Andrew Mwenda, Press Hero

I knock Parade magazine a lot, I know... its beyond-kitsch and sucker-born-every-minute ads, its three-week production schedule that leads it to print news about people who've already died (remember the Benazir Bhutto profile that appeared after her assassination?), its cheesy obsession with celebrities.

But a few weeks ago, they ran an article about a Ugandan journalist named Andrew Mwenda that probably reached more people in the U.S. than anything else written about him.

Since December 2007, Mwenda has been publishing a paper in Uganda called The Independent, focused on government corruption, from human rights abuses to graft. He and the staff have been arrested, threatened, and looted. The paper is printed in a secret location. (Props to the printer as well!)

Mwenda recently won the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

At the end of the article, Mwenda is quoted as saying: “The government can jail me or even kill me, but it cannot jail or kill the values and ideas for which we stand. We are standing on the right side of history, defending freedom, liberty, and democracy at any cost.”

Press freedom stories always give me goosebumps and make me appreciate what we in the U.S. take for granted (so much so that we too often allow ourselves to be coopted into consensus, but that's another story).

I'm glad Parade gave a page to Mwenda's story. Thanks.