Print media was the mainstay of the Straight Talk Foundation in 1993 and was our sole channel of mass communication until 1999 when our radio shows commenced. From our first newspaper Straight Talk, a publication for secondary school students, our print repertoire has evolved to include Young Talk for primary school students, and niche publications Teacher Talk, Tree Talk and Farm Talk.. We also publish Straight Talk and Young Talk in Braille.

STF newspapers have been present in Ugandan secondary schools since 1993. Over the past 17 years, these publications have become part of the fabric of life for Ugandan adolescents and most teachers say they cannot remember a time before Straight Talk and Young Talk.

Clear and uncomplicated messaging is important especially in communication about HIV and sexual health. All our publications are pre-tested with a selection of recipients to ensure quality and comprehension.

Our editorial team, led by Director of Print Teopista Agutu, is made up of seven journalists and three designers.  STF newspapers are produced using low-cost newsprint and distributed countrywide in English. Local language versions of Straight Talk are produced for out of school youth in four or five languages a year. About 35,000 copies of each STF newspaper are inserted into the New Vision daily newspaper. Others are delivered to NGOs in Kampala while the bulk goes out through post to the 25,000 addresses on our mailing list, of which about 18,000 are schools..

To explore our range of publications, please click here

Launched in October 1993, Straight Talk has come out ten times a year since then (Nov/Dec is a double issue and January is a calendar) . Providing comprehensive sexual health education for English-speaking usually in-school youth aged 15-24, this newspaper covers a range of issues from delaying sex to family planning and preventing abortion.

Straight Talk maintains that not having sex is the wisest choice for adolescents in school. Sex is profoundly consequenceful, with risks of HIV/STD infection, pregnancy, loss of the opportunity of education, and social consequences such as forced early marriage and imprisonment for boys. However, we also recognise that many  young people are sexually active so Straight Talk provides comprehensive information on family planning, condom use, voluntary counselling and testing . It also conducts a conversation with young people about handling sexual feelings, “good sex” and thinking critically about relationships.  The publication provides ‘sex-positive’ content on understanding body changes and sexuality. The content of the newspapers is adolescent-driven, based on questions, letters and interviews with young people. 

In addition to sexual health and HIV prevention, Straight Talk addresses issues, raised by the adolescents themselves, such as alcohol, rape and PEP, relationships with parents, money problems, cultural pressures to marry early, and how to manage girl-boy relationships. For out-of-school readers, local language Straight Talks focus on include topics such as couple communication and trust, family planning, condom use, VCT (voluntary counselling and testing) and PMTCT (prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV) and marriage.

Straight Talk is produced in English. The local language Straight Talks in recent years have been produced in Luganda, Lwo, Ateso and Runyakitara. Straight Talk and Young Talk are also produced in Braille for visually-impaired adolescents. The print run is about 300,000 for each English Straight Talk and 500,000 for each Young Talk, 100,000 each for Luganda and Runyakitara, and 60,000 per Lwo and Ateso issue. 100 copies are printed for our Braille readers.

Please click here to access copies of Straight Talk

Young Talk is a newspaper for younger adolescents aged 10-14 who are in the first years of puberty. Launched in 1998, Young Talk holds that its readers are too young to have sex – physically, cognitively, socially and economically.. The publication creates a conversation around saying no to “bad touches”, to speak out and ask for help, and to complete at least primary school. (Less than half of children in Uganda complete the seven years of primary education.) Of particular importance is helping young adolescents understand body changes. Body changes are often seen as a sign to start sex.

Young adolescents have many sexual and HIV-related questions and as their bodies change, are under pressure to have sex. As with Straight Talk, Young Talk makes copious use of expert and professional advice in its content and in responding to readers’ questions. Readers also advise each other peer-to-peer. Young Talk  is produced in English and in Braille for visually-impaired adolescents. The print run for Young Talk is 500,000 copies per issue, and the newspaper comes out 10 times a year.  

Please click here to access copies of Young Talk

Started in 2002, Teacher Talk is produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Education with funding support from PEPFAR /USAID. Published three times a year, this publication gives teachers a voice on child-centred teaching, promotes the government’s HIV programme* for the education sector and addresses their questions on HIV and sexual health. Teachers have their own sexual health and relationship worries. To date two separate publications are produced for teachers in primary and secondary schools respectively. 

Teachers are Uganda’s largest group of civil servants and play a key role within the education system as role models, mentors and guardians. By expanding their understanding of sexual health and HIV, teachers are helped to liver safer and more satisfying lives and are better positioned to support young people to make the transition through adolescence safely. Recent issues in Teacher Talk have looked at positive discipline, teaching in the mother tongue, the teachers’ code of conduct and lowering the rate of school dropouts.

Print run about 150,000 an issue.

* The Presidential Initiative for AIDS Strategy for Communication to the Youth (PIASCY) is a Ugandan government HIV-prevention initiative by the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Tree Talk is a newspaper which supplements one of the biggest social forestry efforts in East Africa. Started in 2002, Tree Talk is Uganda’s only mass eco-newspaper and is a publication with a strong agenda for tree growing and reforestation. Distributed twice a year to about 20,000 educational institutions along with sachets of tree seed, it aims to contribute to reverse Uganda’s deforestation through education and awareness.

The newspaper promotes the significance of trees to people’s well-being and livelihood. Loss of trees means there is not enough firewood as fuel for cooking and boiling water. This often leads to young girls walking considerable distances to gather firewood making them more vulnerable to rape. Deforestation also leads to increased poverty due to the lack of food sources and fuel. It is a vicious cycle we strive to inhibit by helping communities become more aware of their environment and be involved in making their future more sustainable. Environmental impact awareness therefore supports STF’s main agenda of HIV prevention and sexual health awareness.

The aim is that by promoting a culture of growing woodlots, Tree Talk will help ease pressure on Uganda’s natural forest and satisfy the country’s requirements for wood. Since 2006, the distribution of seeds through Tree Talk and on-the-ground work in northern Uganda and Karamoja have resulted in the planting of about 4 million trees.

To learn more and support our environmental efforts, visit: TREE TALK WEBSITE

Please click here to access copies of Tree Talk

Farm Talk was launched in 2002 to encourage agriculture in school and make working in the school garden a learning experience rather than a chore. Farming is intricately linked with adolescent wellbeing as over 70% of young Ugandans will end up relying on the land for subsistence. Improving agriculture and thereby nutrition is a way to reducing mass poverty and Farm Talk creates conversations around the value of agriculture , which is often seen as a low status occupation and the last resort for people who do not succeed academically.

Produced three times a year, Farm Talk is sent to 13,500 primary schools with a sachet of vegetable seed. Many schools have harvested large quantities of cabbage and greens from the seed. In our on-the-ground component, we have worked with schools to create model crop gardens, and supplied the tools and seeds.  Print run 150,000 an issue.

Children and youth have limited space for their voices to be heard as well as visibility mechanisms that can raise their profile regarding issues that affect their lives and rights. With funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), STF is collaborating with Plan Uganda to support and create platforms for inclusive participation of children and youth.

This project utilizes the media to address the children and youth issues through linkages to existing interventions targeting children and youth specifically in Kamuli and Lira district. Additionally children and youth have been equipped with skills to exercise their rights and responsibilities to meaningfully participate and contribute to discussions that relate to their lives as children and youth.

Working closely with children and youth from excluded groups such as girls, out of school, children with disabilities (CWDs), and children living with parents with disabilities, STF will facilitate; production and distribution of publications, production of a weekly pre recorded and monthly live children’s radio program in Luo and lusoga, and an annual children education fair in the implementation areas.  These Interventions aim at increasing the capacity of children and youth to use social, child media to engage and influence matters that affect their lives and rights.