Uganda, March 20 -- Many journalists in godforsaken places have their own version of what is essentially the same script of heartbreak. You have a story; an expose of criminality or some other wrongdoing. The facts check out. The evidence is solid. It is all in the public interest. Even the old grizzly editors, usually reticent and risk-averse, are raring to go.

The lightning of publication is followed by the growling thunder of reaction. Denials are issued, in tandem with statements of clarification. Vituperative threats to sue, hiding their vacuity in the flower vases of empty verse, pour through the mailboxes.

A friendly civil society group, stirred from the boredom of impact assessments, calls a press conference at which strong dema...