Uganda, Dec. 2 -- Two things stirred my last week. First was a very enriching conversation I had early in the week with a graduate student on the subject of his thesis - subsidised news or information subsidy.

Second was witnessing, at the end of the same week, a typical display of information subsidy in our media - broadcast, print online, social media - and its ugly implication on the consumers of news as well as the subjects of news.

But first let's understand what it is. "An information subsidy is the provision of ready-to-use newsworthy information to the news media by various sources interested in gaining access to media time and space. Typical forms of information subsidies include press releases, as well as press seminars and co...