The Botswana Media Studies Papers Vol 1

The Botswana Media Studies Papers
THE BOTSWANA MEDIA

STUDIES PAPERS
A Collection Presented by the Media Studies

Department, University of Botswana
Volume One
The Media Studies Papers
A Collection of Papers Compiled by the

Media Studies Department, University of
Botswana
Edited by Richard Rooney
Published by The Media Studies

Department, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Botswana, Private Bag 703,
Gaborone, Botswana
www.ub.bw
2014. Copyright remains with individual

contributors
Contents
Introduction
By Richard Rooney .
The Local Print Magazine Industry in Botswana

By Martha Mosha ..
Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Development in Botswana: An

Analysis of the Perspectives of the Beneficiaries
By Divya Nair ..
16
The Juxtaposition Between Media Literacy and Democracy

By Penelope Kakhobwe
24
Capturing the Elusive Art: The Making of a Dance Film

Case Study: The Wandering Souls of Mendi
By Tiny Constance Thagame .
41
The Dilemma of Local Content: the Case of Botswana Television (Btv)

By Bokang Greatness Ditlhokwa .
53
Introduction
By Richard Rooney
This is a collection of papers originally

presented at a series of research seminars
hosted by the Department of Media
Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the
University of Botswana during September
to November 2013.
The work presented recognises the wide
spectrum of teaching and research that
takes place within the department; ranging,
in this collection, across print media,
independent television production, the
representation of dance on film, corporate
social responsibility and development and
media literacy.
The Media Studies Department is the
major centre in Botswana for the teaching
of vocational and theoretical media. It runs
two undergraduate programmes in Media
Studies and intends to launch a Masters
programme in the not-too-distant future.
highlights the various challenges posed by

the inadequate capacity of the grant
managing institutions and the poor
networking
among
the
various
nongovernmental organizations.
Penelope Kakhobwe explores the
correlation which exists when it comes to
media
literacy
democracy
and
development. She makes a case for media
literacy for all and not just high school
children but all sectors of society through
cooperation
with
various
nongovernmental organisations in the field.
She examines this in a case study of
Malawi and concludes that it is the norm
in African countries for media personnel to
suffer persecution for their views.
Tiny Constance Thagame, using a
documentary film The Wandering Souls of
Mendi, she herself directed, investigates
the differences and similarities between
dance and film. She explores some of the
technical and philosophical aspects of
documenting dance. The study explores
the relationship between the choreographer
and the filmmaker, and how they can work
together to produce a successful dance
film.
Martha Mosha investigates the key

elements in the Botswana print magazine
production industry. Her broad research is
aimed at exploring elements such as
market, failures and successes of
magazines, advertising in the magazines,
printing, circulation, and publishers, using
secondary sources as the methodology.
Divya Nair investigates the relationship
between corporate social responsibility
(CSR) and community development in
Botswana. Her study, based on field work
in Botswana, analyses the role played by
grant managing institutions in delivering
CSR and the perspectives of the
beneficiaries in this respect. The study
Bokang Greatness Ditlhokwa reports that

contrary to the notion that Botswanas
independent television producers lack the
professional skills to generate local
television content, lack of finance is
arguably the main challenge that continues
to bedevil the producers. His research

reveals that the local state broadcaster
Botswana Television (Btv) continues to
make
attempts
to
empower
the
independent producers through licensing
of existing intellectual properties, but that
it lacks the necessary and transparent
guidelines to acquire television content.
We hope this will be the first of a series of

publications documenting the research
work of the Media Studies Department,
and we hope to present a further selection
of papers later in 2014.
Richard Rooney, February 2014
About the author

Richard Rooney is head of the Department of Media Studies at the University of Botswana.
He has taught in universities in Europe, Africa and the Pacific. His research, which
specialises in media and their contribution to democracy and good governance, has been
published in books and academic journals across the world.
The Local Print Magazine Industry in

Botswana
Martha Mosha
Abstract
Magazines as a means of communication like any other form of media perform two basic
functions; to inform and entertain by mixing news, stories and features. This is to ensure an
in-depth coverage and follow up stories. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate
the key elements in the Botswana print magazine production industry. This broad research is
aimed at briefly looking into elements such as market, failures and successes of magazines,
advertising in the magazines, printing, circulation, and publishers, using secondary sources as
the methodology.
Keywords: magazine, media, print industry, Botswana
Magazines are a bit more narrow in
focus compared to the other available
media.
Kobak (2002) notes that magazine
production involves three functions;
Editorial - developing an editorial
product that would appeal to a target
readership.
Circulation - marketing the developed
product to the public.
Advertising - marketing the product
through highly sophisticated selling
methods to a small number of advertisers
who want to reach the public that reads the
produced magazine.
As such, the search is to focus on the
magazine production industry in Botswana
with the three functions as a guide. Other
peripheral issues will be looked into such
as a brief history of magazine production
in Botswana, the failure of magazines in
Botswana, and the dynamic magazine
Introduction
This research is a comprehensive look into
the magazine industry in Botswana, from
the first produced magazine to the present
day. Magazines are a periodical
publication containing articles and
illustrations, typically covering a particular
subject or area of interest (Angus
Stevenson, 2005).
Magazines
are
a
means
of
communication like all other media meant
to fulfil two basic human needs; to inform
and to entertain. According to Katz (2003),
magazines are commonly used to find
out more about our favourite hobbies and
interest. They offer a mixture of news,
stories and features thus they can be used
for in-depth coverage and subsequent
follow-up stories. A magazine is, usually,
less ephemeral than a newspaper, less
permanent than a book. (McKay, 2006)
According to Duffy and Turow (2009),

market in Botswana, so as to paint a
holistic picture of the industry. What shall
be discussed is biased to traditional printed
magazines, as this is the dominating
magazine form available at the time of this
research.
Lobatse. This was at the time one of the

very few printed materials written with
content aimed at Batswana. Prior to this
was a quarterly journal which was
produced during the 1930s (Government
of Botswana, 1999) named Lobone lwa
Betswana. Years would follow before the
establishment of another magazine within
the country.
There have been a limited number of
largely unsuccessful attempts to start
magazines. A few general interest
magazines were started in the past five
years, including Dumela (Hello) and Flair,
but all folded after a year or two. Most of
the surviving magazines are specialist ones
covering business and finance, the
environment, agriculture and mining.
(Sechele, 2006)
Statement of Problem
Magazine production in Botswana is an
industry that keeps growing, more and
more magazines are set-up every year, but
little is documented about such a key
industry in Botswanas media landscape.
Objectives
The purpose of this study is to investigate
key elements in the local print magazine
production industry.
Research Questions
The research questions, which govern this
study, are;
What is the current scene in terms of
the local magazine production market in
Botswana?
What are the issues faced by the local
magazine production companies?
Magazines in General
How the magazine industry works is
written in the simplest form by O'Connor
(2013) as;
A clever editor wishes to communicate
an insight. They put words and pictures on
pieces of paper, and find people to read
this content. Once you get enough readers,
then hopefully advertisers wish to engage
with this content.
To do all the above, a team is put
together under one company and thus
know as a magazine production company.
There are many ways to classify what is
known and referred to as a magazine.
Categorisation of magazines differs from
country to country. (De Beer, 1998)
Added to this different researchers
distinguish them with different terms, most
of which are highly dependent on the
different magazines available within a
given market. In the case of Botswana,
there are three main types of magazines
namely;
Literature Review
Botswana Magazine Research
Conducting research on media in
Botswana is very difficult let alone a
research in one such microscopic area as
magazine production. This is so the case as
Botswana has no independent media
research institution. (Sechele, 2006)
Added to this, most other research done on
media in Botswana looks primarily at
radio, television and newspaper. Often, the
term newspaper is used to represent all
other print media including magazines,
newsletters and advertisers.
Magazine production in Botswana
began in 1962 with the production of the
first copy for the then Bechuanaland
Government information branch in

Consumer - these have content aimed at
leisure information and hence offer
entertainment to the reader. This is used to
convey
information,
advice
and
entertainment.
more for a fully operational and wellestablished magazine.

Circulation
Circulation in this case refers to the
distribution methods of magazines once
produced. Thus circulation in terms of
ways in which the magazine gets to its
desired audience. Equally important is the
number of copies sold of a given
magazine, which shares the same name but
is not the one in reference.
There are a number of different ways
that magazine circulation types are
categorised internationally. The types of
circulation available in the magazine
industry in Botswana are;
Business-to-business also referred to

as trade or business and professional.
These magazines have content in
connection to the working industry. Its
content is geared at providing information
for a great mass in a targeted audience.
Consumer specialist the content in
such magazines is aimed at a specific field
of interest.
Consumer magazines make up the
largest sector of the industry in most
countries and this fact is not any different
in Botswana.
Paid circulation these include sales

from newsstands (at supermarkets,
bookstores, quick shops), single copy
sales, single paid subscription and multiple
sales (airlines, hotels, clubs).
Editorial
There is a lot of teamwork that goes
into the production of a magazine. This
includes the work of writers, editors,
graphics
designers,
photographers,
printers, and distributers, to name but a
few.
Some magazines opt to outsource some
of the services needed to produce a
magazine while others carry out
everything in-house. Some authors such as
Evans (2004), suppose that due to the
technological
advances,
magazine
production can be a one-person business.
This is mainly due to the fact that most of
what is needed is based around desktop
publishing. This is a great method to
starting up a business without having to
search for finances for starting up the
business. Thus, one can have as minimum
a staff complement until the magazine
takes off then thus employ a full team once
the magazine is fully functional.
However, Evans (2004) goes into
listing a staff compliment of about 35 or
Society/Association circulation this

can be done in certain circumstances such
as being a member of a given
society/association and belonging to given
institution. In some cases, these are for
given for free to members of a
society/association while at times free
means it is added to the membership fee.
Controlled circulation - this refers to
magazines that are circulated to a limited
mailing list. These include the specialised
magazines, which aim at a particular
industry. In large organisations, these
magazines could be produced internally
and meant for internal use- to
communicate to the staff information
about the organisation.
Advertisements
In order to solicit advertisers, magazine
production companies are meant to

conduct periodic research on their
audience. Armed with information from
the research, the magazine companies are
meant to convince potential advertisers
with statistics that enable them to make an
informed decision. In the case of
Botswana, very few magazines companies
have conducted such research. Most rely
on guesswork to understand who their
audience is. This constitutes to difficulty in
convincing other companies to advertise
with the magazine.
It is however a fact that, media
coverage and recommendations are
relevant for the commercial success of
products and services (Rinallo and
Basuroy, 2009) and with this in mind,
most companies in Botswana do agree to
buy advertisement space in selected
magazines hoping to gain success in sales
on their products and services in return.
Magazine advertisements in this
research looks at a broader picture, thus
including commercials and advertorials.
Magazines have succeeded amid strong
competition from other media vying for
advertising revenue, largely because of the
ability of magazines to reach specialised
audiences and to retain their interest. (De
Beer, 1998)
The average editorial-to-advertising
ratio of U.S. magazines is 56/44(McKay,
2006). This is a significant number- almost
50 percent of the content. Some authors
argue that advertisements are as much a
relevant part of the magazine as is the
editorial content (Rosengren and Dahln,
2013). In the case of some magazine in
Botswana, this figure may be above 44
especially if one removes the negative
space, used to fill up a story as some
magazine have adapted the use of negative
space to make a story with little written
content, fill up a page.
To a great extent advertisers have
had, and continue to have, greater
influence on what gets featured in

magazines than they do in newspapers.
(Clark 1988:345 in McKay (2006)). This
has led to a new way of thinking.
It is predicted that in future, advertising
content would be dependent on the
editorial content (Rosengren and Dahln,
2013). This would be so the case, as there
seems to be a high influence of advertising
content on the perception of a magazine.
Rosengren and Dahln (2013) elaborates
further and state that, perceptions of
the same advertisement can change due to
the editorial content surrounding it.
The following was found out to be true
in terms of advertisement in magazines
according to Rinallo and Basuroy (2009);
(1) Publishers that depend more on
a specific industry for their advertising
revenues are prone to a higher degree of
influence
from
their
corporate
advertisers than others; (2) peer
pressures from competing publishers
affect coverage decisions; (3) larger and
more innovative companies have an
advantage in obtaining coverage for
their products
This situation exists in the case of
Botswana and is made worse by the fact
that the potential advertisers in a given
industry such as cellular phone providers
or discount stores, are limited in number
and due to the lack of competition at any
given industry, which could advertise
within a given magazine.
Many magazines provide a wealth of
information through their adverts
(McKay, 2006). This is not an exception in
terms of the magazines produced in
Botswana. Most are packed with
information that fully elaborates on a
product or service.
However, Hurman (2013), argues that
advertising in magazines does not work
anymore - it is not effective. He says,
There's a discipline required to create

The editorial content ceases to
interest the market;
Circulation
being
pushed
beyond its natural levels.
The magazine has lost its
direction and hence is now not
serving the initial target market;.
Failure to compete with other
magazines in the industry;
Weakness in circulation efforts;
Weakness in advertising efforts;
Lack of control in managing
profits;
The reader is given too little or
too much content;
Pricing is too aggressive or not
aggressive enough;
Poor to none planning and
research.
According to Katz (2003), magazine
success is assessed in terms of their
circulation. However, McKay (2006)
states that, Circulation differs from
readership because a copy of a magazine
will almost certainly have more than one
reader. Thus, circulation is an average
indication of how many people actually
read a given magazine and hence its
success. This being the case, there are a
number of ways in which magazines can
be circulated.
For a magazine to be successful, there
is a need to have the right idea at the right
time, offering information or editorial
service that appeals to a sufficient number
of potential readers who in turn appeal to a
sufficient market of advertisers (Click
and Baird, 1983). Only by striking the
right balance would the industry in
Botswana stabilise and hence reduce the
failure rate that currently exists.
In the end De Beer (1998) explained
this balance in another way by stating that,
The ability to use the most modern
technology, research and knowledge
available has played a vital role in
world-class magazine advertising that just

doesn't exist in other mediums. As such,
his argument is that the creativity is
declining over the years. It goes without
saying that the decline in creativity results
in the audiences perception of an advert
becoming annoying. This would in turn
create a negative attitude by the readers
towards advertisements.
Failure in Magazines
There are more than 250 registered
magazine companies in Botswana.
According to the office responsible for
issuing out International Standard Serial
Number (ISSN), a unique number used to
identify publications, there are about 10 or
so magazines that apply for the number per
year. Application involves producing at
least one issue of the magazine as a
sample. Only about 20 percent of those
that apply end up in producing beyond the
submitted issue with more than 50 percent
of the applicants not returning to collect
the issued code at all. This shows that
there is a failure in the local magazine
production industry, which translates, to
the need to look into this area during the
research so as to figure out if this
phenomenon can be explained.
Williams (2004) attributes the secret of
success in print to be; intensive sales, in a
limited geographic area and to a welldefined (targeted) clientele or targeted,
specialised,
and
easily
identified
readership. This may seem simple enough
but in the case of Botswana, with a total
population of almost two million, the
market in question is very small in
number.
There are a number of reasons for
magazine failure. According to Kobak
(2002), the reasons include but not
limiting;
The decline in the target market,
reduced readership;

ensuring the future of magazines. There is
not much done in terms of research in the
area of magazines in Botswana hence this
is a huge obstacle for most production
companies. The issue on using modern
technology is mostly utilised as best but
not in terms of digital publishing. This is
yet to be a standard for most magazine
production companies. The only weapon
that the magazine production companies
have in Botswana is the knowledge of the
magazine industry in the country. Most
magazine editors would agree that this is a
very different unique, industry compared
to other magazine production industries
from other nations.
Since not much is written in terms of

the magazine production industry in
Botswana, there was a need to read
literature from other countries and gauge if
this is the case in terms of the industry in
Botswana.
Empirical Study
A number of empirical methods were
used to get the information needed. Due to
the fact that most organisation where the
needed information was to be found did
not have such information on record,
interviews where used to pull out as much
from the members involved where
possible. Some structured interviews were
conducted with the interviewee being
given the interview questions well in time
so as to source out the answers ahead of
the actual interview. The interviewees
included representatives from Botswana
Post (in terms of magazine licencing),
representative from Botswana National
Library (in terms of ISSN application), a
representative from the Department of
Information Services (for the historic
background), a representative from a local
publishing company, magazine editors,
magazine layout designers, and writers. In
some organisations, a mixture of semistructured and unstructured interviews was
conducted. This was due to the fact that
some information was kept in more than
one office due to unclear roles given out
and hence one person fails to answer the
questions and would therefore suggest
another person to be interviewed. This did
happen often due to the fact that most
ministries where re-structured over time
and are still doing so as issues arise.
There was a convenient focus group of
different individuals who were working to
put together a magazine (The Other
Kgotla) and they were very useful towards
the research. This group included fortyplus individuals who are connected or
Methodology of the Study

There are a number of research methods
used to tackle this broad topic.
Approach
The first approach was to use
descriptive research used to identify and
classify the elements and characteristic of
magazine production in Botswana. Mainly
quantitative techniques are used to collect,
analyse and summarise data. Qualitative
techniques were used to verify the data in
the form of interviews. Data triangulation the use of a variety of data sources to get
the same information was used to verify
collected information.
Secondary Data Collection
Most secondary data was sourced
through
background
reading
and
information gathering from books; articles
(academic journals, newspapers and
magazines); and pamphlets from different
organisations (government ministries,
Botswana Post, Information Services).
There was also an overall general search
over the Internet for available secondary
information.
10

interested in magazine production in
Botswana
thus;
magazine
editors,
designers,
writers,
photographers,
developers, event organisers, marketers,
promoters, to name but a few. Out of this
pool, most of the findings were verified to
see if they believe it is the case. This group
of individuals was also very helpful
whenever the research reached a dead end,
as they would suggest other avenues to get
the needed information.
In the end, all the information was
verified by following up with what is
happening at the actual magazine selling
outlets. An observation was made of as
many outlets as possible within Gaborone
(where most magazine in Botswana are
distributed) over a year and half. This
allowed a collection of most magazines
currently available in Botswana.
difference between a newspaper and a

magazine is. Therefore, one fills in the
given form to the best of their abilities of
which at times could be confusing even to
the administration personnel handling their
file. An observation was made to the fact
that even though these magazines where
wrongly classified, this was not the case
when it comes to the newsstands and
neither was it the case when it came to
which section they fall under at the
libraries- the said magazines would fall
under the magazine sections with a
disregard to the classification. Therefore,
such instances are corrected within this
research after undergoing a fact-finding
mission for each magazine which is
believed to be wrongfully classified.
From the many available types of
magazine circulation it was concluded that
in the case of Botswana, the types of
circulation include; paid circulation,
society/association
circulation
and
controlled circulation. As such in
Botswana, magazines are distributed
through supermarkets, filling stations,
newsstands (setup at mall corridors,
outside major stores, at the bus station), at
given events (the stadium or at malls),
other stores (e.g.: Pharmacies).
There are a number of challenges that
face the local magazine production
industry in Botswana, most of which is
common to the local print industry. Most
of the challenges are mainly to do with the
competitiveness of the industry and could
be overcome with good strategies. The
challenges, which were also discussed in
an article in The Patriot (Amogelang,
2013) include;
Findings
According to the Botswana Registry of
Companies Registrar of Companies and
Intellectual Property - Name Search
online database (Industry, 2012), there are
257 registered magazines in Botswana. It
is the authors observation that it is not
possible to find more than 10 locally
produced magazines on any given
newsstand at a given time within the
country.
Due to the lax methods of record
keeping and standards that govern
magazine registration and licencing in
Botswana, it is difficult to have the actual
statics about the current situation in
Botswanas magazine print industry. This
also goes for the growth of the industry.
It must be noted that due to
irregularities in classification, some
magazines in Botswana are classified as
newspapers. This happens at the point of
registration or at the licencing due to the
fact that the forms filled in do not indicate
clearly what the options are and what the
The lack of a readership

Most local magazine production
companies do not take time to understand
and build an audience for their produced
magazines. Instead, the lack of an audience
11

is blamed on the small population that
makes up the country. Most magazine
production companies however do not
conduct research on their audience leading
to them not knowing who their audience is
and therefore not meeting up to any
expectations.
years due to exposure to good quality

printing from competing magazines on the
newsstands.
Lack of appeal to advertisers
The targeted advertisers believe that
most magazines produced in Botswana are
of low quality as compared to their
counterpart from outside the country. That
being put aside, the fact that almost all
other media approach the same companies
for advertising opportunities; it is difficult
to settle with an advertisement space in a
magazine as compared to other, more
popular, media within the country such as
radio and television. If however a
company had an advertising budget for
print media, the company would rather
spend it on newspapers as this is more
popular than most magazines.
Lack of a market
This is the case as the population of the
country is small compared to most other
nations and added to this problem is the
fact that local magazines have to compete
with foreign produced magazines which
are also available on the newsstands. Most
of the foreign produced magazines that are
available in Botswana newsstands are from
South Africa. The opposite of having
Botswana produced magazines being
exported for sale in other countries such as
South Africa has been very difficult due to
the lack of appeal.
Lack of support at the distribution

points
In most scenarios, magazines are
distributed at supermarkets and/or petrol
filling stations. These avenues at times are
a franchise with the parent company being
based in South Africa. Thus these
distribution points inherit contracts from
the parent companies which allow them to
distribute most magazines which are
distributed at the parent company. Thus,
they reserve space for foreign produced
magazines on their newsstands that also
appeal to the local audience. This act at
times leaves little or no space for
Botswana produced magazines.
High local printing and publishing

costs
There are a few printing and publishing
houses in Botswana and thus the prices are
high due to a monopoly of the market. The
fact that the numbers being printed is also
not of a great volume adds to the fact that
the printing costs will remain considerably
high. To overcome this situation, some
magazine production companies have
resorted to print in South Africa- where it
is cheaper, and distribute in Botswanawhere the content is relevant.
Lack of good quality content
Some of the magazines suffer from a
lack of quality content in terms of well
researched and written articles, good
illustrations and graphics, and good
magazine layout and design. The
presentation of the content, starting with
the cover page, is an area that is lacking as
the readers have become spoilt over the
Lack of local celebrities

The last but not least challenge is the
fact that there are no local celebrities in
Botswana. The lack of such leads to a
failure to draw the attention of people
passing nearby and staring at a newsstand.
This is crucial as most times the audience
is bombarded with a lot of choices in terms
12

of magazines- both locally produced and
foreign magazines. Being able to identify
something or someone familiar could be
the difference between picking and not
picking a magazine from a newsstand. But
it is said that the media has the power to
make a celebrity, thus they could create
some local celebrity so as to overcome this
issue.
Another way to overcome this issue and

others at the same time would be by the
use of media conglomerates to assist in a
production of a magazine and other
associated services. By forming media
conglomerates, magazines would benefit
from corporate strengthening and
sharing of overheads (Click and Baird,
1983).
Advertising in the local magazine still
remains the best way to recover the
production costs. It is however very
difficult for magazines to secure
advertisement for their publications as they
are competing with other media such as
radio, television and worse of all
newspaper. This is the case for the
magazine industry throughout the world
however, it makes it more challenging in
the case of Botswana produced magazine
as the producers are unable to back up
their marketing with statistics from
independently conducted research.
There is a need for the nation to
conduct periodic and independent research
on the media such as the ones performed
by the Audit Bureau of Circulation in other
countries. The research findings are of
benefits to the local print magazine, its
investors and to the audience at large.
According to Sechele (2006), There is a
need to step up audience and readership
research capacity in Botswana.
Discussion
Lack of easy access to information from
key offices has led to a lot of difficulty in
getting information, which thus led to
more time in completing the research. The
researched information is of benefit to all
and hence should be included in local
reports on media. In most cases, statistics
in terms of magazine production is covered
under one umbrella as print media or as
newspapers. This then leads to a lack of
statistics in terms of the magazine
industry.
In terms of the editorial, most consumer
magazines in Botswana suffer from a lack
of well researched and well written content
for the target audience. This is caused by a
lack of planning when putting together an
editorial team at the beginning or the
choice of wrong team members. This
shows a lack of a magazine strategy. With
the strategy document at hand, a lot of the
failure points discussed on this paper
would be avoided.
The circulation of magazines in
Botswana is usually done by the same
company, which produced the magazine.
This is an extra cost that is usually not
factored into the calculations when setting
up a magazine. The lack of a door-to-door
delivery service by the Botswana Post
could have aided the industry as this could
have assisted in distribution through
subscription. Other third party distribution
methods remain available but are still too
expensive to be a viable option for now.
Conclusion
There are no measures to audit the
magazines produced in Botswana. Such
offices as the Audit Bureau of Circulation
do not exist in the country and such a role
is meant for the Botswana Post to cover.
Thus, there are no statistical figures (such
as the ABC figures) about any of the
magazines produced within the country. At
times the Audit Bureau of Circulation
South Africa does capture some
information on Botswanas circulation but
13

this is on average and does not reflect the
magazine industry in Botswana. Research
such as the National Readership Surveys
and the Quality of Reading Survey should
be conducted within Botswana.
The future of the magazine industry in
Botswana seems bleak. However, Click
and Baird (1983) says, Mans need for
knowledge, entertainment and ideas assure
the magazine industry of survival,
probably in a greater variety of formats
and forms than now exist. If this is
anything to go by, there is still hope for the
industry within the country.
The research was biased to traditional
printed magazines, as this is the
dominating type available at the time of
research. However, areas for future
research include a look into digital
magazines, as this is slowly becoming a
common trend. Added to this, other areas
of future research would be to narrow in
on different key areas such as; advertising,
advertorial, and circulation, so as to have a
deeper understanding of the industry.
communication in contexts. New York :

Routledge.
Evans, M. R. (2004) The layers of
magazine editing. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Hurman, J. (2013) Magazines may be
working. But magazine advertising isn't.
New Zealand: Tangible Media Ltd.
Industry, M. O. T. A. (2012) Registrar
of Companies and Intelectual Property Name Search [Online]. Gaborone: ROCIP.
Available:
http://www.mtinamesearch.gov.bw/search/
[Accessed 20/09/2013 2013].
Katz, H. E. (2003) The media
handbook: a complete guide to advertising
media selection, planning, research, and
buying. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum,
2nd ed.
Kobak, J. B. (2002) How to start a
magazine. New York : M. Evans and Co.,
2002.
McKay, J. (2006) The magazines
handbook. London: Routledge, 2006. 2nd
ed.
O'Connor, K. (2013) Media: As
magazines evolve, so should the metrics
used
to
gauge
their
success.
http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid
=2&sid=78ded944-a5c1-4fe9-8e5183b0a76fe527%40sessionmgr114&hid=10
2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%
3d%3d#db=bth&AN=89891899
[Accessed 12/11/2013].
Rinallo, D. and Basuroy, S. (2009)
Does Advertising Spending Influence
Media Coverage of the Advertiser?.
Journal of Marketing, 73: 33-46.
Rosengren, S. and Dahln, M. (2013)
Judging a Magazine by Its Advertising:
Exploring the Effects of Advertising
Content on Perceptions of a Media
Vehicle. Journal of Advertising Research,
53: 61-70.
References
Amogelang, E. (2013) Botswana
Magazine Publishers Struggling to Make
Headway. The Patriot.
Angus Stevenson, C. A. L. (2005) New
Oxford American Dictionary. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Botswana, Government of (1999)
Botswana
Handbook.
Government
Printers.
Click, J. W. & Baird, R. N. (1983)
Magazine editing and production.
Dubuque, Iowa: W. C. Brown, 1983. 3rd
ed.
De Beer, A. S. (1998) Mass media,
towards the millennium : the South African
Handbook of mass communication,
Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik, 1998. 2nd ed.
Duffy, B. E. and Turow, J. (2009) Key
readings in media today : mass
14

Sechele, S. T. (2006) Botswana:
Research Findings and Conclusions.
London: BBC World Service Trust.
Williams, T. A. (2004). Publish Your
Own Magazine, Guidebook, or Weekly
Newspaper: How to start, manage, and

profit from your own homebased
publishing company, USA, Sentient
Publications.
About the Author

Martha Mosha is a lecturer at the Media Studies Department, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Botswana. She holds a Masters degree in Design Science (Digital Media) from
the University of Sydney (Australia). Digital media includes area such as video production,
compositing, graphics design, animation and sound design for visual media. A first degree
from the University of Botswana- Bachelor of Design (D&T Education) enables her to be a
teaching instructor. Her experience is in the following areas; graphics design, digital video
production, project management and training within the area of media production. Her
interests are mainly in digital postproduction. Email: martha.mosha@mopipi.ub.bw
Suggested citation
Mosha, M. (2014) The Local Print Magazine Industry in Botswana. In Rooney, R. ed. The
Botswana Media Studies Papers. Gaborone, Department of Media Studies, University of
Botswana.
15
Corporate Social Responsibility and

Community Development in Botswana:
An Analysis of the Perspectives of the
Beneficiaries
Divya Nair
Abstract
The paper aims at understanding the relationship between corporate social responsibility
(CSR) and community development in Botswana. In the extant literature there is very little
discussion on the impact of CSR on stakeholders, particularly in the context of Botswana.
The literature shows that there is a need to develop a proper conceptual framework that
would make the risks and benefits tangible and visible to the various stakeholders. The
concept of CSR has developed enormously since its inception half a century ago and
encompasses philanthropy, community development and legal and ethical issues besides
economic responsibilities. But economic responsibilities of businesses are considered to be
dominant in the African context. This study based on fieldwork in Botswana analyses the role
played by grant managing institutions in delivering CSR and the perspectives of the
beneficiaries in this respect. The study highlights the various challenges posed by the
inadequate capacity of the grant managing institutions and the poor networking among the
various nongovernmental organizations. Hence it leaves a negative impression about CSR on
beneficiaries. A majority of the respondents believes that businesses engage in CSR for
reputation management and that they are the least concerned to facilitate local economic
development. Three quarters of the beneficiaries strongly feel that CSR should aim at funding
towards sustainable income generating programmes besides other areas. The Botswana case
necessitates the development of strong networks between the fund granting institutions, fund
managing institutions and the beneficiaries.
Key words: beneficiaries, Botswana, corporate social responsibility, perspectives,
stakeholders
The extant literature is focused largely on
the supply side. The origin of the concept
of social responsibility, the different
objectives adopted by firms in discharging
social responsibility and the types and
Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility is a much
debated concept which evolved through
half a decade acquiring different
connotations at different points in time.
16

structure of delivery have also attracted
considerable scholarly attention. Similarly
much of the discussion has been centered
on North America and Western Europe.
But a perusal of the literature clearly
shows two things. First, there is very little
discussion of the impact of social
responsibility on stakeholders, particularly
in the context of community development.
Secondly and more importantly, African
economies rarely figure in these
discussions. The objective of this paper is
to focus on the perspectives of the
stakeholders who benefit from the socially
responsible project of firms and enterprises
in Botswana, a middle income land locked
Southern African nation.
The reminder of the paper is organized
as follows: We start with a brief literature
review of the participation of businesses in
community development projects with
varying objectives. It is followed by a brief
discussion of the economy of Botswana
and the nature of socially responsible
spending of businesses. In the next section,
we briefly outline the methodology of our
study which is followed by a discussion of
the perspectives of beneficiaries of CSR in
local
community
development
in
Botswana. In the concluding section the
major findings are reported.
corporate philanthropy and organizational

citizenship (de Bakker et al., 2005). A
third view concerns modeling and
measurement of social responsibility in
terms of performance (Matten, et al.,
2003).
The first
view regarding the
expectations of the stakeholders from
businesses is intimately related to
community
development
and
the
perspectives of the beneficiaries regarding
the delivery of the CSR related to it. The
literature in this field describes several
major
goals
of
business
social
responsibility (Boehm, 2005). Among
these, a major stream of thought deals with
attempts of businesses to address social
problems and promote the welfare of the
community. Thus businesses sponsor
social welfare projects, make donations of
equipment, seek civic partnership I
projects and donate funds without being
tied to any specific projects (Boehm,
2005).
Sometimes
employees
of
businesses provide training and education
to the elderly and the youths (Googins,
2002). In recent years, there has been a
greater deepening of partnership between
business and community (Zadek, 2002).
Such participation sometimes involves the
risk of pursuing narrow interests by the
businesses leading to a negative
stakeholder perspective (Hamman, et al.,
2003). This necessitates the development
of a proper conceptual framework based
on transparency so that the benefits and
risks become tangible and visible to the
various stakeholders (Boehm, 2005).
These stakeholders often emerge around a
shared interest to cope with common
problems together and solve them (Hess et.
al., 2002). Of late, one finds an increasing
role of the civil society in local
development issues on the support of
businesses (Baker, 2002). Authors like
Porter go even to the extent of arguing that
Overview of Literature
Academic discussion on the social
responsibilities of business firms started at
least half a century ago. It encompasses the
economic, legal and ethical expectations of
society from businesses (Carroll, 1979). A
very detailed and critical review of the
evolution of the concept with its varied
dimensions is available in de Bakker et al.
(2005). Whetten et al. (2002) view CSR as
expectations of the stakeholders from
businesses. Another view considers CSR
as an empirical concept that relates to
business ethics, sustainable development,
17

firms should establish clear linkages with
the community in which they operate to
gain competitive advantages as well
(Porter,1995). But he is quick to point out
that such goals can lead the community to
not only prosperity, but also to failure
(Porter and Kramer, 2002). It is in this
context that the perspectives of the
beneficiaries assume importance. The
success or failure of community
development programmes initiated by
business enterprises depends not only on
the self assessment of the enterprises
themselves, but also more crucially on the
opinions and attitudes of the beneficiaries.
Studies relating to this aspect of CSR are
generally rare. The modest objective of
the present paper is to fill this gap to a
limited extend using a case study of
beneficiary perspectives in Botswana.
CSR as a concept and practice was born
in the industrialized West and nurtured
also there. Some of the emerging
developing countries are fast catching up
with CSR. But, one finds only a few
efforts in African continent in this
direction. The available few studies are in
the context of South Africa. The available
limited literature indicates that the
economic responsibilities are found to be a
more serious concern of businesses than
philanthropy or legal or environmental or
ethical considerations (Eweje, 2006;
Phillips, 2006; Amaeshi et al., 2006; and
Hamann, 2004). The only study that was
found focusing on Botswana was
Lindgreen, et al. (2009). This study
highlights that the corporate decision
makers in Botswana are reluctant to
engage with wider CSR activities such as
philanthropy and positive environmental
practices as they are not convinced of clear
positive benefits from those. A study of
the perspectives of the stakeholders will
nevertheless be of greater interest
particularly in the context of the non-
altruistic and to some extent pessimistic

views of the businesses in Botswana.
Economy of Botswana
Botswana, a land locked country in
Southern Africa, is one of the most well
governed countries in Africa with a stable
democracy and prudent fiscal management
(Acemoglu et al., 2003; Curry, Jr., 1987).
It has recorded a sustained long term
growth rate of nearly 7 percent per annum
over a fairly long period of time. In recent
years, the annual compound growth rate
has decelerated to less than 5 percent. The
structure of the economy is dominated by
incomes from minerals and related
activities accounting for about 32 percent
of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The
next largest contributor to GDP is the
Government with a share of 18 percent
followed by financial and business
services (13 percent) and trade and
commerce (11 percent). The tiny
manufacturing sector contributes only 4
percent to GDP. The population of the
country is a little above 2 million. Except
the state dominated mining and meat
producing industries, most of the
enterprises are small in size without
showing any significant signs of economic
diversification. Though Botswana is a
middle income developing country, the
poverty rate and unemployment rate in the
country are 23 percent and 24 percent
respectively. The corporate culture is
relatively new in the country and hence
CSR is still in its inception.
The business enterprises in Botswana
seek to align its CSR practices with the
Millennium Development Goals and
Vision 2016 of the country. The key areas
that CSR endeavours to reach out are
poverty, education, gender equality, child
and
maternal
health,
HIV/AIDS,
environmental sustainability and global
partnerships. Partnering with local
18

communities with respect to the above has
been the goal of some of the enterprises.
institution to institution which depend on a

number of factors such as the reputation of
the institutions, their size, coverage of area
of operations, capacity to handle specific
amounts of funding, project management
capacity and more importantly fund raising
capacity.
The funds received were for the
following purposes: buying uniforms,
books, writing materials, mid-day meals
etc. for children in primary and secondary
schools, educational scholarships for
students at tertiary educational institutions,
infrastructural development, counseling
HIV/AIDs patients, creating jobs for the
poor, providing support to destitute
children and the aged.
These institutions, however, do not
have any scientific method to identify the
potential beneficiaries, as the use of such
methods is far too expensive. Hence they
rely mostly on media, opinion makers in
the community, civil society organizations
and faith based institutions such as
churches and other religious organizations.
The major challenges faced by these
institutions whose activities play a key role
in opinion making among the beneficiaries
have been identified are as follows:
Inadequate capacity of the institutions.
Most organizations have problems in
managing the resources and also for
accounting for the used funds due to lack
of skilled personnel and also due to lack of
adequate commitment. This often gives
room to the beneficiaries for construing the
intentions of the institutions as malafide.
Furthermore, some of the institutions do
not submit an evaluation report to the
funding organizations and hence there is
no way to gauge precisely the impact of
funding on the targeted community.
Another challenge is lack of networking
among the various non-governmental
organizations who are involved in using
the funds provided by businesses towards
Methodology
The study is based on primary data
collected using structured questionnaires
and focus group interviews / discussions
carried out in 2009. Data collection was
confined to Gaborone, the capital city of
Botswana and Mochudi, one of the largest
villages on the outskirts of Gaborone. A
two stage sampling procedure was adopted
to collect the necessary data concerning
the perspectives of the beneficiaries and
stakeholders. The first stage is constituted
by
the
major
grant
managing
institutions/voluntary organizations in the
country such as Stepping Stones,
University of Botswana, SOS Childrens
Village, F.G. Mogae Scholarship Fund,
Somarelang Tikologo, The Backyard
Garden Initiative, and Charity Begins at
Work.
The next stage consists of
individual beneficiaries. A list of
beneficiaries was collected from the above
mentioned grand managing institutions
and 25 percent of the beneficiaries that
work out to 94 were selected at random for
data collection. The beneficiaries consisted
mainly of orphans and other vulnerable
students, University graduates, University
students, primary and secondary school
students, and HIV patients. The 94
respondents were selected on the basis of
their proportion in the population of the
study. Separate questionnaires were
administered
for
grant
managing
institutions and beneficiaries as the role of
these actors are different in the execution
of CSR.
Discussion
All the grant managing
regularly receive funds from
and corporate institutions,
quantum of funds received
institutions
commercial
though the
vary from
19

fulfilling their CSR. As the funds provided
for community development activities are
often inadequate and available in small
amounts, the lack of coordination and
networking among the institutions end up
in making sharing of best corporate social
responsibility practices difficult. Similarly,
each organization uses parts of the funds
that are directed towards the same kind of
community development tasks, for
financing their own infrastructural
developments and recurring expenditure.
This results in a thin spread of the scarce
resources across various organizations for
more or less similar tasks which could
have been avoided, had there been proper
networking and coordination among the
NGOs. Consequently the resources that
really reach the beneficiaries get
considerably reduced leaving the task at

hand unfinished and leaving a negative
impression on the beneficiaries.
Thus not only the CSR practices of the
businesses, but also the nature of
functioning of the grant-using institutions
play a role in shaping the perspectives of
the beneficiaries. At the end of the day, the
ultimate effectiveness of CSR is
determined by the perspectives of the
beneficiaries.
Of the 94 respondents, 77 percent were
of the opinion that they are not satisfied
with the quantity and quality of the
community
development
activities
undertaken by the businesses. The
question on why the businesses engage in
CSR has elicited the following responses
from the beneficiaries on a five point scale.
Table 1: Beneficiary Response to CSR Motivations

Reason
Plough-back to
communities
For
Competitive
advantage in
the market
For Social
Change
Reputation
Damage
Control
Local
Economic
Development
1
38
(40.4)
34
(36.2)
2
55
(58.5)
43
(45.7)
42
(44.7)
73
(77.7)
33
(35.1)
5
1
(1.1)
9
(9.6)
Total
94
8
(8.5)
41
(43.6)
19
(20.2)
11
(11.7)
-
94
2
(2.1)
94
25
(26.6)
15
(16.0)
15
(16.0)
6
(6.4)
94
94
Note: Figures in brackets indicate percentages.

Column headings in the table from 1 to
5 indicate various levels of agreement with
1 has the highest value and 5 the lowest
value. From the table it appears that the
impression of the beneficiaries is that the
businesses resort to CSR largely for the
damage control of their reputation in the
community. 78 percent of the beneficiaries
strongly agree to this. Next to this is the
impression that businesses spend money

for social change in the community. This
opinion is given strong support by 45
percent of the respondents. This is closely
followed by the perspective (40.4) that
businesses care to plough back some
amount of the money that they earn from
the society through CSR. More than a third
of the respondents have the impression that
20

CSR is practiced mainly for the
competitive advantage of the enterprises.
Roughly one third of the opinion is that
local economic development is a strong
motive behind CSR. A concise measure of
the perspectives of the beneficiaries can be
obtained, if a principal component analysis
is carried out. This will help us to
determine the extent to which the different
variables that are related can be grouped
together so that they can be treated as one
combined variable or factor rather than a

series of separate variables. The next step
in this study will be the estimation of the
varimax
factors
that
substantially
determine the total variance.
The beneficiaries also suggested ways
in which the real delivery of CSR could be
effective. Table 2 gives the opinions of the
beneficiaries on a five point scale as in the
case of Table 1.
Table 2: Areas for Improvement According to Beneficiaries

Areas for
Improvement
Coordinated
CSR activities
Consultative
need
Assessment
with
Implementers
More Support
Towards Long
Term
Programmes
Mainstreaming
of CSR in
Sponsors
Corporate
Strategy
Forging
International
Linkage
Funding
Towards
Sustainable
Income
Generating
Programmes
No Opinion
12
(12.8)
10
(10.6)
25
(26.6)
15
(16)
57
(60.6)
69
(73.4)
43
(45.7)
25
(26.6)
5
(5.3)
21
(22.3)
8
(8.5)
14
(14.9)
72
(76.6)
15
(16)
79
(84)
78
(83)
16
(17)
Note: Figures in the brackets indicate percentage to total

The chief need of the beneficiaries as it
appears from table 2 is CSR directed
towards income generating activities. The
beneficiaries also want these activities to
be on a long term basis implying that short
term support will not have a sustained
impact on the beneficiaries. The other
areas of improvement shown in the table

seem to be beyond the comprehension of a
majority of beneficiaries. These results
corroborate the finding of the Lindgreen et
al. (2009) study which states that rather
than philanthropy, the major theme of the
responses from Botswana managers was
21

the importance of the economic role of
business. A principal component analysis
is likely to come up with a clearer
understanding
of
suggestions
by
beneficiaries of the areas of improvement.
Amaeshi, K.B., C., Ogbechie, A. C.,

and Amao, O. (2006) Corporate Social
Responsibility in Nigeria: Western
Mimicry or Indigenous Influences,
Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 24:8399.
Baker, G. (2002) Civil Society and
Democratic Theory: Alternative Voices,
New York: Routledge.
Boehm, A. (2005) The Participation of
Business
in
Community
Decision
Making, Business & Society, 44:144-177.
Carroll, A. B. (1979) A Three
Dimensional Conceptual Model of
Corporate Social Performance, Academy
of Management Review, 4:497-505.
Curry, Jr. R. L. (1987) Botswanas
Macroeconomic Management of Its
Mineral-Based Growth, American Journal
of Economics and Sociology, 46:473-488.
De Bakker, F., Groenewegen, P., and
Hond, F. (2005) A Bibliometric Analysis
of 30 years of Research and Theory on
Corporate Social Responsibility and
Corporate Social Performance, Business
& Society, 44:283-317.
Eweje, G. (2006) The Role of MNEs in
Community Development Initiatives in
Developing Countries: Corporate Social
Responsibility at work in Nigeria and
South Africa, Business and Society,
45:93-129.
Googins, B. (2002) The Journey
Towards Corporate Citizenship in the
United States, Journal of Corporate
Citizenship, 5:85-101.
Hamann, R. (2004) Corporate Social
Responsibility,
Partnerships,
and
Institutional change: The Case of Mining
Companies in South Africa, Natural
Resources Forum, 28:278-290.
Hamman, R., Acutt, N. and Kapeluse,
P.
(2003)
Responsibility
versus
Accountability? Integrating the World
Summit on Sustainable Development for a
Synthesis
Model
of
Corporate
Conclusion
The present study made an attempt to
analyse the role grant managing
institutions play in delivering CSR and to
measure the perspectives of the
beneficiaries with respect to CSR. It has
been pointed out that Botswana is a
country characterised by low levels of
industrialization and hence low intensity of
CSR practices by firms. The NGOs that
act as the intermediaries between the
actual beneficiaries and the businesses are
often inexperienced and do not possess
adequate skills or capacity to deliver the
goods. The beneficiaries though have a
perspective that is positive on the CSR of
firms, still nurture a predominantly
negative impression about the motive of
CSR. A clear reading of these indicates
that there is a lack of coordination and
networking between the fund granting
businesses, fund managing institutions and
the beneficiaries. A fuller appreciation of
CSR in the Botswana context is made
possible only by developing strong
networks between these three actors. The
literature in the area of CSR is not very
eloquent on this aspect. Hence the major,
though modest contribution of this study
is the realization that further studies on
these lines are required to have a fuller
understanding of the impact of CSR.
References
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. and
Robinson, J. (2003) An African Success
Story: Botswana. In Rodrik, D. Ed. In
Search of Prosperity: Analytic Narratives
in Economic Growth, Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
22

Citizenship, Journal of Corporate
Citizenship, 9:32-48.
Hess, D., Rogovsky, N. and Dunfee, T.
W. (2002) The Next Wave of Corporate
Community
Involvement:
Corporate
Social Initiatives, California Management
Review, 44:110-125.
Lindgreen, A., Swaen, V. and
Campbell, T.T. (2009) Corporate Social
Responsibility Practices in Developing and
Transitional Countries: Botswana and
Malawi, Journal of Business Ethics,
90:429-440.
Matten , D., Crane A. and Chapple, W.
(2003) Behind the Mask: Revealing the
True Face of Corporate Citizenship,
Journal of Business Ethics, 45 (1-2):109120.
Phillips, F. (2006) Corporate Social
Responsibility in African Context,
Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 24:2327.

Porter, M. E. (1995) The Competitive
advantage of the Inner City, Harvard
Business Review, 73:55-71.
Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M. R. (2002)
The Competitive Advantage of Corporate
Philanthropy, Harvard Business Review,
80: 56-68.
Whetten, D. A., Rands, G. and
Godfrey, P. (2002) What are the
Responsibilities of Business to Society?
Iin Pettigrew, A., Thomas, H., and R.
Whittington, R, eds. Handbook of Strategy
and Management, London: Sage.
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In Andriof, J. And McIntosh, M. Eds.
Perspectives of Corporate Citizenship,
London: Greenleaf.
About the author

Divya Nair holds a Masters degree in Communications from the Bangalore University, India.
She has worked with the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Gaborone, and
currently the University of Botswana in Gaborone as a lecturer in the Department of Media
Studies. Her major area of research interest is the role of public relations in Corporate Social
Responsibility and economic development. E-mail: sdivyanair@gmail.com
Suggested citation
Nair, D. (2014) Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Development in Botswana:
An Analysis of the Perspectives of the Beneficiaries. In Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media
Studies Papers. Gaborone, Department of Media Studies, University of Botswana.
23
The juxtaposition between media

literacy and democracy
Penelope Kakhobwe
Abstract
This paper proposes that there is a correlation which exists when it comes to media literacy
democracy and development. The paper makes a case for media literacy for all and not just
high school children but all sectors of society through cooperation with various nongovernmental organisations in the field.
The paper starts off by tracing the history of Malawi under the rule of the dictatorship of
president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda and the various legal constraints that still exist in Malawi
despite being a democratic state and shows that it is the norm in African countries for media
personnel to suffer persecution for their views.
Key words: Malawi, media literacy, Habermas, public sphere
with democracy and the creation of a
public sphere.
When African countries democratized
they were more focused on educating
people on what democracy was but how
can you have democracy with an ignorant
public? We had gender activist taking their
agenda to the masses and advocating for
the rights of women of course in some
instance where this was not communicated
adequately most women thought that it
meant that they could talk back to their
husbands and refuse them sex and house
chores. This was what I would call
miscommunication on the part of gender
activists and some today are trying to right
this wrong.
We go to Malawi my country where it
was totally no press freedom. What is
press freedom? It means journalists must
Introduction
When African countries underwent the
second wave of democracy in the late
1990s, one area was ignored: that of
media literacy. The second wave of
democracy consisted of getting rid of
dictators such as Hastings Kamuzu Banda
in Malawi. The new political parties
decided to ignore public media literacy and
perpetuated the system of keeping the
masses ignorant of their performance. We
cannot blame them as they inherited the
British system of government where the
native was not part of the target audience
for media but was kept out of it due to
issues of literacy and ability to speak the
Queens language, English. But this is
2013, the dawn of a new era and we cannot
ignore the juxtaposition of media literacy
24

have the ability to report news that they
feel is newsworthy to his audience.
Since the late 1990s, many African
governments have adopted democracy as a
form of government. Democracy is a
system for arriving at collective decisions
through the participation of interested
parties (Keane, 1991:168). For democracy
to prevail in a country there is need for is a
place where people discuss matters of
public interest which Habermas has called
a public sphere (Eley, 1996:298; Curran,
2002:3). It provides an ordered structure
which allows for democratic discourse and
is there to provide a forum for information,
critical debate and scrutiny (Merrill et al,
2001: xxii). The public sphere works as a
model in setting up of an arena that is
inclusive of diverse critical views from a
wide range of people.
Press freedom is a prerequisite for the
media to perform the above functions.
Freedom of the press is an indispensable
element in democracy and the attainment
of truth (Lichtenberg, 1990:102). Press
freedom is simply the absence of any form
of pre-publication censorship or any
requirement for a license or permission to
publish (McQuail, 1992:36). It is the
freedom to cover and report whatever the
majority of people want to know (Weaver
in Ogbondah, 1994:12).
However, many African governments
despite having democratic systems of
government have not embraced the press
freedom concept. As such there is freedom
in principle through new laws but no
practice or respect for it (Nyamnjoh,
2005:70; Ogbondah, 2002:63). Most
African governments have failed to
liberalize press laws (Berger, 1999:16;
Ogbondah, 2002:55). This state of affairs
holds true for Malawi.
Media environment in Malawi

When Malawi adapted a democratic
system of government, in 1993 it was
assumed that press freedom would flourish
as one of the tenets of democracy is press
freedom (Norris and Inglehart, 2008:4).
The lack of respect for press freedom and
disdain for journalism can be traced back
to the rule of the first President, Ngwazi
Kamuzu Banda. Malawi was declared a
republic in 1966 after attaining self-rule
from British colonial rule in 1964 (Crosby,
1993:xxxiv). It became a one-party state in
1966 with multi-party politics banned for
more than thirty years. The government set
up the Censorship Board in 1968
(Chimombo and Chimombo, 1996:1;
Mapulanga, 2008:1). The Board monitored
all literary material including newspapers.
President Banda viewed all non-fiction
writing suspiciously, believing it to be a
disguise
for
free-lance
journalism
(Chimombo and Chimombo, 1996:182).
There was only one daily newspaper; The
Daily Times and its sister weekend
newspaper Malawi News. Both were
owned by Banda through his company
Blantyre Print and Packaging Company.
These newspapers carried very little by
way of reference to current events in
Malawi (Chimombo and Chimombo,
1996:25). Journalists under this regime
experienced harassment and detention;
methods which according to Ogbondah
(1994); Tettey (2001) and Nyamnjoh
(2005) are prevalent in Africa.
The new constitution in Malawi came
into effect after the first democratic
elections in 1992. Section 35 of the
Malawi constitution states that: every
person shall have the right to freedom of
expression while Section 36 recognizes
press freedom and states the press has the
right to report and publish freely, within
Malawi and abroad (Constitution of the
Republic of Malawi, 1994). However,
25

restrictive media laws still remain on the
books. Legislation such as the Official
Secrets and Emblems Act, 1913, the
Printed Publications Act, 1947 and the
Censorship and Control of Entertainments
Act, 1968 which restrict press freedom is
still part of media regulation in Malawi
(KAS, 2003:14). Norris and Inglehart
(2008:2) are of the view that such
restrictive media environments manipulate
public opinion. Democracy was adapted as
a concept without the mechanisms for fair
participation (Eribo and Jong-Ebot,
1997:xiii).
Censorship policies that impact
traditional media have not been formulated
in some countries for the Internet.
Traditional media especially radio and
newspapers in most African countries are
the most extensive vehicles for journalism
hence the stringent restrictions to them as
compared to on-line media (Berger,
2007:6). Due to the limited reach in most
African countries, it is posited that
governments are not bothered by the
internet (Berger, 2007:7). Malawi drafted
the Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) policy in 2003 and to
date, it still remains a draft (Malawi ICT
Policy Draft, 2003). The laidback
approach towards the internet by
government in Malawi has affected
connectivity in that only of 0.8 per 100
people of the population has access to the
internet (World Bank, 2006). Given these
low internet access rates, government
might view on-line publications as having
little impact in Malawi. However it is
pointed out that people in Africa are not
wholly cut off from the internet as word of
mouth plays a major part in passing on
information (Nyamnjoh, 2005:205). This
act of word of mouth also contributes to
the public sphere through the sharing of
information that people might read on the
internet with their families and neighbours.
For
Frankfurt
School
theorists,
individuality was important for the
development of individual ideas and
thoughts. The cultural industry which had
been corrupted by capitalism defined the
way that people were to think of the world
thereby leading to conformity rather than
critical thought (Bennett, 1982:43).
Through this homogeneity, social authority
was maintained. Habermas argued along
the Frankfurt School lines. He noted that
the public sphere declined when the media;
newspapers and magazines gradually
achieved mass circulation and became
linked
to
capitalist
corporations
(Finlayson, 2005:13; Calhoun, 1992:21).
This led to re-feudalization as the media
fell under the control of advertising, big
corporations
and
politics
(Curran,
2002:33-34). In this respect the media now
operated in the private interests of a few
individuals. Public opinion now lay in the
hands of the elite who could manipulate it
to their preference (Kellner, 2001). The
media promoted a culture of passive
consumption thereby brainwashing the
masses by directing their focus to less
important things such as lifestyle as
compared to critical issues such as
corruption and social ills. The public
sphere was transformed from a sphere of
rational debate into one of manipulative
consumption and passivity leading to
citizens becoming spectators of media
presentations (Kellner, 2001).
Criticisms of the Public Sphere
Although the concept of the public sphere
has helped develop a model of public
debate and civil society, there are a
number of criticisms of the concept.
Garnham
(1996:360)
and
Fraser
(1992:115) note that Habermas idealizes
the bourgeois public sphere. Both authors
agree that Habermas ignored the other
public spheres that existed and focused on
26

the bourgeois public sphere. Habermas
public sphere was dominated by white,
property-owning males (Kellner, 2001).
There were other alternative public spheres
such as pubs, various societies and clubs
that were ignored by Habermas. Plebeian
public spheres were not taken note of by
Habermas which also had significance in
the development of society (Kellner,
2001). Habermas also failed to recognize
public spheres made up by women who
had their own clubs and groups (Fraser,
1992:115; Dahlgren, 1995:10). Habermas
public sphere was not democratic. It
excluded women. It was not egalitarian in
nature as it required property to participate
in the public sphere (Finlayson, 2005:12;
Garnham, 1996:360). The requirement of
money automatically excluded many
people from the public sphere realm.
According to Keane (2000:84),
Habermas concept of the public sphere is
inadequate as there can be a range of
public spheres where people discuss issues
and contribute to democracy. Various
public spheres should exist where people
can discuss issues based on their common
interests and none of these spheres should
enjoy a monopoly. Keane (2000:77)
identifies these as the micro, meso and
macro public spheres.
Habermas public sphere concept
embraced some ideals of democracy. It
respected freedom of speech and assembly,
free participation and rational debate. It
however had some short comings.
Democracy
is
about
participation
regardless of class or gender. It is also
assumed that because Habermas insisted
on terms such as rational reason and
critical debate that this was what happened
in the coffee houses. Far from the public
sphere being about civility and intellectual
debate about the state of society and social
ills, it was a place where capitalists
discussed ways how to make a quick profit

(Garnham, 1996:360).
Habermas criticized the rise of the mass
media while ignoring that the mass media
brought information to many people. The
media also helped in the democratic
process by scrutinizing the deeds of public
officials and bringing to the fore peoples
problems.
Habermas
ignored
the
empowering
consequences
of
the
introduction of mass democracy and mass
media (Curran, 2002:45). The argument of
the Frankfurt School on the decline of the
media based on the role of corporate
ownership and advertising in the media
ignored that these two elements led to the
enlargement of the public sphere.
Advertising covered the costs of
production of media products making them
more affordable to the general population.
Despite the criticisms of Habermas, the
concept of the public sphere cannot be
separated from the historical aspects that
led to its creation.
The Bourgeois public sphere is typical
of an epoch and cannot be abstracted from
the unique developmental history of that
'civil society' of the European high Middle
Ages; nor can it be transferred, ideal
typically generalized, to any number of
historical situations that represent similar
constellations (Calhoun, 1992:6).
The model of the public sphere is there
to help elucidate how society shifted from
the authority of the church and developed
a space in which rational critical debate
could take place in a neutral space. The
emergence of the public sphere marked the
beginning of the participation by ordinary
people in determining the destiny of their
societies (Kellner, 2001). Although the
public sphere developed out of the need of
the bourgeois to discuss issues of trade, it
did create a space where people could
debate matters and a space for civil society
(Calhoun, 1992:7). This was a move
27

towards modern society and democracy.
The public sphere works as a model in
setting up an arena that is inclusive of
diverse critical views from a wide range of
people. The public sphere as conceived by
Habermas might not work for all societies
as discursive practices are different in
societies. The key concepts of public
interest, rational debate and tolerance are
some of the principles that should be taken
into consideration especially in a
democratic society.
is believed that there is a market place of

ideas.
Although the media is supposed to be
widely accessible to people, challenges
such as poverty play a role in limiting the
accessibility of the media to many people.
The political economy affects the media
and the quality of information in
circulation in the public sphere. Lately,
with deregulation, privatization and
globalization trends around the world, the
media has focused more on infotainment
stories for circulation and advertising
purposes (Berger, 1991:10). People are
now regarded as audience figures and not
citizens. There has been less focus on
investigative journalism that exposes
societal ills and government corruption
(Berger, 1999:11). Habermas and the
Frankfurt Schools criticism of the cultural
industry as being corrupted by big
business is still relevant today. This is
because the media has lost sight of its role
of providing citizens with critical
information and has assumed the role of
being a distraction from every day
realities. The public sphere is not only
about open and critical debate, it is also
about the type and quality of information
that is circulated in the public domain
(Habermas, 2006:168). The quality of
debate is important.
The media has also been accused of
being influenced by elites and ideology in
their presentation of information (Carey,
1993:16). The media in Africa after
independence was used mostly for nation
building and development agendas. It was
seen as a tool for modernization (Hyden
and Leslie, 2002:2). It was used as a force
for change. The media in Africa was also
used as the government parrot. It had to
report party activities and the speeches of
political leaders (Hyden and Leslie,
2002:10). In Malawi, mostly through radio
it was used as a cultural multiplier.
The Public Sphere and the Media

The public sphere embraces the concept of
debate on issues of public interest. The
media through providing the public with
information and knowledge it needs to
make informed critical decisions fulfils
this function. The media provides a realm
where people can express their views and
also reach consensus on issues that affect
them. The media has been very critical in
Africa in creating change. During the first
wave of democratization which was the
fight for nationalism, the media created a
discursive realm where new discourses of
nationalism could be discussed (Hyden
and Okigbo, 2002:35).
The media is an institution that enables
the formation of some form of discourse in
society for the practice of rational and
critical thought. Hyden and Okigbo
(2002:35) note that the media gave the
nationalists leaders a platform through
which they could discuss the common
issue of freedom. This discursive realm
provided a civic sphere where people
could discuss matters of general interest.
The media also provides a public space
for people through the formation of public
opinion. Dahlgren (1995:8) notes that it is
the active reasoning of the public that
forms the public sphere. The more variety
of media present in a country, the more it
28

views there are the more one is likely to
get to the truth as people discuss issues
(Siebert, 1978:46). The only way to get to
the truth is through inclusive debate.
The media helps reconstitute private
individuals as a public body that can form
public opinion. The media in a democracy
therefore facilitates the functioning of
society through acting as a two-way
channel of communication and influence
between government and the governed
(Curran,
1991:126).
The
media
consequently has to be representative of
diverse views, opinions and ethnic groups
in a country for it to contribute fully to the
functioning of democracy as democracy
needs multiple and alternative public
spheres (Dahlgren, 2001:39).
Media plurality is one way that ensures
that various groups of people in the
country are represented. However the
media can only pursue democratic values
against the background of the social
political and economic environment in
which they operate (Gurevitch and
Blumer, 1990:272). Government policy
and regulation is what determines the
plurality of the media in a country.
As indicated earlier, the media in a
democracy is a watchdog or the fourth
estate
of
government.
Democracy
embraces the ideals of accountability of
authorities, the rule of law and
mechanisms for checks against abuse
(Berger, 1999:2). The media acts as the
publics eyes and ears through actions such
as investigative reporting. The media
ensures that state power is not abused by
keeping a watchful eye over government
activities and ensuring that irregularities
are exposed. The media ensures that
representatives uphold their oaths and
carry out their mandates (Center for
Democracy and Governance, 1999:3).
Media and Democracy

The concept of democracy as a form of
government goes back to the Greek
philosophers
(Huntington,
1991:5).
Democracy is a system for arriving at
collective
decisions
through
the
participation of interested parties (Keane,
1991:168). Democracy is built on the
liberal tradition of thought; it embraces
concepts such as a market place of ideas,
the reliance on individual reasoning and
natural rights such as freedom of religion,
speech and the press (Siebert, 1978:44).
The two important roles of the media in a
democratic society include shaping public
opinion through informing the electorate
on whom to vote for and being the watch
dog of government or the fourth estate.
Information about elections in the media
ensures that citizens make responsible,
informed choices rather than acting out of
ignorance or misinformation (Center for
Democracy and Governance, 1999:3). The
media in Africa has played a crucial role in
the democratic process. The media has
been part of the force of change by playing
a pro-active role in the transition from
colonialism to nationalism (Hyden and
Okigbo, 2002:48). It helped accelerate the
pace of democratic reforms in many
African countries in the 1990's (Tettey,
2001:5). It also helped shape and define
democracy in Africa. This was through
offering
critical
information
that
challenged the authority of autocratic rule.
Democracy furthermore embraces the
principle of rational and critical debate
(Dahlgren, 1995:4). Habermas (2006:168)
notes that for public opinion to be formed
there is a need for an arena for open debate
shaped by the quality, availability and
communication of information. The media
helps form collective debate in a
democracy as it creates a space for
engagement. Democracy follows the
utilitarian principle believing that the more
29

of the media in a democracy is seen as the
reflection of society (Curran, 1991:119).
As democracy is entwined with the values
of citizenship, it is important that people
have access to information. Free flow of
relevant information and ideas is important
for the public sphere (Dahlgren, 2001:33).
Press Freedom and Democracy

Press freedom in Africa is a new concept
that many leaders have failed to grasp. The
leaders were used to African medias role
as a tool for development agendas and
nationalism (Faringer, 1991:x; Ogbondah,
1994:7). Democratic principles based on
the theory of utilitarianism view state
censorship as contrary to the principle of
the maximizing the happiness of the
governed (Keane, 1991:5). The media has
to be independent from due influence from
any quarter whether economic or political
in a democracy (Ogbondah, 1994:10). For
media to be a watchdog of government,
access to information is an important precondition. There must therefore exist in a
democracy an environment of press
freedom.
Press freedom is the absence of prior
government censorship; the freedom to
cover and report whatever the majority of
people want to know, the absence of any
requirement for a licence or permission to
publish (Weaver in Ogbondah, 1994:12;
McQuail1992:36). Press freedom is
associated
also
with
editorial
independence. The Windhoek Declaration
of 1991 states that editorial independence
is the freedom of the media to decide what
constitutes news (Minnie, 1999:12). The
Windhoek Declaration describes an
independent press as one being free from
governmental, political or economic
control.
Editorial
independence
is
important to the media as it ensures that
the media reports issues to the fullest.
Restrictive
media
environments
manipulate public opinion (Norris and
Inglehart,
2008:2).
Press
freedom
contributes
to
the
process
of
democratization as it allows for
unrestricted
access
to
information
therefore enabling people to analyze
society. A restricted press indicates the
state of democracy in a country as the state
Constraints to Press Freedom

The current state of the media in most
African countries owes most of its legacy
in part to the colonial period. The media in
most African countries was introduced
during the colonial period by colonising
countries such as Britain and France. The
press in Africa was mostly publications
owned or operated by officials of the
colonial government (Wilcox, 1975:1). It
was mainly a vehicle for the preservation
of the political status quo which was that
of the colonisers. It was used to inform the
settlers of news and information of
promotions, transfers and propaganda
emphasising the positive aspects of
colonial rule and African welfare (Wilcox,
1975:2; Nyamnjoh, 2005: 40). As such, the
African native was not included in the
initial press category. Restrictive laws
based on adaptations of obsolete
eighteenth-century laws of the press in
England were also passed in many British
colonies (Wilcox, 1975:6). These included
the requirement that newspapers be
registered or licensed as a precondition to
their lawful publication (Martin, 1998: 64).
When the winds of nationalism blew
across the African continent in the 1960's,
most nationalist movements in Africa such
as the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in
Malawi started their own publications to
help in the fight for independence. The
press during this time played an important
role in ideological mobilization and
advocating for national unity and
development (Faringer, 1991:x). Such
publications were mostly frowned upon by
30

the colonial government. The political
environment during colonialism did not
encourage democracy (Eribo and JongEbot, 1997:xii). Colonialism, by its nature
was the antithesis of democracy (Martin,
1998:63). The colonial administrators
thought a press of any kind was dangerous
in the hands of barbaric Africans and a
critical nationalist press was particularly
dangerous (Wilcox, 1975:5; Nyamnjoh,
2005:40). Colonisers were reluctant to
allow freedom of expression among the
colonised for fear they would use that
freedom to be critical of colonialism
(Martin, 1998:63). This attitude towards
media by the colonisers shaped and still
continues to shape the perceptions of most
African leaders. After independence, the
new nationalist leaders inherited the
structures left by the colonial governments
with no overhaul of the system taking
place (Wilcox, 1975:12). Martin (1998:66)
notes when nationalist leaders took over
from the colonial state, African selfgovernment was in essence colonial
administration by Africans. It was no
surprise then the new African rulers
practised the dictatorship of their colonial
masters and not democracy (Eribo and
Jong- Ebot, 1997:xiii). All individuals
were expected to support the government
and its efforts for the building of the new
independent states. As such alternative
views were suppressed with no vibrant
public sphere. Free expression was viewed
as a determent to the demands of
development (Martin, 1998:69).
However, it has been shown that free
expression is vital for the formation to
civil society and public opinion in a
democracy (ONeil, 1998:1). As such the
media is one area that should have free
expression in terms of press freedom.
Press freedom is essential for fair
participation in democracy. One of the
greatest threats to media freedom is the
failure by government to liberalize press

laws (Berger, 1999:16; Ogbondah,
2002:55). Robust and critical media is
frowned upon as African leaders have seen
the role the media can play in bringing
about change vis-a-vis the second wave of
democratization across the continent in the
1990s. The press was at the forefront in
the fight for change. The fight for change
did not end with the emergence of
democracy. Over the years the media has
played a primary role in the probing of
government policies and behaviour (Hyden
and Leslie 2002:12). It is for this reason
that most African governments dislike
media freedom. Most African governments
are reluctant to pass legislation that is
suitable for a free press. They instead
choose to hold on to colonial legislation
that protects the offices of those in power
as way to maintain power and control over
the citizenry (Nyamnjoh, 2005:160;
Tettey, 2000:17).
Some of the laws that infringe on press
freedom deal with access to information,
libel laws, insult laws, obscenity and
security laws (Tettey, 2002:18; Ogbondah,
1994:10). There are other ways in which
government can infringe on press freedom.
From a political economy angle,
government as the biggest advertiser in
many African countries usually rewards
less critical media with advertising while
withholding advertising from critical
media (Louw, 2004:84; Tettey, 2002:17).
This practice leads to self-censorship in the
media. Government is not the only player
that affects editorial independence.
Donors, owners as well as corporations or
big
business
all
affect
editorial
independence (Berger, 1999:18; Louw,
2004:80). Besides legislation, African
media has to contend with various forms
of suppression of information. Some of the
methods commonly used in many African
countries include physical harassment of
31

journalists, seizure of newspapers and
equipment, closure of and suspension of
media houses and detention of journalists
(Ogbondah, 1994:13; Tettey, 2001:11;
Nyamnjoh, 2005:173). It should however
be pointed out that government is not the
only player weary of press freedom.
Government is the most critical actor as it
enacts legislation and sets the operational
climate for the media.
However Blake (1997 in Nyamnjoh
2005:269) offers a solution for ensuring
Africas media plays its watchdog role in
society. Blake notes that the formulation of
legislation should not be left to
government only as it tends to favour its
agendas in drawing up press laws. He calls
for participation of all sectors of society
such as universities, the church, the private
media and civil society in the formulation
of media policy that encompasses press
freedom. Such a policy would ensure that
the media is self-regulated; embracing
democratic principles. It would also
encourage the emergence of alternative
media in the form of community media
which would lead to participation by
people at grassroots levels. It is yet to be
seen if governments can accept such a
principle. It is against this backdrop that it
is proposed that the internet could lead to
the media in Africa overcoming some of
these constraints thereby leading to more
press freedom.
was dissolved in 1963 (Mapulanga,

2008:2). Malawi changed its name from
Nyasaland to Malawi in 1964 after
attaining self-rule from Britain under
Kamuzu
Banda
(Chimombo
and
Chimombo, 1996:1). Malawi was declared
a republic in 1966 (Crosby, 1993:xxxiv).
Following the repressive example set by
the former British colonizers, Dr. Banda
declared Malawi a one-party state in 1966
under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP),
banning multi-party politics (Chimombo
and Chimombo, 1996:1). Dr. Banda
established autocratic rule and became the
undisputed leader of Malawi. He
introduced a new constitution with all
powers vested in him in 1966 (Meinhardt
and Patel, 2003:3). Dr. Banda declared
himself life president in 1970 under what
he termed democratic dictatorship (Forster,
2001:275). Against this background of
dictatorial tendencies and disregard for
human rights, it should come as no
surprise that Malawi had strong relations
with South Africa. Malawi was the only
black-ruled African country that had ties
with the apartheid regime in South Africa
(Menhardt and Patel, 2003:5).
The Press under Dr. Banda
The media has always been viewed
suspiciously in Malawi. The first
newspaper in Malawi, Central African
Planter 1895 was founded by a Scottish
settler (Barton, 1979:154). Central African
Planter was aimed at a white readership
with a focus on growing tea and news
about Britain (Baker, 1975:154). The
Central African Planter was an Englishlanguage daily and was the only
newspaper to appear in Malawi until the
early 1940's (Rap 21, 2003). Central
African Planter later changed its name to
the Central African Times then Nyasaland
Times. In 1962, Roy Thomson was looking
to extend his empire; Nyasaland Times
A Brief History of Politics and the

Media in Malawi
Malawi is a landlocked country which
borders Zambia to the west, Mozambique
to the south and part east and Tanzania to
the east. Malawi boasts the third largest
lake in Africa, Lake Malawi, which
occupies a fifth of Malawis total land
area. Malawi, then known as Nyasaland,
was part of the Federation with Rhodesia.
The federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
32

came to his attention (Barton, 1979:155).
Thomson bought it and ran it for 10 years
as a bi-weekly. In 1972 Nyasaland Times
was sold to Kamuzu Banda (Barton:
1979:155). Nyasaland Times later changed
its name to The Daily Times (Chimombo
and
Chimombo,
1996:25;
Barton,
1979:156). It was the only daily newspaper
in Malawi. It was a tabloid size newspaper
and carried mostly foreign and scattered
articles on Malawi.
With The Daily Times under his control,
Dr. Banda convinced his party members
from the ruling Malawi Congress Party
(MCP) to let the party newspaper, Malawi
News come under his newly formed
company; Blantyre Print and Packaging.
Malawi News had started as a weekly
protest newspaper by Aleke Banda of the
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the run
up to independence in 1959 (Muluzi,
Juwayeyi et al, 1999:125). Banda
(2007:65) notes that native resistance
helped develop media in Africa in the
struggle against colonialism. Malawi News
had served as a platform for the struggle
against colonialism. It was now turned into
a weekend newspaper (Barton, 1979:156).
Despite owning two newspapers, Dr.
Banda did not trust journalists and as such
he made speeches which often described
journalists as third-class and fourth-class
citizens (Barton, 1979:165). Dr. Banda
kept the newspapers under close scrutiny.
Every word that went in the paper was
checked and cross checked with authority
(Barton, 1979:165). Malawian newspapers
carried very little information on current
events in Malawi even less so of troubled
countries (Chimombo and Chimombo,
1996:25). They were used for party
propaganda through the replication of the
presidents speeches, sometimes in their
entirety in case he was misquoted. The
newspapers were heavily censored. News
of upheavals in other parts of Africa was
taboo (Barton, 1979:165). Under Dr.

Banda, no journalism courses and writing
courses were offered outside of University
of Chancellor College in Malawi
(Chimombo and Chimombo, 1996:182).
Only poetry and fiction writing were
offered as courses.
Dr. Banda passed various laws and
enacted legislation that would lead to the
arrest of journalists for publishing
misleading
information
(Barton,
1979:164). Legislation that would allow
for detention without trial was passed in
1964 (Short, 1974:255). This allowed for
the arrest of people who were thought to
be disturbing the peace and stability of
Malawi. This legislation could be applied
to anyone, journalists included, if they
printed material deemed to be offensive.
Censorship laws were also enacted after
the setting up of the Censorship Board in
1968 by an act of parliament (Chimombo
and Chimombo, 1996:1). The board had
the right to monitor all literary material
including publications such as newspapers.
In only the first seven and a half years of
its existence from 1968-1974, the
censorship board banned more than 840
books and more than 100 periodicals
(Mapulanga, 2008:1). The list expanded
yearly. Reporting of false and damaging
information about Malawi was a criminal
offence which was punishable with
lifetime imprisonment (Menhardt and
Patel, 2003:6). This was covered in the
Prohibited Publications Act of 1974
(Mapulanga, 2008:3). The Act allowed
government to ban any publication that
published information it considered false
or distorted or critical of Malawi.
Journalists who failed to comply with the
rules were imprisoned in Mikuyu
Maximum Security Detention Centre after
sometimes being tried in kangaroo courts
others simply disappeared; rumoured to
have been fed to the crocodiles in the Shire
33

River. Apart from the Mikuyu, there was
also Dzaleka detention centre near Dowa
where people were given a chance to
reform (Short, 1974: 255). Journalism was
a dangerous profession in Malawi. It is no
surprise that the newspapers stuck to film
schedules, radio programmers and
crossword puzzles with short editorials and
international and local sports news
(Mapulanga, 2008:2).
on March 8, 1992 (Menhardt and Patel,

2003:9). The Lenten letter addressed the
deaths of various political leaders who had
been killed for opposing Dr. Banda and
called for the right to basic freedom for the
people of Malawi (Muluzi et al,
1999:137).
The letter marked a starting point in the
movement towards a democratic system of
government as it questioned Dr. Bandas
authority, a thing which no one had ever
dared to do before. The Catholic Church is
a nationwide organization, news of the
message soon spread across the country
leading to violent protests in Blantyre and
Lilongwe as people started to question the
authority of Dr. Banda. Various reforms
were implemented in Malawi after this.
The first of these was the introduction
of a free press on 20 August, 1992 after
twenty-eight years of muzzling, detention
and murder of journalists (Chimombo and
Chimombo, 1996:25). At the time there
were less than a handful of independently
owned newspapers in the country and
irregular
papers
(Chimombo
and
Chimombo, 1996:26).
After the announcement on free press,
more than twenty newspapers were
registered. These newspapers formed what
Berger (2001) has termed an opposition
press that called for regime change. These
newspapers also brought a breath of fresh
air to Malawian journalism. They included
content such as cartoons and satirical
columns, a thing that had been missing
during the Banda dictatorship era (RPC,
1994: 9).
The first democratic elections were held
on 17 May, 1994, with Bakili Muluzi of
the United Democratic Front (UDF) taking
over the reins of power from Dr. Banda
marking a peaceful transition to
democracy.
Dawn of Democracy and the Rise of the

Free Press
A wave of democratization is a group of
transitions from non-democratic to
democratic regimes that occur within a
specified period of time (Huntington,
1993:6). According to Huntington's
definition, there have been two waves of
democratization in some African countries
while other African countries have
experienced three.
The first wave of democratization in
Africa occurred when nationalists were
fighting for independence from colonial
rule (Hyden and Okigbo, 2002:31; Banda,
2007:74). In the 1990's, the second wave
of democracy swept many African
countries. This second wave was a reaction
to the betrayal that many African leaders
felt of the nationalists leaders who instead
of democratic rule had turned their
governments into authoritarian regimes
(Martin, 1998:71). The second wave was
due to the fall of communism with the fall
of the Berlin wall in Germany, the
disintegration of the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR) and the end of
the Cold War.
The church played a crucial role in the
transition to democracy in Malawi. The
pastoral letter of 1992, Living Our Faith
marked a turning point in the country
(Chimombo and Chimombo, 1996:25; van
Donge, 1995:230). The letter was read out
in all Catholic churches across the country
34

36 of the constitution states that the press
shall have the right to report and publish
freely, within Malawi and abroad, and to
be accorded the fullest possible facilities
for access to public information (Malawi
Constitution, 1994:4). Despite this
provision
in
the
constitution,
contradictions exist on press freedom.
Section 37 of the constitution provides for
parliament to determine what information
is accessible. Section 45(3) (a) permits the
right to freedom of expression to be
derogated from during a state of
emergency declared by the President of
Malawi (KAS, 2003:12).
Not all Acts in the new constitution
have been amended to reflect the new
democratic discourse that Malawi now
embraces. These Acts continue to limit
press freedom. Acts such as the Official
Secrets and Emblems Act 1913, which
protects official state secrets against
disclosure, the Printed Publications Act,
1947 which provides for the registration of
newspapers with the Government Archives
and the Censorship and Control of
Entertainments Act, 1968 which provides
for the pre-approval of content distributed
to the public, are still part of media
regulation. These acts contravene press
freedom through the clauses found in
them. The acts can also be abused as they
are not clearly defined and leave room for
interpretation according to the convenience
of those in authority.
It is hoped that with the internet
becoming widely accessible, more critical
stories can be published. This is because
the legal framework that exists does not
cater for on-line media and legal
provisions are yet to be drawn up that
cover aspects such as on-line publishing.
The internet is governed by the
Communications Act 1994 which simply
provides for the licensing and registration
Problems Faced By the Independent

Press
However the independent press in Malawi
still faced various problems. Problems of
harassment and detention of journalists
practiced under Dr. Banda continued under
Bakili Muluzi. New tactics were employed
to suppress the independent media in the
era of democratic dispensation. These
included the physical confiscation of
newspapers, assault and intimidation of
journalists. In August 2001, during the
SADC heads of summit in Blantyre, copies
of The Chronicle newspaper were
confiscated as they were deemed to have
negative articles about government (World
Press Review, 2001). In the same year
2001, The Chronicle newspaper failed to
appear because the printers, Design
Printers, refused to print the edition which
they deemed to be sensitive (Tettey,
2002:22).
Besides
the
physical
confiscation of publications, journalists
also had to live with the reality of violence
against them if it was felt their reports
were negative. The authorities let it be
known in no uncertain terms that selfcensorship was to be practiced or one had
to face the consequences. In 2002, when a
journalist from The Chronicle newspaper
was attacked by members of the youth arm
of the ruling United Democratic Front
(UDF), the Young Democrats, for an
article critical of Muluzi, the then
information minister, Clement Stambuli
went on national television and
encouraged journalists to ask themselves
why me should such incidents happen to
them (Englund, 2002:14). This was a clear
warning to journalists to be ready to face
the consequences of their actions.
Legal Constraints
Legal challenges still confront the press in
Malawi despite the new Constitution of
1994 that embraces press freedom. Section
35

for Internet Service Providers and
provision of internet services in Malawi.
is present in society. If we truly want to

achieve the golden millennium goals we
have to get the public on board. How so
you have a millennium village which you
give all the necessary equipment and
essentials then turn around and say yes
Malawi is achieving its millennium
development goals. This is a joke if you
dont mind my saying so. How about the
other areas in Malawi? Why not bring
development to them so they too can
achieve the so-called millennium goals.
We have people dying from HIV/ AIDS
when the disease can be arrested through
natural products such as neem even
malaria which is the biggest killer in
African can be treated with neem and
neem is good for the soil, but our
journalists are too busy trying to find out
who I slept with so they can expose me
apparently. In Zimbabwe when it came out
that the former president Canaan Banana
was gay and might have well raped his
workers there was hardly any reaction, in
such an instance he should have been
brought to justice because that was abuse.
The publics right

I believe the public has the right to critical
enlightening news. Maize distribution and
a politician meaning a statement at some
function is not news this is what they are
mandated to do. We should have the
ability to question what impact does some
minister or celebrities sleeping with
another woman have on development and
only if it affects development should the
story be relevant. A story that I found very
relevant and a cause for concern was the
high incidence of HIV/AIDS in the
Malawi army. Of course, they had a
different take of this and saw it as
undermining the might of the army thus
we had the newspaper in question being
bombed hard copies of the paper being
confiscated so people could not read the
story but such a story only goes to show
that more should be done in teaching army
personnel about safe sex and promiscuity.
Another example I have is Chris Brown
admitting he lost his virginity at the tender
age of 8 and is a beast in the bedroom
Several questions form in my mind how
can an 8-year-old boy have sex, it means
he was exposed to pornography and being
a beast which woman wants a beast? Thus
such tabloidization should not be
encouraged as it takes away from the
creation of public sphere.
On the other hand journalists want the
public to be ignorant so they can be gods
so that what they say goes, but we should
be able to question journalists and their
motives when they write scandalous
pieces.
From what I have observed when the
public understands what democracy is this
can only lead to development as the public
becomes the news sources and informs the
journalist in instances where malfeasance
Solutions using media literacy

I propose together with civil society we
ensure that we engage in media literacy
with the general population, they should
know what it is news and what is
tabloidization.
There
are
various
definitions of media literacy, some see it as
educating schoolchildren on how to use the
media, to be able to read subliminal
messages as a corrective measure towards
violence (Nathanson, 2004). Others
according to James Potter (2010:675696)
give a more detailed interpretation through
a survey of different scholars and states.
Adams and Hamm (2001:33) say that
media literacy may be thought of as the
ability to create personal meaning from the
visual and verbal symbols we take in
everyday from television, advertising,
36

film, and digital media. It is more than
inviting students to simply decode
information. They must be critical thinkers
who can understand and produce in the
media culture swirling around them.
Anderson (1981:22) says media literacy
is the skilful collection, interpretation,
testing and application of information
regardless of medium or presentation for
some purposeful action.
Barton and Hamilton (1998) [cited in
Mackey, 2002:56] define literacy as
primarily something people do; it is an
activity, located in the space between
thought and text. Literacy does not just
reside in peoples heads as a set of skills to
be learned, and it does not just reside on
paper, captured as texts to be analysed.
Like all human activity, literacy is
essentially social, and it is located in the
interaction between people.
Hobbs (2001:7) says Literacy is the
ability to access, analyze, evaluate and
communicate messages in a variety of
forms. Hobbs says this definition suggests
the following characteristics: inquiry based
education,
student-centered
learning,
problem solving in cooperative teams,
alternatives to standardized testing, and
integrated curriculum.
Sholle and Denski (1995:17) argue that
media literacy should be conceptualized
within a critical pedagogy and thus it
must be conceived as a political, social and
cultural practice.
Siverblatt and Eliceiri (1997:48) in their
Dictionary of Media Literacy define media
literacy as, a critical-thinking skill that
enables audiences to decipher the
information that they receive through the
channels of mass communications and
empowers them to develop independent
judgments about media content.
From the above definitions it can be
seen that there is a connection between
media literacy and the public in terms of
democracy. Whereas most of the above

authors are concerned about school
children this paper addresses the general
publics right to be able to analyse,
evaluate and communicate messages in a
variety of forms so they can thus be
empowered. It is giving the public the
tools to define the kind of political
environment they wish to live in and the
progress they hope for their countries.
Development can only come from
working with the community as they will
be able to inform the media in instances
where members of parliament are not
doing their jobs. This is the only way in
which we can hold these public
Servants accountable to us and they
after all are paid to bring development to
our areas. We can call upon projects such
as CIMA, the African initiate and IJENT,
UNESCO who are promoters of
journalism and would be willing to engage
with local communities on development of
media literacy with proper proposals and
stipulated outcomes. The BBC also has its
own initiative that engages in development
for media. So we have to take the first step
in bringing media literacy to the masses.
With media literacy bills such as access to
information will be easier to be passed and
we shall present a united front in asking
for information we heel affects our country
and its development.
Salute
Media literacy has been shown to work in
matters of gender more especially in South
Africa where women have pressed for
better representation of women. How will
it be done, though education programmes
on public service broadcasters and the
mass media vehicles that are used to
inform the public about political meeting
should be used to inform people and
educate people about media teach them
37

what it is supposed to consist of and their
right to it.
I love the kotla concept in Botswana for
it illustrates what a public sphere is and
more countries should be encouraged to
adopt kotlas for the improvement of
democracy.
In Africa we use folktales to tell stories
and the medium of drama is used to
communicate messages. We should take
advantage of this and take the message to
communities and also road shows. You
might say where the money is going to
come from- from our taxes which are used
for presidential motorcades of 14 cars. So
it is about time that the massed became
part of the public sphere for the
development of our countries.
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About the author

Penelope Kakhobwe is the former Executive Director of Media Council of Malawi and has
worked in the print and radio industry in Malawi with organisations such as FM 101, Malawi
Broadcasting Corporation and Nation publications. She has also been a lecturer with the
Malawi Institute of Journalism. She holds a Masters degree in Journalism and Media Studies
from Rhodes University, South Africa, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Media Management
from the same institution, her first degree is in journalism from the Polytechnic under
University of Malawi (UNIMA). Her main areas of interest include democracy and press
freedom. She teaches in the Media Studies Department, University of Botswana. Email
chikombe@yahooo.com or Penelope.kakahobwe@mopipi.ub.bw
Suggested citation
Kakhobwe, P. (2014) The Juxtaposition Between Media Literacy and Democracy. In
Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers. Gaborone, Department of Media
Studies, University of Botswana.
40
Capturing the elusive art:

The making of a dance film
Case study: The Wandering Souls of Mendi
Tiny Constance Thagame
Abstract
The task of filming dance successfully is incredibly difficult to achieve since dance is an
ephemeral art, therefore it eludes documentation. Choreographers always imagine the dance
moves in their heads before realising the moves on stage. Collaboration with a filmmaker
presents an opportunity to create a new art form which can be wholly independent of the
original. Using my film The Wandering Souls of Mendi as a case study, this paper explores
some of the technical and philosophical aspects of documenting dance. The study examines
the relationship between the choreographer and the filmmaker and how they can work
together to produce a successful dance film. At the center of the collaborative relationship is
the camera. The camera serves as a very important tool in the making of a dance film.
Key words: dance, camera, film, choreography, Mendi
used dance to enhance and sometimes tell

the story in film. The more I learned about
film and dance the more I discovered how
different yet similar they are.
Using my film The Wandering Souls of
Mendi as a case study, I wish to investigate
these differences and similarities further,
and explore some of the technical and
philosohical aspects of documenting
dance. This study has led me to explore the
relationship between the choreographer
and the filmmaker, how they can work
together to produce a successful dance
film. At the center of the collaborative
relationship is the camera. The camera
serves as a very important tool in the
making of a dance film. Investigating the
idea of a camera as an interface between
the two art forms has led to further
Introduction
The task of filming dance successfully is
incredibly difficult to achieve since dance
is an ephemeral art, therefore it eludes
documentation. Choreographers always
imagine the dance moves in their heads
before realising the moves on stage.
Collaboration with a filmmaker presents
an opportunity to create a new art form
which can be wholly independent of the
original. Born to a choreographer, I was
introduced to the art of dance at an early
age. I came to love and appreciate the
beauty of a live dance performance. The
introduction of film technology introduced
me to the art of dance on screen. Films,
like Birth of a Nation (1915), Save the last
dance, (2001) Chicago, (2002), Ipi
Ntombi, (1998), Sarafina, (1992), etc.,
41

examination of the relationship between
dance and film technology. In this paper
the title of my film is italicized while the
dance piece of the same title is underlined.
The theoretical approach will reflect on
the works of scholars and artists that have
preceded me in this research. Maya Deren,
Mathew Diamond, Kariamu Welsh-Asante
are some of the dance scholars and
filmmakers that have experimented with
the cinematic space. Prompted by Asantes
philosophies about African dance in
general, I have paid close attention to the
inherent spirit present in dance across the
African continent. This study has further
led me to address my personal fears of
technology - how it can overshadow the
power of live art and take precedence over
the artists creativity.
film is not only entertaining for the viewer

but educational too.
The story underlying The Wandering
Souls of Mendi
My film is a documentary about the
making of an original contemporary
African dance, The Wondering Souls of
Mendi, choreographed by Maxwell Rani
and performed at the Baxter Theatre from
28-31 September 2004, based on an
historical incident, the sinking of the ship
SS Mendi (1917). The evidence for the
incident is derived from oral history as
well as published and unpublished
material. The SS Mendi sank in the early
morning hours of February 21, 1917
approximately 18 kilometers off St
Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight, in
the English Channel. It was hit by another
ship, SS Daro, and the former sank within
25 minutes (Swinney 1995: 1). This tragic
event claimed the lives of over 600 black
South African conscripted men, mainly
previously civilians, who were being
shipped off to France to help Britain in her
war with Germany. The enlisted men were
to be used as trench diggers, stretcher
carriers and labourers on the front lines of
the British forces. They were not to be
allowed to carry guns for fear of a revolt or
mutiny (Barnett: undated online article).
The number of people who lost their lives
varies slightly according to different
sources. Swinney reports that the SS
Mendi was carrying an estimated number
of 823 men and that, of the 647 people that
lost their lives, 616 were of African
descent (1995: 1). Graeme Hosken, in the
Pretoria News, claims that a total of 615
soldiers perished. (15 March 2004). Ian
Ransome, in his undated article, This Day
in History: 21 February 1917 brought the
number down by reporting that a total of
607 Black South African soldiers and nine
of their fellow countrymen, drowned in the
disaster (Ransome undated online article).
It is reported that as the SS Mendi
started to sink the men, gripped by fear
and faced with death, started to sing and
The choice of genre

Each film genre commands a different
approach to the way the story is delivered,
be it drama, documentary, science fiction
etc. I chose a documentary approach since
I am concerned with the documentation of
dance and the steps leading to the making
and the completion of a dance film. I was
also intrigued by the striking similarities
between dance and film - they are both
visual arts driven by action and movement.
The documentary genre differs from other
genres in the sense that it is more
concerned with presenting the story
informatively and as close to reality as
possible. Reality here refers to the
actualization of the event. The greatest
advantage of documentary filmmaking is
the fact that documentaries are an efficient
way of learning about other art forms or
subjects. Diamond describes documentary
as the weaving of recorded events to tell a
story that reflects reality (Mitoma 2003:
198). By inter-cutting between the
interviews with the choreographer, the
archival material, pre-recorded footage of
the sea, the dance rehearsals and the live
dance performance, I was able to add a
documentary look and feel to the film. The
42

perform a traditional death dance on the
tilting deck. The survivors lived to tell the
story (Barnett: undated online article).
According to African belief, when people
die they have to be accorded proper burial.
Some rituals have to be carried out to
ensure that the souls of the dead rest in
peace. The African labourers who perished
at sea with SS Mendi did not receive any
burial; therefore their souls might never
have got to rest. As the title of the dance
suggests, they may still be wandering.
The death dance, or the barefoot dance,
that is talked about in the SS Mendi story
has become a subject of debate. There are
some historians who doubt that the death
dance occurred. Grundlingh (1987)
believes that it was just an oral tradition
that circulated during the Second World
War, and then more recently to raise black
political consciousness in South Africa
(cited in Swinney 1995: 2). In my view
Grundlingh does not understand the
aesthetic power and importance of oral
tradition in African culture. The
contestation I am pursuing here is based on
my knowledge as an African that the
African people largely depend on word of
mouth to carry their stories and traditions
on from generation to generation. These
stories are sometimes translated into dance
as most recently is the case with The
Wandering Souls of Mendi. The story
about the death dance is incorporated into
the choreography of the dance.
have taken up residence and acquired a

new status, that of the living dead. By
stomping hard on the ground with their
feet, the living are able to awaken the
spirits and invite them to the stage. The
rhythmic movements of the dancers are
further emphasized and guided by the
sound of the drum. In an interview K.
Osiris Wade, a West African dance
instructor at Texas Womans University,
suggests that the drum plays an important
part in this spiritual link: When the organs
move, you feel tired. Once the drums start,
it hurts to hold in and not move with them.
African dance gives you the ability to do
that. You are so connected with your
ancestors, with the idea of being with the
earth, the sky. Its not a foreign idea to
believe there is a higher power guiding
your movement. (Wade, as cited in an
undated Bright Online Magazine)
When filming an African dance piece, it
is important as a filmmaker to understand
the aesthetics of the African dance and
culture. After intensive research in African
dance, Kariamu Welsh-Asante came up
with seven aesthetic aspects of African
dance:
polyrhythm,
polycentrism,
curvilinear,
dimensional,
memory,
repetition, and holism. (Asante 1990: 74).
Polyrhythm
Movement and rhythm in the African
dance cannot be separated (1990: 74). This
is the case in Ranis piece as almost all of
the dancers body is involved in the dance.
Movements of the feet, the hands, the
head, the shoulders, the fingers etc.
combine in a rhythmic percussion,
synchronized with the accompanying
music.
The Challenge of Filming Dance

The aesthetics of African dance
Dance for the African people may have a
spiritual dimension and be used by the
living to make a spiritual connection with
the living dead. Human life is part of the
rhythm of nature and just like days,
months, seasons, and years have no end,
there is no end to the rhythm of birth,
puberty, initiation, marriage and entry into
the community of the living dead (Nobles
1972: 301). The peoples of Africa believe
that there is another world underneath the
earth where the forefathers and mothers
Polycentrism
Polycentrism, allows for both slow and
fast movements to happen within the same
frame (1990:74). Rani incorporates a
combination of movements into his
choreography. Some consist of fast
undulating hip movement accompanied by
rather slow foot and arm movements,
43

merging together in tempo with the music
to become one dance, one song and one
rhythm. This multiple presence of motion,
music, colour and texture happening at the
same time contributes a great deal to the
overall enthusiasm of the performance.
is memory more than re-enactment that

helps the viewer to experience the story
(Ibid: 80). His audiences, having been an
intimate part of the performance, also have
the opportunity to interpret the dance
movements and draw on rhythms from this
experience
to
create
their
own
performances.
Curvilinear movement
Curvilinear movement is concerned with
structure, pattern and form (Ibid: 75).
Ranis choreography consists of small
groupings of dancers forming circular
patterns and shapes on stage. At times the
dancers body movements swing in
circular articulated motions. The circle in
the African culture is a symbol of unity
and power. It is not to be broken (Richards
1994: 64).
Repetition
This is the intensification of one
movement, one sequence, or entire dance
by repeating it (Ibid: 79). This is another
unifying aspect of African dance.
Repetition, to my mind, contributes a great
deal to the rhythm of the dance. Rani
incorporates the call and response notion
that results in a lot of movements being
repeated. It emerges as rhythmic dialogue
between the dancers. When a dancer on
stage makes a gesture, the other dancers
imitate the gesture, at times one group of
dancers leading in the imitation process.
This interactive movement conversation
intensifies as the dance accelerates towards
the end, psychologically integrating the
audience within the performance and
moving with it to a level of ecstasy.
Dimensionality
Asante asserts that texture is an important
aspect of depth in African culture. This
texture, she argues, is provoked by the
supernatural presence of oral tradition in
space. She believes that this presence
beyond the visual presence (Asante 1990:
77) adds an extra contraction to African
dance. As aforementioned, oral tradition
forms part of The Wandering Souls Of
Mendi. The story about the death dance as
oral history has contributed a great deal to
the creation of the piece. Throughout the
rehearsal process Rani told the story
repeatedly to the dancers.
Holistic movement
Parts of a creation are not emphasized or
accentuated beyond the whole, neither is
the individual (Ibid: 80). During the
rehearsals, Rani emphasized the point that
there would be no lead dancer in the piece.
He reminded the dancers that this is a
group effort to tell the story of unity. He
was echoing John Mbitis (1970) words
when he explained that the philosophical
thinking of African people does not place
emphasis on the individual. Existence in
the African tradition is a collective effort.
I am because we are, and because we are,
therefore I am (Nobles 1972: 303). The
holistic aspect sums up all the seven
aesthetics. In The Wandering Souls of
Mendi, the individual dancers formed a
part of one body, their movements
synthesized into harmony to tell the story
of solidarity.
Memory
Perfection cannot be achieved unless it is
drawn from experience or memory. (Ibid:
79). From the beginning Rani asserted that
he would present the story in an abstract
manner,
creating
an
impressionist
representation of the story. The
choreographic
movements
of
The
Wandering Souls of Mendi were
influenced by other movements from other
performances that Rani had watched and,
drawing upon those experiences, he was
able to unearth the emotions without
limiting himself or the audience. His
choice concurs with Asantes point that it
44

Of all the seven aesthetic aspects of
African dance, dimensionality interests me
the most because it addresses the aspect of
depth differently from the way it is talked
about in cinematic terms. Depth in film has
to do with distance between the characters
in the frame. It is defined as the distance
in front of and behind the subject which
appears to be in focus (Cook 1981: 465).
Depth as understood by Asante in African
dance is more of a spiritual notion. It
transcends the visual presence; therefore it
cannot be seen nor measured (Asante
1990: 78). This is something to take into
consideration when making an African
dance film, because it will influence the
outcome of the project.
immediate, it is physical and it requires the

performer to perform for a real live
audience, in real live time, in a real place.
While I am aware of the differences
between the two mediums, I am also
intrigued by the fact that both film and
dance are visual mediums that are
concerned with action and movement in
space; thus opening up a possibility for a
meeting point between the two art forms.
Film technology can serve as an extension
of the dancer and the dance itself. In
dancethe notion of literally freezing
anything or anyone in time is illusionary,
limited to a momentary choreographic
maneuver (Gay 1996: 121). The cameras
ability to zoom in and out, slow down or
freeze a movement and alienate body parts
presents a wide range of techniques to
enhance the performance of the dancer.
Like the two art forms in question,
choreographers and film directors come
from two different worlds. Matthew
Diamond is a dance filmmaker who started
off as a dancer and a choreographer. He
understands firsthand the art of making a
dance film. In his essay Watching Dance
with a Remote in Your Hand he reminds us
that [a]n underlying knowledge of the
tools that choreographers use is a critical
entry way for the director of a dance film
(Mitoma 2003: 194). Unlike film directors,
choreographers seldom use a tangible
script, there is little or no storyboarding,
they primarily depend upon a mental
scenario. In the world of dance, the
choreographer has the final say about how
the story shall be told. the
choreographer becomes a critic, educating
spectators in ways to look at the dance,
challenging the expectations the audience
brings to the performance, framing parts of
the dance for closer inspection
(Schechner 2002: 141). In an interview
Rani discussed the duties of a
choreographer. He said these include the
responsibility to map out a shape for the
dance that will effectively tell the story. He
then creates movements for the dancers
while deciding on the music for the dance
Collaboration
As aforementioned this paper examines
possible relationships between dance and
film. This relationship may only be
achieved through the process of
collaboration. The filmmaker and the
choreographer have to share ideas and
resources to achieve their common goal,
i.e. the making of a dance film.
Examined as aesthetic media, film uses
manipulation of space and time to create
an illusion of movement. Cited in
Sambucci, Maya Deren, in a letter she
wrote to James Card, says the dynamic of
movement in film is stronger than
anything else... I mean that movement, or
energy is more important or powerful than
space... The movement of the dancer
creates geography, in the film, that never
was. With a turn of the foot, he makes
neighbours of distant places (1999: 3).
Deren was justifying the choices she made
whereby a dancer in her film A Study in
Choreography for Camera (1945) moves
through different geographical spaces
without ever interfering with the flow of
movement. Thus creating an illusion of
space and passage of time.
Unlike film, dance is primarily a nonverbal art in which ideas are
communicated through the movement of
bodies in space in real time. It is
45

piece. He has to plan a rehearsal schedule
and he is also responsible for the
alignment of dancers on stage (Interview
with the writer, 4 November 2004).
Like choreographers, film directors
have the final say on the end product.
After reading the script, they need a
storyboard to plan their shots. Roy
MacGregor describes the storyboard as a
visual interpretation of the script
(Interview with the writer 6 October
2004). It gives the director and the
production team an idea of how the film
will look and it enables them to foresee
and solve the problems that might arise.
The film director, according to Cook, is
the principal creative artist who defines
the overall artistic vision of the film and
sets the tone by his selection of music and
colour. His duties include casting, script
editing, rehearsal with the actors,
storyboarding, shot composition, shot
selection etc. (MacGregor 2004).
As the above evidence suggests, film
directors are used to being in control of the
movie set. They have the overall artistic
control of the set, they can yell cut! at
any time (MacGregor 2004). However,
when working on a dance film set, it is
crucial that a film director learns to share
the control. Placing himself at the top of
the hierarchy would kill the essence of
collaboration. The original ideas of the
choreographer would more than likely be
compromised, the dance would be stripped
of its identity and the ownership of the art
form would turn over to the film director.
Therefore, for a collaboration to be
successful, film directors have to
familiarise themselves with the art of
choreography and treat it with utmost
respect. Larry Billman, President and
Founder of The Academy of Dance on
Film Academy, believes that:
Choreography and dance direction
are very special arts. You either have
the desire and ability to do it, or you do
not. These creators combine their
knowledge of dance, their personal
background and style of movement, and
their awareness of the camera and what

it can do Many people sit down and
place words on the blank sheet before
them to create a screenplay, but not
many can make that blank sheet dance,
causing audiences to react with emotion
and admiration (Billman 1997: 7).
The making of a dance film calls for a
collaborative process that involves
multiple creators. The list of creators
includes the filmmaker, the choreographer,
the dancers and the technical crew
(including
videographers,
lighting
designers and other technical assistants).
Communication and discernment of intent
is crucial between all parties involved in
the making of the film. It is important from
the beginning to understand that what is
being made is a dance film, therefore
dance must be the core or the central
emphasis of the project. The filmmaker is
only there to cinematically capture the
choreographers intent.
With the above concerns and
observations in mind, I established a
relationship with Rani before I introduced
the camera into the collaborative process. I
learned that his intent is to raise awareness
about the Mendi disaster and acknowledge
the presence of the wandering souls. In
order for me to understand Ranis
choreographic vocabulary, I had to attend
the rehearsals, familiarise myself the
dance, the dancers and watch Rani at
work, trying to understand his motivations
for the way he wants to tell the story. I
asked him questions about the vocabulary
and movements that I didnt understand
and the placement of the dancers on stage.
I noticed that to build and nurture the
dancers in the piece, one of the tools that
Rani relied on is the story inspiring the
dance. He would tell the underlying story
of the dance repeatedly to invoke emotion.
He kept urging the dancers to find
moments in the performance that would
lead them to a certain emotional state. The
dancers emotional state would then be
translated into body movement while the
46

face remained expressionless. This posed a
challenge for me as a filmmaker because,
in the film world, the message is most
discernible on the face. Conscious and
unconscious facial expressions provide
valuable information about the characters
emotional state. The eyes are considered to
be a window to the soul, in a sense that
through the eyes the audience is invited
into the innermost world of a character. In
dance, a character gives the audience a
grand tour of his/her emotional world
through expressive body movement.
I have tried to record some of the
crucial elements that lead to a better
understanding and a refined ability to
reproduce the story cinematically without
destroying its integrity. My regular
attendance was not just to my advantage it was also vital for the dancers to get used
to the presence of camera in their space.
Even though, there was open
communication
between
me,
the
filmmaker, and Rani, there were some
problems that hindered the collaboration
process. The choreographer was not keen
to learn about film technology and how it
works, its possibilities and limitations. It is
crucial that both the choreographer and the
filmmaker understand the technicalities of
each others art form, so that they may
have realistic expectations for the outcome
of the project. Access to the rest of the
production team, i.e. lighting designers, set
designers, sound engineers etc was
restricted, and therefore I could not review
the
technical
limitations
of
the
performance venue in advance. The
rehearsal space was not always available
due to an increased demand for space at
the school of dance. The choreographer
had set up spontaneous rehearsals
whenever he got a chance. I missed most
of these rehearsals because I couldnt get
there on time. Time was another factor that
affected our collaboration process. The
choreographer had only six weeks to
produce his piece, rehearsing only twice,
sometimes once a week, and the pressure
was on him to move fast. This was very
challenging for me because as the

filmmaker I had to keep up with the pace
and at the same time pay close attention to
detail.
The camera
The camera presents a challenge. It has
clear limits, but it also gives opportunities
for working with dance that are not
available on the stage. The camera takes a
fixed view, and yet it can be moved. There
is the possibility of cutting to a second
camera which can change the size of the
dancer, which, to my eye, also affects the
time, the rhythm of the movement. It also
can show dance in a way not possible on
the stage: that is, the use of detail, which in
the broader context of theatre, does not
appear (Mitoma 2003: 36).
The camera is the key element in
bridging the gap between dance and film.
It is an extension of both body and vision.
It has the ability to move in any direction
at any given point, thus opening up an
opportunity for the audience to view the
performance from multiple points of view.
In a sense the camera sets the tone for the
relationship between the choreographer
and the film director; who is in turn
responsible for presenting the final product
to the audience. Depending on how it is
used, it can either make or break the
relationship. In essence camera work
forms the basis and decides the final
outcome of a dance film. No amount of
editing can make up for some bad camera
work. Shooting dance is not so much hard
as it is insanely delicate, wrong angle,
wrong shot, wrong edit, and the whole
thing falls apart (Mitoma 2003: 198).
Careful decisions on how to make the film
logical and interesting for the audience
have to be made. Whatever the choices,
they must serve both the film and
choreography well.
Some of the strong factors influencing
the directors decisions are the underlying
story, the genre of the dance and film,
camera placement, the number of cameras
47

to use, shot selections, shot angles,
lighting, sound etc.
placed at eye level in the middle of the

auditorium to capture any action on centre
stage, also zoomed and moved a great
deal, motivated by the action on stage.
The number of cameras to use

During the rehearsals I used one camera
and it was almost impossible to capture the
dancing bodies without compromising the
integrity
of
their
movements.
Documenting dance with a single video
camera is time consuming and very
limiting. To start with, the rehearsal studio
is small, therefore it is impossible to use a
wide shot in which all the dancers will be
in the frame. I was therefore left with no
choice but to film different sections of the
dance at different times. On the other
hand, using more than one camera offered
the option of capturing the performance in
detail from multiple camera angles,
without compromising the myriad
components of the action taking place on
stage. With three cameras I achieved a
variety of camera angles that provided me
with multiple points of view.
Shot selection
When making a dance film there is a
variety of shots to choose from:
Long shot
Using this shot as a master shot, the
camera remains static. It stays focused on
the stage, recording shapes, lines, character
placement, movement and everything that
happens on the stage. This choice may
serve choreography well by capturing the
interesting floor patterns formed by the
dancers. However, despite the clarity of
patterns and forms on stage, it fails to
capture subtle body movements. That can
only be achieved through the employment
of close-up shots.
Medium long shot
This shot provides plenty of room for
action in the frame, presenting an
opportunity to fit every dancer in the
picture at all times. The camera can focus
and zoom in on solo or group acts. Ranis
piece is mostly made up of small
groupings of dancers on stage; this is one
of the elements that influenced the
decision to employ this kind of shot.
Camera placement
Camera placement can have a significant
impact on the composition of the shot as
each angle has a different effect on the
final outcome. In lower angle shots,
characters appear larger than life, whilst on
the other hand a very high angle shot, like
a birds eye view, would make the
characters look small and almost
insignificant. I placed three cameras on
three different parts and levels of the
auditorium, each with a slightly different
angle. One camera was placed in the
balcony, facing down on the stage. From
this angle the patterns on stage were more
discernible as the camera kept the entire
stage in frame at all times, capturing the
action occurring at different distances on
stage in the foreground, middleground and
background. The second camera was
placed on the left hand side of the
auditorium, at eye level, and concentrated
mainly on the action happening on stage
right. This is from the point of the view of
the audience. The third, hand held camera,
Close up shots
Throughout the rehearsal process, Rani
constantly reminded the dancers that this
piece is all about unity, there is no lone
dancer. There is a notion that some African
cultures have about dancing. They believe
that when the art of dance was created it
was done in a communal sense for the
community by the members of the
community as one body, one voice, and
one soul. It is collective and binding.
Through the usage of close up shots of the
dancers body parts, I am able to create a
sense of oneness. A close up shot of one
dancers leg movement is being completed
by another dancers arm movement,
48

forming one body that is a part of many
bodies. This whole notion brings to mind
the thought of being a part of a whole. As
Asante pointed out, holism is embedded in
African dance (1990: 80). It is all about
spiritual collectiveness in African dance.
By cinematically joining together different
body parts of different dancers, I hoped to
evoke this collective spirituality.
reiterates the principle that dances is

fundamentally kinaesthetic. To capture
that kinaesthetic energy on film it was
helpful to have a moving camera. Camera
movement comes in a variety of styles.
Karina
Wilson
in
her
website,
mediaknowall.com, emphasizes that not
only must the style of movement be
chosen, but the method of actually moving
the camera must be selected too (Wilson
2004). She further identifies the basic
methods of camera movement as panning,
tilting, crane shots, zooming, dolly and
handheld.
Lighting
Lighting up dark-skinned people has
always been problematic as their skin tone
contrasts with the light itself. Faces
become almost invisible against strongly
lit or white backgrounds. Light skin tones
appear
burned out
against
dark
backgrounds. Filming performers with
varying skin tones at the same time is an
added
challenge.
Therefore
prior
arrangements and planning with the
lighting designer is important and should
be taken into consideration. I was not able
to meet with the lighting designer in
advance. The fact that the lighting in the
film was not greatly affected is just a
happy accident that I managed to get
away with.
Panning is a horizontal movement of

the camera through space. It is normally
shot from, but not limited to, a camera that
is mounted upon a tripod. Tilting is the
opposite of a pan whereby the camera
moves vertically. A crane refers to a high
angle shot from a camera mounted up on a
crane. Hanging on a crane, the camera can
be moved and swung in different
directions. Sometimes a shot is achieved
by placing a camera in a moving vehicle
and moving it alongside the action and we
refer to this as a dolly. Likewise, in a
tracking shot, the camera moves and
follows the subject around in any
directions. With the zooming technique the
action is pulled closer to the audience or
pushed further away. The handheld shot,
as the name suggests, allows the operator
to hold the camera and move around more
freely (Wilson 2004).
With the exception of the dolly, the
tracking shot, and the crane, I used all of
the above techniques to capture the
movement on stage. The incorporation of
the handheld camera proved to be the most
useful as it provided the opportunity to
move with the action and capture the
dynamic rhythm of the dance. It further
gave a sense of intimacy and immediacy to
the action.
Movement
Busby Berkeley one of Hollywoods early
film directors and choreographers who
seldom moved the camera when filming
dance. He was more concerned with the
patterns formed on stage. In 1932 he
invented a top shot technique, which, like
the name suggests, meant that it was shot
from above. Fred Astaire, a dancer and
choreographer in his own on right, on the
other hand declared that either the camera
will dance or I will (quoted in Mitoma
2003: 221). Evan E. Siebens asserts that
the difference between these two
viewpoints sums up one of the challenges
facing a dance filmmaker: whether and
when to move the camera (Ibid: 221).
Margaret Williamss point that a dance
film is primarily concerned with
movement. In silent films movement and
gesture were the driving force (2003: 214)
The Deconstruction and Reconstruction

of Dance on Film
49

Creating a new dance
The Wandering Souls of Mendi revolves
around the theme of life after death;
therefore it touches on spiritual aspects of
African culture and dance. As a filmmaker
I was faced with the task of finding a way
cinematically to enhance these spiritual
and aesthetic elements of the dance
without destroying its integrity or despiritualising it.
I can create the illusion of spirituality
by superimposing images on each other
during the editing process, however, as
Asante suggests, capturing African dance
wholly in film is impossible.(1990: 78) I
believe that this is true for the art of dance
in general. Birringer argues that dance
moves through media and moves media of
representationit cannot be fixed, saved,
or recovered. (1998:29) As camera
records movement on stage, transferring it
to the screen, some parts of the act are
framed out and slowed down and, as it
moves through space, it creates a dance of
its own that looks like the dance on stage,
but it is not exactly that dance. Birringer
further argues that:
Movement is extra linguistic and cannot
be repeated or reconstructed One
could even say that the repetition of
movement (in its replay in film,) is
never the same movement because the
momentarily
present
movement
vanishes the moment it is enacted and
perceived it can be recorded, yet, it
cannot be recorded and played back as
the same, for already in the present, in
the presence of the act of moving, the
movement cannot be repeated. The
recording creates another movement.
(Birringer 1998: 29)
for the sake of the (re/de)construction of

dance (Interview with writer 11 November
2003). By the time the dance piece reaches
the screen, the original dance has been
dissected, filtered through cinematic
chemicals and re-presented as a new
independent art piece with an identity of
its own. Maya Deren, as cited by
Francesca Sambucci, in her essay, The
Real and the Unreal, refers to art as a
process, a way to give a form to the
shapeless, undetermined things. In this
process it is up to the artists to create, by
their means, an independent form differing
from objective reality. That involves a new
reality producing a different experience
(Sambucci 1999: 1).
Collision course with technology
After these observations, I am left
pondering how dance can be preserved
technologically without the risk of the
technology taking precedence over the
artists creativity. The more we move
towards a technology, the more, I fear, the
imperfectability of the live dancer in
performance will be obscured or fused into
a manipulated, technological construction.
In a lecture to my class The body in the
age of mechanical reproduction (March
2004) James Sey foreshadows my fears
about technology. He illustrates the
modern scientific premise of techno
genesis creating life through technology
and the controlling of natural forces
through experimental knowledge (Sey,
March 2004). In this experimental process,
the body is placed into technological
systems, appropriated and controlled by
the people. This is seen in various video
games and screensavers where dancing
bodies are controlled by pre-programmed
responses to electronic stimuli.
All technology is by definition
prosthetic, but the continuing perfectibility
of human culture is narrowing the gap
between man and machine, eradicating
time and space as it does so. The Internet
erases the trace of technology itself,
arriving at an instantaneous present.
It is my contention that in the act of

transferring any form of art from one mode
to another, somewhere in that process a
new form of art that can stand on its own
is created. I refer to this process as the
deconstruction of dance. Professor
Raphael Miller of Georgia State University
states that he danced in front of the camera
50

However, the art of cinematography offers
a reality that is free of all equipment.
Unable to see the camera, we are shown an
artwork that tells nothing of its origin,
erasing the trace of itself in its
representation, it appears as reality itself.
Body and experience are brought together
and consumed by technology.
Richards, M. D. (1994) Let the Circle

be Unbroken: The Implications of African
Spirituality in the Diaspora. Trenton, New
Jersey: The Red Sea Press
Satin, L. (1996) Being danced again
In: Morris, G. ed. Moving Words: ReWriting Dance. London: Routledge
Schechner, R. (2002) Performance
Studies: An Introduction. London:
Routledge
Siebens, E.E. (2003). Dancing With
the Camera: The Dance Cinematographer
In: Mitoma, J. ed. Envisioning dance on
film and video. 2003. London: Routledge
Swinney, G. (1995) The sinking of The
SS Mendi, 21 February 1917. Military
History Journal 10 (1).
Williams, M. (2003) Making Dance
Films With Victoria Marks. In: Mitoma, J.
ed. Envisioning dance on film and video.
London: Routledge.
Conclusion
In an interview Dr Shirlene Holmes asserts
that technology is here to stay, and if the
artists do not accept technology then they
are missing something. But if they worship
technology and put technology before the
living art, I think we are going to have
problems in the future. I think it makes art
soulless, we lose the live story, we lose the
connection, and we lose humanness
(Interview with the writer, 11 November
2004).
At the end of this study I am left with
more questions than answers. I want to
support the use of technology in dance, but
on the other hand I am left wandering if
the use of film technology is, indeed, to
preserve a live performance or to negate it.
Online references
Barnett, P. (2004) Typical British
Government White Wash. Available from
http://www.nesa.org.uk/html/sinking_of_t
he_ss_mendi__1917_.htm
Accessed
27/10/2004
Hosken, G. (2004) Homage to Mendi
disaster men Pretoria News, an online
edition.
Available
from
http://www.pretorianews.co.za/index.php?f
SectionId=665&fArticleId=373777
Accessed: 27/10/2004.
Ransome, I. (n.d.)This Day in History:
21
February
1917
Available:
http://thisdayinhistory.octoplus.co.za/users
elect.php?Month=February&day=21&Sub
mit=GO# Accessed 27/10/ 2004.
Sambucci, F. (2004) The Real and the
Unreal
available
http://www.algonet.se/~mjsull/real.html
Accessed 27/10/2004.
Wade,
Osiris
(Last
up
date:
unavailable) Channelling Unity Through
Dance
Available
from
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/journ
alism/magazine/bright/current/muntu.html
Accessed: 4/11/2004.
References
Billman,
L.
(1997)
Film
Choreographers and Dance Directors.
North Carolina: McFarland.
Birringer, J. (1998) Media and
Performance:
Along
the
Border.
Baltimore: Johns
Cook, D.A. (1981) A History of
Narrative Film. New York: Norton
Cunningham, M). (1995. In Envisioning
dance on film and video. 2003. Mitoma,
Judy. ed. London: Routledge
Diamond, M. (2003) Watching Dance
With a Remote Control in Your Hand. In:
Mitoma, J. ed. Envisioning dance on film
and video. London: Routledge
Morris, G. (1996) Moving Words: ReWriting Dance. London: Routledge
Nobles, W. (1972) African philosophy:
Foundations for Black Psychology. In:
Jones, R.H.(ed) Black Psychology. New
York: Harper & Row.
51

The Wandering Souls of Mendi in
Showing Off 70 Years On!. 28-30 October
2004. Produced by Elizabeth Triegaardt.
Choreographed and directed by Maxwell
Rani. Cape Town: Baxter Theatre,
University of Cape Town.
Wilson, K. ( 2004) Camera Movement

Available
http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.
html Accessed 4/11/2004.
Films and Video
A Study in Choreography for the
Camera.1945. (Film). Directed by Maya
Deren USA: Mystic Fire.
Birth of a Nation. 1915. (Film).
Directed by DW Griffith. USA: image
entertainment.
Chicago. 2002. (Film). Directed by Rob
Marshall.USA: Miramax.
Ipi ntombi; An African dance
celebration. 1998. (Video) Diercted by
Egnos, Bertha. South Africa. Pbs Home
Video.
Sarafina.1992. (Film). Directed by
Darrell Roodt South Africa: Walt Disney
Save the last dance. 2001. (Film).
Directed by Thomas Carter. USA
Paramount Pictures
Interviews with the author

Holmes Shirlene. 11 November 2003.
Georgia State University (Atlanta Georgia
USA )
MacGregor Roy. 6 October 2004.
Institute of Film and New Media
Miller Raphael. 11 November 2004.
Georgia State University (Atlanta Georgia
USA).
Rani,
Maxwell.
4
November
2004.Rondebosch: UCT School of Dance
Unpublished works
Sey, J. 2004. The body in the age of
mechanical reproduction lecture, Cape
Town: Institute of Film & New Media,
University of Cape Town. 28 March.
Performances
About the author

Tiny Constance Thagame has taught courses at Limkokwing University, Gaborone, and the
University of Botswana, Gaborone.
Suggested citation
Thagame, T. C. (2014) Capturing the Elusive Art: The Making of a Dance Film. Case study:
The Wandering Souls of Mendi. In Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers.
Gaborone, Department of Media Studies, University of Botswana.
52
The dilemma of local content: the

case of Botswana Television (Btv)
Bokang Greatness Ditlhokwa
Abstract
Contrary to the notion that Botswanas independent producers lack the professional skills to
generate local television content, lack of finance is arguably the main challenge that
continues to bedevil the producers. This paper reveals that Btv continues to make attempts to
empower the independent producers through licensing of existing intellectual properties but
that it lacks the necessary and transparent guidelines to acquire television content. Part of the
challenge is exacerbated by governments unwillingness to budget for local content produced
by independent producers, preferring to buy international content as well as having
government departments and Ministries generate local content.
Key words: generic schedule, in-house productions, independent producers, local content,
local content quotas, mandate-driven content
Introduction
Botswanas
Independent
television
Producers have failed to make a mark in
the international motion pictures arena
despite the launch of the Botswana
Television (Btv) in 2000. Perhaps very
little is known about the major obstacles
that impede the development of the
industry apart from negative perceptions
that local Independent Producers produce
substandard programmes. (Probe Market
Intelligence 2009: 11) This paper sets to
establish how Btv empowers independent
producers to generate local TV content.
The author who, is a media practitioner
interviews industry professionals, analyzes
the generic and transmission schedules of
Btv as well as giving commentary on the
state of the industry, its causes and
possible remedies.
Local content definitions

Although local content in the audio-visual
industry may sound quite straight forward,
its
implementation
manifests
multidimensionality
and
complex
situations that have to be understood.
Research indicates that local content plays
an important role in determining improved
audience ratings, appreciation of arts,
culture and national identity and integrity.
(Department
of
Broadband,
Communications
and
the
Digital
Economy, 2011)
The South African Broadcasting
Corporation defines local content as:
a television programme (excluding
broadcasts of sports events and
compilations of them, advertisements,
teletext and continuity announcements)
that is produced by a South African
53

broadcaster, or by South African people
(SABC, 2002).
The
South
African
experience
demonstrates loyalty to nationhood by
according the locals the opportunity to
exploit local ideas and skills in local
content generation, capturing and storing
diverse cultural traits and social
environments in retrieval systems for
wealth generation and future use.
The
Australian
governments
commitment to both grow and protect the
local industry uses a model of minimum
local content requirements to guard against
loopholes
and
pretexts
that
the
broadcasters can use to score below quota
expectations by developing and reflecting
a sense of Australian identity, character
and cultural diversity by supporting the
communities continued access to television
programmes produced under Australian
creative
control
(Department
of
Broadband, Communications and the
Digital Economy 2011: 3).
To achieve the set objectives the
Australian government put in place the
relevant support structures to ensure
sustained development.
One such
structure was the establishment of Screen
Australia, an organization that supports
concept
development,
funding,
development/production and distribution.
In this way specialist areas ensure that
local content generators spend endless
hours working on quality concepts and
building production teams, assured of a
market.
Such structures are desirable in
Botswana to both regulate creative content
generation and to accord the independent
producers
greater
investment
opportunities.
Botswana Television has not risen to
the expectation of independent producers
in local content generation. The major
discrepancy is the lack of its own
definition of local content. This therefore

contributes
to
implementation
shortcomings
in
local
content
procurement. Btv depends on the
Botswana Communications Regulatory
Authority (BOCRA) definition that it
inherited from the then Botswana
Telecommunications Authority (BTA) and
the National Broadcasting Board (NBB).
Local content means the total of all
television or radio programmes that have
been produced using material gathered in
Botswana, and which mostly use Batswana
personnel and services in Botswana
(Botswana Communications Regulatory
Authority, 2004: 3).
Compared to Australia and South
Africa, the definition of local content is
vague and open to misinterpretation and
manipulation. Expressions like material
gathered in Botswana and mostly use
Batswana personnel and services in
Botswana are misleading and nonobjective.
Furthermore Btvs definition of local
content has been blemished by the influx
of mandate-driven programmes produced
locally by Btv in-house producers,
departmental and Ministerial programmes.
The state broadcaster does not have
guidelines that are used to calculate or
monitor local content hence events, news,
current affairs and sport form part of local
content on Btv. As a result the
programmes line-up does not meet the
expectations of the viewers who want
entertainment and creatively crafted
programmes. (Interview Nageng 2014).
Nageng is adamant that running a station
without a business plan is bound to
backfire and result in viewer apathy.
Therefore the question of whether or not
Btv meets its local content quotas is
immaterial as the station is self-regulated.
This therefore raises questions whether
54

mandate-driven TV content should be
treated as local content.
The new focus was to push the mandates

of government departments and Ministries
hence the decline in independent
productions. Greens implementation plan
was therefore short-lived, due to
conflicting ideologies.
Green, who served as Chief Executive
(Television) at the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was
instrumental to the commissioning of the
first South African soapy, Generations in
1994. He became the brains behind the
current content procurement processes at
Btv. Though he seemed to concentrate on
the structural aspects of Btv, he managed
to kick-start a sponsor based content
procurement model (Nageng 2014).
Independent producers pitch their ideas
to the broadcaster and once the ideas are
approved, the producers are encouraged to
approach the sponsors to anchor the
programmes. In this way many
independent producers benefit. This model
of sponsorship saw the broadcast of
Primetime Life in 2008, the first
programme to be approved in the new
dispensation, produced by Ditiragalo
Media, contracted by Primetime Media.
Primetime Life is a weekly magazine that
broadcasts on Btv Saturdays at 19:30hrs.
The programme has two segments mainly
featuring events that are paid for by the
sponsor who is guaranteed broadcasting.
However, sponsorship packages that are
tailored to meet the commercial needs of
the sponsors compromise the quality of the
content that they are attached to.
Programme sponsors tend to concentrate
effort in advertising their products and
services at the expense of good
programming. Eventually content is
skewed towards corporate profiles than
providing what is of public interest. The
programming is interrupted by a wide
range of on-screen products such as
squeeze backs, company logos, crawling
The new dispensation

For the past five years Btv has not been
able to raise enough budgets to license
many programmes from the independent
producers. Its annual budget had been
reduced to P2-3million against the
requested P20million. This therefore
means that the broadcaster had to consider
giving each producer a fair opportunity by
purchasing shelved programmes from as
many independent producers as the budget
could accommodate (Interview, Nageng,
2014).
South African Television consultant
Quentin Green was engaged by
government to reengineer the broadcasting
processes at Btv in order to meet the needs
of the broadcast constituency. Green was
engaged on a three-year contract of which
the first two years were dedicated to
acclimatization, and turning around the
internal processes to lure the business
community to invest in the broadcast
sector. Green had sought to raise the Btv
budget from the annual P20milion to
P100million through airtime sale. This,
according
to
him,
would
make
broadcasting commercially viable. The
next
lap
would
be
to
make
recommendations for Btv to be turned into
a parastatal (Tsheko 2014).
However, Tsheko who was by then
Channel Controller reflects that two
conflicting ideologies were at play; a
commercial viability vision versus a
political or bureaucratic vision. While
Green focused on commercial viability, the
appointment
of
Mogomotsi
Kaboeamodimo as Deputy Permanent
Secretary in the Office of the President led
to a shift in focus. Mogomotsi became
more concerned with bureaucratic
processes that undermined Greens plans.
55

text, sms adverts etc, rendering the
programming ineffective and fully
infomercial. The distortion of artistic
expression by advertisers is observed by
Perebinossoff et al. (2005: 163) who assert
that the aim of an advertiser is to expand
gross sales, not extend artistic boundaries.
Primetime Life and First Issues are
burdened by sponsors adverts, an
indication of sponsorship bondage. In
some instances independent producers
were given 13 slots to broadcast their
programmes for free in order to attract the
sponsors. Bonang which ran for 13 weeks
is one such programme.
delays in decision making. Dee-zone

Productions spent a year fighting endlessly
to have Ntwakgolo scheduled in prime
time.
In 2013 Btv ran two cycles of
unsolicited programmes that benefited
some independent producers.
Quotas
Many countries have resorted to local
content quotas in order to safeguard the
interest of national identity and cultural
diversity. Local content quotas are
desirable in a growing broadcast industry
to both encourage and protect the local
industry from the influx of foreign content.
Several authorities have come up with
closely related definitions of quotas. Many
countries apply quotas on goods and
services that are seemingly threatened by
imported products.
Quota allocations are a regulatory
system aimed at promoting local goods
and services by limiting alien products.
Quotas cover a wide spectrum of goods.
The chicken and egg dilemma

Not all the independents espouse the new
dispensation as observed by Mabiletsa
(Interview, 2014) that the sponsor-driven
model is a mind game designed to buy
time. Unlike other models, Btv does not
issue letters of intent to assist the
independent producers to give credible
evidence to the potential sponsor that the
broadcaster is aboard. Rather, Btv would
want the independent producer to submit a
letter of intent from the sponsor. In
response, the sponsor would demand an
official letter of commitment from the
broadcaster leading to a chicken and egg
dilemma.
The other major deficiency of this
model is that it was not well publicised
and therefore not very helpful to the
independent producers because how does
a producer in Francistown, Maun or Selebi
Phikwe know that there is a pitching
window at Btv? (Interview, Nageng
2014). Through word of mouth several
producers approached Btv and had their
programmes approved. As Nageng
suggests, some of the genres were
conflicted with the generic schedule
because they were not planned for. The
scheduling of the new programmes caused
TV landscape in Botswana
At its inception on July 30, 2000, Btv was
to be launched as a public broadcaster.
Many of its obligations have not been met
due to several reasons, among them, a lack
of a regulatory body to enforce the
implementation of the overarching
responsibilities of a true public
broadcaster. Government had an upper
hand in deciding the programming
activities of the broadcaster. Between 2000
and 2004, local producers negotiated with
Moolji
Parshotham,
the
one-man
Procurement Office to licence their local
content, who at the time was doing the
general housekeeping (Mosime 2007:
153). Through the process, a few
documentaries were licensed. Some
independent producers started complaining
about local content acquisition procedures,
56

citing lack of transparency. However, in
2003 Underdogs Production, a South
African-based media consultancy and
production house was commissioned to
help in formulating a content acquisition
strategy (Government of Botswana, 2003).
The workshop was to come up with a
framework of planned content acquisition
activities that would guide the future
direction of the station in content
acquisition and in turn help grow the local
film/television industry. The success of the
television project would therefore depend
on the successful implementation of the
strategy to be earmarked by the first
commissioning cycle. The strategy
document is a comprehensive document
that provides basic guidelines that could
help the broadcaster to put in place
preliminary measures to run the station.
However, procurement policies and
procedures that would not impinge on the
independent
producers
intellectual
property rights are yet to be drafted after
more than a decade of broadcasting.
has not lived up to its promise to conduct

training, engage in industry development
activities or discussions on production
rights. The strategic document refers to
Btv as a public broadcaster that will help
in setting up a Botswana Production Fund
that will influence the future direction of
commissioning, content creation and
wealth for the local industry. (ibid: 15)
Population
According to the 2011 population census,
Botswana has a population of two million
people, the majority of whom reside in
rural areas (Census Botswana, 2011). In
this regard it is unlikely that the
independent producers can make a
business case out of this market to support
a growing and vibrant film and television
industry when looking for programme
sponsors. Based on the comments and
experiences of independent producers, the
survival of the industry therefore relies on
government tenders whose requirements
disadvantage many production houses.
Perhaps what remains is for the industry
professionals to take advantage of
globalization and cast their nets wider to
attract the wider global markets. This
would entail forming partnerships with
international production companies and
financiers for possible co-production or
co-financing. Lack of finance to develop
quality ideas however, remains a challenge
to the industry. The disadvantage in
executing quality ideas without the
necessary budgets and skills is killing the
noble idea. Some local producers have
turned their ideas into sketches that will
never reach the international markets
despite being very good concepts. Locally
produced television dramas such as Radijo
and Beauty are good drama concepts that
have gone to waste due to poor execution
resulting from lack of finance.
Strategic document mission

Since 2000, Btv has not been able to
produce a schedule of activities that are
geared towards assisting the local
production despite the strategy document
mission that Btv can provide invaluable
assistance during the development of these
organizations and the industry as a whole
(Government of Botswana, 2003: 23)
The mission of the state broadcaster
was to engage in activities
empowering the local production
industry through fair and transparent
conduct, structured training and
development,
and
reasonable
management of broadcasting and
production rights. (ibid: 12)
Btv has used different models of
outsourcing local television content but
57

Jolliffe and Zinnes (2006) warn that
such a move could destroy ones credit
rating resulting in many years struggling
to correct the mistake. It may also result in
jeopardizing the prospect of finding a
financier for any future filming
opportunities.
content be considered as local content. Btv

has never undertaken an audience survey
since 2000 raising doubts about what
informs local content at the national
television station.
A closer look at both the generic
schedule and the transmission schedule
reveals that cartoons amount to 17.5 hours
of broadcast per week all of which is
international content. 7.5 hours goes to the
teens, 2.5 hours constitutes youth
programmes, 10 hours of day parting
(breakfast show). The remaining time is
reserved for local content allocated to inhouse
productions,
mandate-driven
programmes and independent producers as
follows: 11hours of Ministry of Education
and Skills Development in-house; Btv inhouse about 27.5 to 28 hours (excluding
news bulletins) while independent
producers sponsored and unsolicited
programmes amount to six hours per week.
The figures include programme repeats.
Internal content is allocated over
40hours. From midnight to 04.45 hrs Btv
broadcasts a feed from France 24.
The playing field

The Independent producers are faced with
a barrage of audio-visual recording devices
such as iPads, palm orders, mobile phones
and other consumer products. These
products contribute to the dilemma of
market standards. Often the clients are
looking for clarity of the pictures instead
of quality adherence to professional
guidelines. This phenomenon is often
supported by price disparities and the
unwillingness by the clients to budget
well. The clients are not willing to pay for
quality
concepts
when
producing
television commercials. They prefer cheap
public service announcements (PSA) that
often resemble power point presentations.
When the PSAs are produced, the clients
complain that the products are of poor
quality.
Many of the clients want to take
control of the storyboards and scripting,
which takes away the creativity of the
producer and leaves the client with a rigid
product. This affects the story telling
ability of the Independent producers who
have to satisfy the needs of the clients.
Budgets
Annual programming budgets stood at
P19million since 2000 of which
P7.3million was allocated to international
content (Interview Bothongo 2012).
Kokorwe (Panel discussion, 2005) argues
that a lot of money is returned to
government at the end of each financial
year while the independent producers
suffer.
Government institutions spend an
estimated P2million per season each on
TV programming. Btv runs 18 local
content programmes each with at least 52
episodes. Of these, five come from other
government departments that have
television production facilities, while six
come from the independent producers
through various acquisition models. The
Empirical study of Btv

More than 60 percent of local content on
Btv is either from the government
departments and ministries or in-house
productions as shall be seen in the analysis
that follows. The question however is to
what extent is local content on Btv local in
the context of citizen empowerment and
industry growth? Should government
department and ministries generated
58

First National Bank of Botswana anchors
First Issues while Primetime Life is
anchored by Barclays Bank and through
direct segment purchases. Living the vision
has no anchor sponsor and therefore runs
as a freebee.
The National Aids
Coordinating Agency (NACA) sponsors
Ntwakgolo while the Ministry of Youth,
Sports and Culture is the anchor sponsor
for Letlhabile. Multiple investors finance
My Star.
My African Dream is a Co-production
between Btv and the My African Dream
concept owners. The arrangement leaves
much to be desired since the two entities
are practically not involved in any coproduction activities.
A co-production could be defined as a
production where two or more producers
play an active role in the physical
production of a programme by supplying
the services of individuals on the
production jointly contributing to the
financing of it and jointly, proportionate to
their relative contributions owning rights
in the completed production (Albertstat,
2005: 209).
In the case of My African Dream, Btv
provides the facilities and manpower to
produce the programme. According to
Nageng, Btv happened to embrace the
concept of My African Dream and
partnered with the trust under the auspices
of a co-production (Interview, 2014). The
arrangement however, does not suit the
definition that Albertstat provides. The coproduction arrangement is another way
through which Btv increases in-house
productions.
Government generated content amounts
to P30million per season, totalling
P120million per year while an estimated
P3million worth of programming goes to
independent producers (Government of
Botswana, 2003).
While it is evident that local content can

be funded, based on the size of the
population, the domestic market is not big
enough to cover local content production
costs. There is no guarantee that the
international markets can absorb Botswana
local content as the possibility of exporting
such content has not been fully explored.
Distribution of television content
depends on cultural relevance. Australian
content will appeal to audiences in the
United States and Britain due to their
cultural and political ties (Australian
Government, 2011: 7).
In this case, drama content produced in
Botswana is likely to appeal to the South
African population and the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC)
than to audiences outside the SADC
region.
During the 2010-2011-2011-2012 local
content budgets, Botswana television had
P2.5million and P3million set aside for
licensing local content. The budgets were
reflected in the 2010-2012 commissioning
expenditure. Local independent producers
are pained by irregular acquisition of local
content which keeps them guessing as to
when will be the next cycle. Licensing of
existing works has been unpredictable for
many years. This leaves many of the local
producers with very few options to sell or
have their productions screened on Btv.
Lack of scheduled licensing of local
content meant a decline in the production
of quality unsolicited programmes while
shoestring budgets also meant a huge
compromise on quality. As a result, many
independent producers depended on
corporate productions where creativity
does not play a major role. This saw a new
trend of hand-to-mouth approach to audiovisual production. Most producers indicate
that their businesses depend on corporate
profiling, public service announcements
which often use text on screen, still
59

pictures and video clips. These are
produced at budgets ranging from P5000
to P20,000. Maretlwaneng is one of the
producers who have done business with
Btv through middlemen. This approach is
embraced by Chengeta, who runs
Chengeta
Boys
Production.
He
approaches clients, to licence his product.
The client will be the one to approach Btv.
In this way, he does not spend a lot of time
negotiating with the broadcaster.
Unsolicited
programmes
are
programmes produced at the producers
own risk without any presale agreements.
Independent producers hope to license the
content to the broadcaster.
A license is a contractual agreement,
which permits someone else to exploit or
use the work or part of the work in a
license. With alicense, the author or
creator retains ownership of the rights in
the work in question (Albertstat, 2005:
15).
This is one success story in local
content generation where the producers do
not have to go through the hassle of a
tender process but take risks to produce
programmes at their cost. Unsolicited
programmes have benefited a few
independent
productions
such
as
Primetime Media, MD Productions,
Interactive
Media,
Baboneng
film
Production, Letshwao Productions and
Ditiragalo Media.
Commissioning too is irregular and
unpredictable. In this way the producers
cannot possibly work on a predetermined
time period to produce a programme that
guarantees sales.
anticipated high-end broadcast quality

programmes from inexperienced producers
while the producers differed on how
content acquisition should have been
tackled. The discerning voices were
diverse
and
overwhelming,
each
independent producer having a different
view (ibid: 222).
Btv relies on the broadcasting strategy
formulated in 2003. However; its
implementation is marred by rigidity and
unwillingness to work closely with the
independent producers.
The major disparities in procurement
processes were realized during the first call
for supply of the shelved programmes in
2012. Despite the budget limitations set to
compromise content and production
quality across the genres the Broadcaster
exhibited
unwarranted
neglect
of
Independent producers. Tender NO:
SP/MTC 145/2012-2013 for local content
was sold for P250.00 per document while
NO: SP/MTC/071/2012-2013 dated July 3,
2012 for international content was given
free of charge.
Clearly, the domestic regulations tend
to restrict the independent producers from
participating in local content generation
while allowing continued dominance of
international content on Btv. The
procurement exercise raises serious
questions
about
the
broadcasters
commitment to growing local content and
empowering independent producers. The
disparity
between
local
content
procurement and international content is
due to the fact that International content
has set guidelines (Interview, Bothongo,
2012).
In the schedule of quantities, the
independent producers could submit a total
of 13 episodes per genre out of the 6
selected genres.
Btv intends for local content to assume
a larger portion of the schedule and remain
Content acquisition strategies at

Botswana Television
During the first phase of commissioning,
the expectations were too high and
unrealistic for both the broadcaster and the
stakeholders (Mosime 2007: 221). Btv had
60

significant to the channel programme mix
to maintain and increase its audience base
(tender NO: SP/MTC 145/2012-2013 p1of
6).
The international content schedule of
quantities ranged from 52 episodes to 1560
with cartoons at the top of the list. The
document further states foreign content
assume a larger portion of the schedule
and remains significant to the channel
programme mix and helps maintain and
increase its audience base (P1of 30 scope
of supplies).
An analysis of the two statements
referring to local content and international
content respectively, illustrates a serious
self-contradiction about the intent of Btv.
Quantities
requested
for
fillers
amounted to 1092 episodes while cartoons
stood at 1560.The scenario above and the
restrictions imposed on the local content
generators tend to suppress the growth of
the film and television industry.
Independent producers were allowed to bid
for strictly 13 episodes per genre while
international bidders were allowed a
minimum of 52 episodes per genre.
Provision Managing Director, Segale
Mabiletsa points out that he had very bad
experiences
with
Btv
(Interview,
Mabiletsa, 2014). He is of the opinion that
Btv should not restrict the independent
producers from submitting multiple
episodes for one genre. He is of the
opinion that by allowing the independent
producers to submit more than eight
episodes of the same genre this will allow
the independent producers to specialize
instead of producing across genres.
The lack of information on content
acquisition tends to haunt many
independent producers, as when the
tenders are published, the producers do not
have enough time to produce quality
programmes. Mabiletsa suggests that Btv
should be proactive in communicating
industry issues to independent producers,

to
stimulate
production
activity.
Transparency in programme reviews
however, remains an issue of major
concern to the independent producers
citing lack of evaluation reports on
submitted works. Mabiletsa gave an
example where a programme was awarded
80 percent of technical compliance during
the July 2013 cycle and that during the
second cycle, the same programme scored
below 60 percent.
Local content procurement procedures
are not transparent enough as there is no
consultation with relevant stakeholders.
This as a result subjects the independent
producers to a lot of pressure when it
comes to pricing their products. The
broadcaster has predetermined prices that
the independent producers should either
take or lose out. Decisions relating to the
industry rate card are not done in
consultation with the stakeholders. This
poses a serious predicament on the part of
the established industry professionals who
are likely to run at a loss. Other factors that
contribute to this state of affairs are the
lack of standards.
Unpacking the dilemma of local content
Independent producers should play a
pivotal role is directing the course of
future developments in the country.
Nonetheless, the film and television
industry in Botswana is still in its infancy
despite containing a large number of
graduates from several universities around
the world. This should have been used as a
stepping-stone to develop the industry
further to match the international
standards.
This
anomaly
further
exacerbates the plight of young industry
professionals who are passion driven but
do not have access to the resources that
can help shape the industry for the better.
61

Segale (Interview, 2014) observes that
financing the production of local content
will encourage quality programmes,
guarantee the producers primetime slots as
well as attracting investors. The current
situation where advertisers crowd around
the news hour is an indication of
scepticism about viewership preferences.
Btv needs to be turned into a hub of
creative content to entertain the
viewership.
Btv should emulate the SABC model
and enforce the implementation of the
Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) the
same way the South African implements
the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE),
giving the blacks preferential treatment
through tax rebates and subsidies. One of
the suggestions is for Btv to identify
experienced independents to produce
programmes and to allow them to
subcontract new entrants in the market so
they learn from the experienced ones.
Out of 18 local programmes currently

running on Btv an independent Producer
produces only two procured through open
ministerial tenders. (The above refers to
programmes with 52 episodes and above).
Letlhabile and Ntwakgolo are produced by
Dee-Zone
Productions.
Dee-zone
Productions, which was established in
2008, has managed to survive the industry
hardships by doing work for the corporate
bodies.
Despite
the
companys
participation in Btv tenders, they never got
any programmes bought. it was only in
2013 that we managed to license one
season after much struggle (Interview,
Maretlwaneng, 2014). Maretlwaneng
admits that currently there is no platform
to exchange ideas and opinions with the
broadcaster. It is therefore not clear how
Btv intends to empower the independent
producers since independent producers are
not privy to the local content procurement
strategy. He also agrees with Mabiletsa
that the criteria used to license local
content discourages the independent
producers from developing single genre
content.
Since its inception, Btv has not
managed to dialogue with independent
producers in relation to local content
generation. The launch of the Digital
Migration project in 2013 witnessed the
attendance of government officers and
their Japanese counterparts taking the
centre stage while the independent
producers were left out.
Gates (2004: 163) proposes that due to
the amount of content television stations
need, content generation should be a
collective effort between the independents
and in-house producers.
In essence one can argue that the
national television is competing with the
independent producers for content
generation
and
sponsorship
for
programmes. The morning show for
Government killing the industry

Some government departments and
ministries have over the years bought inhouse television production equipment that
they use to disseminate information
through Btv. A total of 13 government
entities that have bought television
production
equipment
have
been
identified. Some of them are actively
involved in local content generation while
others have their equipment gathering dust.
The Ministry of Agriculture produces a
weekly programme while Ministry of
Education TV production Studio in
Mochudi has turned into a white elephant.
The
Ministry
of
Transport
and
Communications is still at acquisition
stage. It is therefore apparent that these
departments
and
ministries
will
impoverish the independent production
houses since all production needs are met
in-house.
62

instance has in the past attracted segment
sponsors such as Blue, Botswana Post,
Mascom, Botswana Tourism Board and
others. Programmes like Bonang and
Melodi ya dinnoto were discontinued
partly due to lack of funding.
Lack
of
sponsorship
deprives
independent producers of the opportunity
to exhibit their works on Btv, denying
them exposure to talent scouts. Issues of
quality assurance have since been
neglected by government departments
since their programmes are geared toward
implementing departmental mandates
rather than continued investment and the
exploitation of neighbouring rights of such
programming to guarantee the producers
continued income.
Government as a key player in the
industry is impoverishing the industry
thorough these departmental television
production facilities. They do not go
through the same stringent measures that
the independent production houses go
through. Independent producers are
required to take their technical teams to the
commissioning team where they are
thoroughly interrogated on their expertise
in television production including but not
limited to academic qualifications and
experience. On the other hand, government
departments do not necessarily have to
pitch their ideas to the commissioning
team. They have mandates to accomplish
and are dealt with at a different level
(Interview, Kwalate, 2013).
However, (Panel discussion, Ramsay
2005) refutes allegations of government
interference in programming saying the
Botswana government has no input into
Btv programming, though individual
ministers might respond to individual
programmes.
This implies that the commissioning
team is not in control of primetime slots
allocation. By the beginning of 2012,
Botswana television had 14 in-house

programmes excluding news sport and
current affairs.
Income tax
Shima Sennye, who works for the
Educational Broadcasting Division of the
Ministry of Education and Skills
Development, is resolute that circulation of
funds within government departments
causes economic recession or downfall
since such funds do not generate interest
(Interview, Sennye, 2012). He views inhouse productions and mandate driven
programmes as having a negative impact
on the economy.
Sennye argues that when independent
producers are commissioned to produce
programmes, government accrues revenue
through Value Added tax, which is a
percentage on top of the service fee. Given
the estimated P120million that government
departments spend on local content, it is
evident that government accrues losses of
about P14million that the independent
producers could have paid as tax.
Sennye suggests that acquiring content
from independent producers contributes to
economic growth as opposed to
government departments and ministries
producing local content without involving
independent producers.
Conclusion
The situation regarding local content at
Btv has had a debilitating impact on the
independent producers, leaving a trail of
frustration and suspicious relationships.
Independent producers accuse the state
broadcaster of inconsistency and lack of
transparency in acquiring local content. On
the other hand the broadcaster is unable to
raise reasonable budgets to license local
content from independent producers,
preferring to have the majority of
programmes produced in-house. Part of
63

this is fuelled by the perception that
independent
producers
price
their
programmes unreasonably high, opening
avenues to government departments and
Ministries to produce their own
programmes.
As pressure mounts on the National
Broadcaster, to license local content, plans
are afoot to produce a policy document to
address current local content concerns and
to incorporate the digital migration content
projections going forward. The move will
see the concerns of the independent
producers addressed and participation by
the public in broadcasting a reality. Some
independent producers believe that the
film and television commission is the way
to go if the industry is to grow.
Discussion paper: Australian and Local

Content.
Canberra
Department
of
Broadband, Communications and the
Digital Economy.
www.dbcde.gov.au/convergence
Gates,
R.
(1999)
Production
Management for Video and Film, 3rd ed,
Oxford: Focal Press.
Jolliffe, G. and Zinnes, A. (2006) The
Documentary Filmmakers Handbook.
London: The Continuum International
Publishing Group.
Mosime, S. T. (2007) Botswana
Television (BTV) Negotiating Control and
Cultural Production in a Globalising
Context: A Political Economy of Media
State Ownership in Africa. Unpublished
PhD thesis,
University of Kwa-Zulu
Natal.
www.nab.org.za/templates/article_temp
late_142.asp Accessed 20/11/2013.
Perebinossoff, P., Gross, B., and Gross,
L.S. (2005) Programming for TV, Radio
and the Internet. Strategy, Development
and Evaluation, Amsterdam: Focal Press.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, (2011) How
do Local Content Requirements Impact
Australian Productions? Review and
Analysis of Broadcast Sector Minimum
Content
Requirements.
Canberra:
Department
of
Broadband,
Communications
and
the
Digital
Economy.
Probe Market Intelligence (2009),
Audience of the Broadcasting Sector in
Botswana Report. Gaborone: Botswana
Telecommunications Authority.
South
African
Broadcasting
Corporation (2002), SABC Local Content,
available at
http://vcmstatic.sabc.co.za/VCMStaticP
rodStage/CORPORATE/SABC%20Corpo
rate/StaticDocument/About%20SABC/loc
al.pdf Accessed 18/1/2014.
Note: Currency conversion: 100 Botswana

Pula equals US$11.
References
Albertstat,
P.
(2005)
Independent
Producers Guide to Film & TV contracts.
London: Routledge.
Botswana, Government of (2003) BTV
Local Content Commissioning and
Procurement
Strategic
Planning
Document. Gaborone.
Botswana
Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority (2004) Chapter
72:04
Broadcasting:
Subsidiary
Legislation, Broadcasting Regulations.
www.bta.org.bw/bocra-hq
Accessed
12/11/2013.
Central Statistics Office (2011) Census
Botswana 2011, Gaborone: Central
Statistics Office.
http://www.cso.gov.bw/index.php?optio
n=com_content1&id=2&site=census
Department
of
Broadband,
Communications and the Digital Economy
(2011)
Australian
Government
Convergence Review, Convergence Review
64

Interviews conducted by the author
Bothongo, Polly, Channel Controller,
Botswana Television, April 2012.
Chengeta, Ndinaye, Boys Production,
th
25 January 2014.
Habana,
Linnet,
Assistant
Commissioning
Editor,
Botswana
Television, April 2012.
Kwalate, Gao, Commissioning Editor,
Botswana Television. April 2012.
Mabiletsa T. Segale, Managing
Director, Provision Media, 22nd January
2014.
Maretlwaneng, Thabiso, Managing
Director, Dee-Zone- Productions, 24th
January 2014.
Morwaagole, Faith, Senior Health

Officer-Communications, Ministry of
Health, April 2012.
Nageng, Solly, Head of Programs BTV,
rd
23 January 2014.
Omphile, Selina, Producer, Itshireletse.
April 2012.
Otsile, Thuso, Managing Director,
Flame Power Multimedia, April 2012.
Sennye, Shima, Producer, Ministry of
Education and Skills Development (ICT)
April 2012.
Tsheko, Raymond, Former Channel
Controller (Btv) 11th February 2014.
About the author

Bokang Greatness Ditlhokwa lectures in the Department of Media Studies at the University
of Botswana. He holds a Masters Degree in Media Production (Griffith University, Australia)
and is former producer of The Eye. Bokang is pioneer producer of Primetime Life and now
produces Planet 3 and Living the Vision, which are broadcast on Btv. He is also a recipient of
the Investigative Journalist of the Year 2002, (MISA), 2012 Vision 2016 Chairmans Award,
for contribution to the long term vision for Botswana as well as the Chairmans Award for the
best corporate social responsibility television programme (Botswana Consumer Fair 2013).
Suggested citation
Ditlhokwa, B. G. (2014) The Dilemma of Local Content: the Case of Botswana Television
(Btv). In Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers. Gaborone, Department of
Media Studies, University of Botswana.
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