Journalists from five countries in eastern Africa gathered in the Ugandan capital Kampala at the end of last week to deliberate on trends in the development of the media in eastern Africa. Papers by journalists and media managers from the region and South Africa were presented at the conference with the theme “safeguarding the public interest: will the media in eastern Africa survive the onslaught of globalization?” The conference critiqued trends in media production, distribution and consumption in the region and discussed how to build partnerships among academics, media practitioners, the government and civil society with a view to strengthening democratic institutions in the region.