Ltd is a non-profit multimedia company

formed in 2003 by journalism and mass communication graduates to
provide a platform for practice for journalists to excel, and for skills
development through direct news, communication and training services.
Ultimate Multimedia Consult is the for profit arm of our group offering
online and mobile based value added news, information and knowledge
products and services.

Because of the growing demand for online journalism and with the
emergency of digital age where almost everyone is embracing new
technology with its new communication channels, the social media with
platforms like facebook, twitter, WhatsApp, Linked In among others, I
thought it important to do my internship with UMC to enable me have
gainful practice, key skills of online writing, editing and packaging news,
features, press releases, background or position papers, reports and other
communication materials in the Print and Electronic media; Advertising,
Public Relations and other communication related fields.
With that fulfilled, as an intern with the company, I carried out a number
of activities which defined my work at UMC and these were as follows;

Through the various training sessions, I was able to constructively write

stories for online sites that the company has such as
www.campustimesug.com , was able to learn how to pitch stories, tag
them, packaging information for online consumption as well as being able
to create personal news sites such as blogs and how to upload them among
others.

Under the company supervision and facilitation, we were able to have field
tours for instance we were able to go to Wankuluku for the annual CBS
POWESA 2015 trade fare exhibition and we were able to learn using
various cameras in producing content for the company such as videos, still
photos, vox pops as well as interviews with various traders.

Also as part of my work, I carried out research on various topics as

instructed by my field supervisor and also attended the various training
sessions we had. Through my work at the company and by critical
observation, I learned important lessons that I will, in no doubt, be
instrumental to the shaping of my future career.

In the two months of internship, all was not rosy. There were challenges I
faced as an intern student at the company. First and foremost, for a meal,
Lunch was undeniably tough. There was no food provided at work
whereas food prices in the restaurants and joints around court premises
were extremely high and not pocket friendly.

Secondly, on some days, not enough work was referred to me. There are
days I had not enough work and yet, as the internship required, I had to be
assigned activities every day.

Further still, to remedy this I took on more responsibility, or pursued an

interest outside of work. I dedicated my time to my blog https://
makhood15.wordpress.com
Limited access to computers and internet connections was another
challenge, the internship training being majorly an online interface
demanded fulltime interface with internet and it was always difficult to
have efficient internet connections which in turn could affect our
performance.
The company being located in Gabba, it was always tricky to board a taxi
daily from Kikoni where I was residing to my internship place and at one
time, I could not raise the transport to there, my internship allowance was
never released and I concluded the internship minus the money. Despite all
this, I would get to work early as expected. There are also times I worked
longer hours, especially when I wanted to advance my skills, I would
remain at the company up to until 9:00 pm.

This internship was career-related professional work experience that

enhanced my education by giving me experience applying my knowledge
and skills in the workplace. The advantages of taking on the challenge are
endless. Internships work served as a stepping stone for my future. I had
different activities for my work, however these came with some challenges,
as noted earlier, all was not rosy! However these challenges may be
handled in a number of ways as outline below.

Recommendations
Students should be encouraged to own personal computers such as
Laptops. As earlier mentioned, the company was basically training online
journalism and required hand son computer training which was a hurdle.
It was prior indicated to us internees that a laptop was a requirement
however majority of us did not own them. Therefore if the department of
journalism can recommend students or make it as a requirement for all
students joining the institution on the same program to have them, it
would save the embarrassment as well as helping engaging students with
practical skills.

Parents should be encouraged to provide an extra funding for students

during internship; such monies can be used to buy data bundles, modems,
and transport among other necessities for students during the internship
period. Some parents do presume that the money provided by the
university is enough which is not true because a lot of money is spent on
transport and feeding.
Table of Contents
1.1 Introduction

This chapter includes the background of the field attachment (UMC) the
full description of UMC, its background, location, community,
organization and size in terms of employees and socio-economic issues

1.2 Background of the field attachment program

The Department of Journalism and Communication introduced this
internship program a year ago to complement other initiatives run to
enhance students' learning experience and help them develop skills for
employment.
The Internship Program proactively builds relationships with employers to
create opportunities to experience a variety of workplaces in Uganda.
These opportunities are open to students to apply to from the end of their
third year. According to the university, the move to make internship a core
course unit was to make graduates more marketable as internship paper is
indicated in the transcript. Many organizations had turned down
graduates for employment due to lack of working experience. Internship
therefore was considered as a measure to solve this problem.
I therefore was required as my internship training to be at ultimate media
consult to get basic skills that are required in the field to prepare myself for
the future employment.
1.3 Objectives of my internship training

To enable me as a student to get hands-on experience real-life situation as I

am expected to work in when I graduate. The students are therefore posted
to different institutions, firms and courts of their choice so as to provide
students with the opportunity to acquire mentorship and also test their
interest in a particular career before permanent commitments are made.

Field attachment provides an opportunity to students to apply the

principles and techniques theoretically learnt into real-life problem solving
situations. It bridges that gap between theoretical knowledge attained in
the lecture rooms and the practical world. This way, it enables the student
to have a feel of the course contents and be able to appreciate how they are
applied in the practical world.

Internships provide students with an opportunity to develop attitudes

conducive to effective interpersonal relationships. They meet new people
and challenges at work and this teaches them how to relate with superiors.

To develop student understanding of work ethics, employment demands,

responsibilities and opportunities.

This field attachment provides students with an in-depth knowledge of the

formal functional activities of a participating courts, firms and institutions.
1.4 Background of Ultimate Media Consult Limited (UMC) a Media
Production Industry

Ultimate Media Consult (U) Ltd is a non-profit multimedia company

formed in 2003 by Journalism and Mass Communication graduates to
provide a platform for practice for journalists to excel, and for skills
development through direct news, communication and training services.

Ultimate Multimedia Consult is the profit-making company offering online

and mobile based value added news, information and knowledge products
and other services including online journalism training services among
others.

UMC ltd runs several new media ventures

including www.yaaka.cc, www.ultimatesports.co, www.ultimatemovies.co
, www.ugandaoil.cowww.weinformers.net, www.ultimatelisting.org,
www.ultimatemultimediatraining.net, www.newinformers.com,
www.weinformers.com, writersofthepearl.net, www.africulture.org , www
.journalism.co.ug,www.thecatholicsnetwork.com,
www.ultimatemediaconsult.net,
www.ouruganda.cc, www.campustimesug.com,www.makerereplus.com a
mong others.

After more than seven years operating a news agency, a communications

agency, as well as research, productions and training services in which the
company was able through different divisions to produce different
journalism, editorial and other communications products for different
media and clientele under Ultimate Media Consult (U) Ltd, its members
resolved in 2010 to up the company’s services, with a special emphasis on
developing platforms and apps as well as training people and
organizations on how to do better journalism and communications for
themselves.
1.5: Gender in the company

At Ultimate Multimedia consult, there are both males and females. It is

very sensitive to gender issues and all are equally distributed in areas of
influence. In fact, there is equality in duty allocations as well as
promotions.

1.6: The Structure Ultimate Multimedia Company

At Ultimate Multimedia Consult, they are headed by founders, then

Managing Director, content manager & legal adviser, multimedia
innovations manager, training director, social media and promotions
manager, finance and administration officer, operations manager,
consultant, content managers and content producers.

1.7: Main activities done at Ultimate Multimedia Ltd.

Ultimate Multimedia Company offers training in Journalism, Writing,

Design, Multimedia Production, Profiling, and Public Relations among
others.

The company offers Multimedia documentation and profiling services for

individuals and an organization, provide journalistic news and features as
an agency to other media outlets and to their online publishing Platforms,
live streaming, among others.
 Chapter Two

2.2.1 Chapter Two: Experiences

2.1: Position
While at Ultimate, I was an intern with no specific post. I was however
assigned with content gathering for my site as well as the Campus Times
website.

2.2 Duties and Responsibilities

As instructed by my field instructor. I was able to write news pieces for

online publication as well as appreciating the use of personal sites that is
blogs.

I was also able to learn how to create websites, blogs, through interfacing
with wordpress.com. Under these lessons, I was able to learn how to
customize blog widgets, uploading content, creating sliders, as well as
tagging so that one’s blog can easily be found on various search engines.

I also learnt basics of shooting video clips, editing and production,

differentiating various types of shots, how to caption, and camera
positioning in carrying out interviews as well as learning about the various
video editing software.

From the various assignments given to me and the other duties, I acquired
knowledge and skills. It is worth noting here that much of this knowledge
was practical and often acquired through observation.

2.3 Supervision Levels and Relationship with supervisor

We were supervised and monitored by our field supervisor on a daily basis
and guidance, advice was always given to us by the supervisor.
During the internship period, I was also supervised by my academic
supervisor who appreciated and was impressed the training and work e
had done so far.

2.4 Our Work Team

At the internship place, we were all responsible for the work we were
meant to do. We chose one of us to be the team leader and would mobilize
us for everything we would be involved in.

2.5 Working relationship with staff members

We had good time with the staff at ultimate. They were very
accommodative and inspiring. They would guide us in all aspects,
mentoring us, and friendly.

2.7 Interests, challenges and what can be changed

2.7.1 Interests

During the internship period various interests were identified which

included the following;

Gaining practical experience in the media field through news reporting,

news story editing and uploading content as well as popularizing stories
online.

Networking through interaction with new people, in terns, in conferences

and work place thus establishing contacts, this was really awesome.
Facing the real world and learning how to cope up with whichever
situation basing on the challenges faced in the later. I was able to learn that
online reporting and writing needs to be simple and fast.

2.7.2 Challenges

It is a criterion a company policy that every intern was required to carry

their personal computers for easy learning. It was indeed trick and quite
challenging for most of us who never owned one that sometimes you
would reach the company and find the available computers already taken.
Nevertheless we managed to maneuver.

Because the place was a bit far, it was very uneasy to always be there on
time imply because there was always traffic jam in town especially on
Entebbe Road. This would facilitate that one wakes up very early and go.

2.7.3 What can be changed

I urge the management of Ultimate Multimedia Consult to ensure that the
internet is worked on and be fast, and may be think about motivating
interns such as maintaining the best interns.
Chapter three: Evaluation on field attachment

3.1 Level of accomplishment of other duties and responsibilities

assigned
In the field and the student was also able to acquire different skills from
these other activities. These duties assigned by the field supervisor were
very tiring as they were relevant to the expectations of the field attachment.
These were therefore to be accomplished because they were for trainees
benefit both in the short and long run. They contributed to us interns
learning and experience while activities were general to all of us and we
were able to accomplish them.

3.1 Knowledge and skills in the duties assigned

Class work was extended to real field conditions. This developed my

inventiveness and skills. There was exposure to journalism and
communication practice and therefore skills were acquired in analyzing
and planning strategies that can improve media practice as required from
the field attachment.

The fact that it was a multimedia company, there were many skills I got
acquainted with and they include;

Communication skills acquired through public speaking and listening, and

were relevant to my cause because it enabled us to effectively communicate
by addressing and communicating to various categories of people.
Interaction and socialization skills were also among the skills I acquired
through interacting with different people of varying behavior and attitudes
such as Ultimate Multimedia staff, sources and other people and this was
most important because it helped me in knowing how to deal or interact
with different people I meet and so as to achieve the intended objectives.

News writing, reporting and production skill was also enhanced through
attending newsworthy conferences, trade fair at Wankulukuku reporting
news life and the staff. This enabled me to know how to work together for
combined knowledge and output in research.

During my internship at Ultimate, I was able to learn and enhance my

photography skills through taking photos to back up the reported
information. Pictures truly speak volumes thus a picture is worth a
thousand words.
I was also able to acquire analytical skills through analysis of different
situations and cases such as crisis communication deciding on possible
solution and this is always necessary in decision making after any analysis
of a certain problem has been done.

3.2 Challenges faced

There were limited computers from the company and since we had as
interns been required to report with personal computers, it was really very
tiring for me to cope up with the situation.
That meant that I would always report at my internship place very early in
the morning so as I can book a computer. This gave me an opportunity to
identify myself with the company and I always find time off the normal
days for internship to go there like at the weekend to compensate the days
I would not be able to access a computer.

The weather was harsh in that to a greater extent sunny thus dusty roads
exposed life to airborne illnesses such as flu. This was managed by
reporting to work before tough sunshine.

Kampala being filled with thugs who pretend to be journalists it would

first be hard for in terms to access the conferences basing on a pretext that
the acceptance letters presented might be forged. This was managed by
attending the conferences with senior reporters and ever presenting the
original acceptance letters.

3.3 Benefits derived from Field of attachment

The field attachment was a blessing to the student in that she benefited a
lot both practically spiritually, morally and socially.

I also gained experience in online content uploading and managing sites

and to date I can individually control both the production and uploading
of content.

I also have been able to establish contacts not only with the company’s
workers and fellow interns but also with other met individuals in the field
which has become and will continuously become beneficial.
3.7 Adequacy in the university preparing the student for internship

The university’s field attachment preparation for the field attachment is to

a greater extent adequate. Shortcomings only com in when time to give
students their internship allowances and the university is not ready.

More so, we continue to have students who were never supervised during
internship either because students never informed their supervisors or
coordinators about their placements or the supervisors claimed never to
have received their facilitation. This in turn affects a student as they do not
know how they would be graded.

3.8 Preparedness of the agency to receive and manage students for field
attachment

Ultimate Multimedia consult is a well organized and focused company as

witnessed through its values. It issues acceptance letters to those
considered constituting the duration, terms and conditions of the field
attachment so that the student decides to report or not.

It also allocates students to various individuals in the company to train you

in various fields of their expertise to avoid disturbances and
misunderstandings between the student and their field supervisor.

Importantly also is that the supervisor at Ultimate is also supposed to

inspect the student’s reporting, movement, discipline and well being. The
student therefore is under the host supervisors supervision and
responsibility.
 CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.0 Introduction
This chapter covers the overall conclusions and recommendations for
chapter 2, 3, and 4.

4.1 Conclusions

On the whole, this internship was a useful experience. I have gained new
knowledge, skills and met many new people. I achieved several of my
learning goals, however for some the conditions did not permit. I got
insight into professional practice.

I learned the different facets of working within online sites, reporting and
updating them. I experienced that internet and personal computers are key
for one to be the best in the journalism field, as in many organizations, is an
important factor for the progress of projects.

Related to my study I learned more about the news production, gathering

and dissemination and the challenges with online journalism. There is still
a lot to discover and to improve.

The methods used at the moment are still not standardized and a
consistent method is in development and adoption of the computer era.

In Uganda, online sites and web managing and designing is still a new and
virgin area for one to explore despite the low accessibility of internet by
our population which sometimes deters them from accessing information
that would be important in shaping their lives. I have realized that almost
every traditional news company/ agency must have online platforms in
order to thrive in this competitive era of digitization. It is therefore
inevitable to have a website and knowledge to use it or how to operate it.

The internship was also good to find out what my strengths and
weaknesses are. This helped me to define what skills and knowledge I have
to improve in the coming time. It would be better that the knowledge level
of the language is sufficient to contribute fully to projects and prepare me
for my future career.

At last this internship has given me new insights and motivation to pursue
a career in Journalism and Communication.

4.2 Recommendation
Based on my internship experience this year, the following
recommendations I give accordingly due to the different analyses and
observations that was carried out.

The university should prioritize the introduction of serious practical

sessions of their profession to avoid inconveniences caused in the initial
stages of the internship period.

The university should send students for internship at least at every end of
the academic year so that they get used to the working environment
experiences, challenges and benefits.
More so, I realize that Journalism and Communication course needs a lot of
practice. It is therefore prudent that the department of Journalism and
communication in this university can consider having all students having
their personal gadgets like cameras and computers so that students
frequently interface with the gadgets during practice. This would in turn
help improve the efficiency and skill in the journalistic training. This would
in turn prepare students for the field and internship places.
References

https://livestream.com/accounts/36334

http://www.campustimesug.com/

http://ultimatemultimediatraining.net/
Appendices
Appendices attached

Appendix I : The weekly Log Book

Appendix : II: Sample links of work done during my intern.

http://www.campustimesug.com/makerere-university-list-of-students-allowed-to-change-
courses-20152016/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/bayimba2015-a-must-attend-festival/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/the-politics-of-bushmen-blood-ties-and-
survival/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/makerere-university-non-teaching-staff-
threaten-to-strike/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/katosi-road-saga-why-byandala-was-sent-to-
luzira-prison/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/what-happened-to-report-about-makerere-
university-awarding-600-fake-degrees/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/07/22/makerere-university-to-get-campus-fm-
radio-frequency-television/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/07/22/student-collapses-after-missing-out-on-
makerere-university-admission-list/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/07/22/meet-makerere-universitys-grc-simon-peter-
who-no-longer-attends-church/

https://makhood15.wordpress.com/2015/07/22/higher-education-not-solution-to-youth-
unemployment/

http://www.campustimesug.com/meet-makereres-goal-scoring-machine-lubwama-joshua-
song-who-wants-to-see-the-vc-ddumba-on-the-touchline/