Connecting dots is a figurative expression many of us are familiar with. It simply means ‘understanding how different, separate pieces of information relate to each other to see the bigger picture.’ Journalism is one of the professions whose business is to connect dots and help audiences make sense of the small and seemingly disparate things around them. And they do this every day, but especially when the big story breaks.
There is great value for audiences when journalists connect dots, as Yoni Greenbaum, American Press Institute’s (API) vice president of product strategy, explains.
‘I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a newsroom put out a huge story and move on the next day. It’s like lighting a match and walking away before you see if it catches. We treat every story like a finish line rather than a foundation… Connecting the dots starts with seeing your reporting not as a single story, but as raw material, something that can be shaped, expanded and repurposed.’
Two big stories in Uganda this week perhaps best illustrate the good that can come out for the public when journalists connect dots. One of them was indeed done in Daily Monitor (see, ‘Toughest MP seats to win’, October 22). Over the last many months, the public has been treated to thousands of posters strewn all over the country announcing different aspirants running for different positions in the January 2026 General Election. And this week, the penultimate event for those aspiring for parliamentary seats took place on Wednesday and Thursday.
Daily Monitor’s Wednesday edition’s cover story referenced above was, therefore, one good example of journalists joining dots to create an out-of-the-box story that brings an interesting perspective to the 2026 parliamentary election. The story listed 26 constituencies across different regions of the country in which there is a do-or-die race. Yes, winning any election at whatever level is no walk in the park, but what makes winning in these 26 constituencies the toughest?
Unfortunately, there was no curated story to answer this question. Yes, the extensive coverage of the races in different regions may have carried bits on the hurdles in the named constituencies, but it did not break them down. Curating them into one story was, therefore, the missing dot in an otherwise well-conceived story. Fortunately, the 2026 election is not one story. It is a continuous story unfolding over the coming many weeks if not months.
The other big story begging to connect dots this week is the tragic crash along the Kampala-Gulu highway that involved two buses, a truck, and SUV that claimed at least 46 lives and injured many others. Told in bits, this is just another story of road carnage in Uganda. But told from the perspective of joining dots, a bigger story can be told, depending on which dots one chooses to join.
The most common dots many journalists pick and join are the numbers of the dead and the injured in previous crashes of similar magnitude. Then, arising out of that, they assign a hierarchy from the most deadly to the least deadly. But supposing a journalist for once ignored the morbid figures and instead chose to join the dots of government actions after every such road crash. What big picture would the public see? I don’t know. But somehow in the silhouette, one will likely be able to arrive at just how much money the President has doled out to families that lost their beloved ones, or carry injuries from road crashes in the past 10 years.
It could also show how many ‘business days’ have been shaved off bus companies in the now routine ‘suspension of operations for a week’ meted out by the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) to assuage public outrage after every such road tragedy. And yes, somehow in the hues, the picture likely to emerge is that government has done – or not done – enough to address the problem. Of course, joining other dots – police actions, public reactions, etc, could also paint an interesting big picture.