NEWS IN BOTSWANA

NEWS IN
BOTSWANA
Themes in contemporary journalism

By Richard Rooney
SMC Online Publishers

0
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

NEWS IN BOTSWANA
Themes in Contemporary Journalism
By Richard Rooney

Published by: SMC Online Publishers

2018

Copyright license

Thank you for downloading this no-cost ebook. You are welcome to share it
with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for
non-commercial purposes. You may copy and redistribute the material in any
medium or format, but you must give appropriate credit and indicate if
changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any
way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. If you remix,
transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified
material. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that
legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

For details of the copyright license, click here.

Suggested citation: Rooney, R. (2018) News in Botswana, Themes in

Contemporary Journalism. SMC Online Publishers [Internet] plus details of
URL where it was downloaded (if applicable).

1
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

CONTENTS

1 Introduction 4

2 Overview 14

3 Law 39

4 Ethics 61

5 Gender 91

6 LGBTI 112

7 Botswana Television 144

8 Coverage of elections 165

9 Sports pages 186

10 Contribution to governance 201

2
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Rooney was associate professor and head of the Department of

Media Studies at the University of Botswana, Gaborone, until August 2017.
Previous to that in a career spanning 40 years he taught in universities in the
United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland and the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus. He was the founding head of the Department of
Journalism at Liverpool John Moores University (UK); the founding head of
the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University
of Swaziland; and the founding director of the Academic Quality Assurance
Division at Divine Word University, Madang, Papua New Guinea. His
research that centres on media and governance, media freedom, and tabloid
journalism has appeared in books and academic journals across the world.
In a parallel career he is an advocate for human rights in Swaziland.
Since July 2007 he has published the website Swazi Media Commentary that
provides information and commentary on human rights in that kingdom
where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
The website and associated social media platforms has attracted millions of
views. The All Africa Dot Com news aggregator distributes his work to a
range of websites globally as diverse as the Washington Times, the Times of
India and Humanitarian News. His work has been cited in a variety of
publications, including those from The World Bank, Freedom House,
Chatham House and the Media Institute of Southern Africa. Since September
2010 he has compiled a weekly electronic newsletter on human rights in
Swaziland distributed by Afrika Kontact, an NGO based in Denmark.
Before becoming an academic he was a journalist working on
newspapers and magazines in his native United Kingdom. He holds a Ph.D
in Communication from the University of Westminster, London, UK. He now
works as an independent writer, researcher and publisher.

3
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

1
Introduction

This book is about news and journalism in Botswana, which is an under-

researched topic. It is aimed at students of journalism or media studies but is
also useful to media practitioners interested in learning about the environment
in which they work. The idea for the book came to me after I left the
University of Botswana where I had taught and researched for six years.
During that time I amassed a large amount of information that I used in
lectures and research seminars that were delivered to relatively small
numbers of people. I have taken that information and repackaged it, added to
it, and produced this book. There are nine chapters covering a broad range of
topics including history; law and media freedom; ethics; gender; how media
contribute to good governance; election coverage and representations of
LGBTI people.
In this book I examine the “news media” in Botswana. It would be
useful from the start to define what I mean by this. It is important to do so
because in the modern age anyone can set up a blog or website or make a
Facebook page to share information and opinion like never before. I am not
interested in that so-called “social media”. This book is about established
news media or “mainstream media”, such as newspapers, radio and
television. I only venture onto the Internet where these mainstream media
also have established webpages.
The news media is where journalism takes place and journalism is a
distinctive form or writing that is different from other types of writing such
as a school essay or a novel. The definition of journalism changes overtime

4
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

and in recent years we have been introduced to the concept of “citizen

journalism” which according to Stuart Allan (2011) is a range of first-person
accounts, mobile and digital camera snapshots generated by ordinary citizens
who happen to find themselves accidentally on the scene of an event which
they post through social media.
I stick to the more traditional definitions of the journalist that has been
used in textbooks for decades. They agree that journalism is a type of factual
writing (or broadcasting) that tells people the truth about things that really
happened, but that they might not have known about already. Journalism is
meant for publication and is often the direct presentation of facts or
description of events without an attempt at interpretation. Journalism is the
job of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news. It is
about investigating and reporting events, issues and trends to a broad
audience (McNair, 1998; Hodgson, 1996; Keeble, 1998; Wainwright, 1982).
Journalism comes in many forms: writing (in newspapers, magazines
and Internet); speech and sound (on radio and TV); in visual forms of
photography, film and video, which can all be edited to tell stories by
themselves or combined with writing and speech to form accounts and
depictions of events which have actually happened and of the social,
economic and political implications of those events.
The people who produce journalism are called journalists. In media
houses in Botswana and across the world journalists perform a number of
different tasks. In large organisations, the journalists may specialise in only
one task. In small organisations, each journalist may have to do many
different tasks. These tasks could include being a reporter, features writer,
sub editor (known as a copy editor in some countries), photographer, as well
as the editor of the publication (Ingram & Henshall, 2008).
It is impossible to give a short definition of news and there is no “one”
definition. It is different from newspaper to newspaper or from place to place.
Often the choice of what makes news depends on the type of reader or
audience the media house is trying to attract. If it wants educated readers with
money to spend who will be attractive to advertisers with expensive goods
and services to sell, it might go for serious stories about politics and
economics. In Botswana, the Sunday Standard newspaper is like this. At the
other end of the scale the newspaper might want a larger number of readers
who would be attractive to advertisers with goods aimed at a mass market. In

5
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

this case the stories might be more of a general interest about people rather
than politics. Often such newspapers, for example the Voice in Botswana,
have exciting, even sensational stories, that go for readers’ emotions rather
than their intellects. So the “news agenda” of the two newspapers are quite
different.
Graham Greer in a textbook for aspiring journalists gives some
definitions of “news” (Greer, 1999, pp. 29-44). News is anything published
or broadcast; news is an account of an event, or a fact or an opinion that
interests people; news is a presentation of a report on current events in a
newspaper or other periodical or on radio or television or the Internet; news
is anything that is timely that interests a number of readers, and the best news
is that which has the greatest interest for the greatest number of people; news
is accurate and timely intelligence of happenings, discoveries, opinions and
matters of any sort which affect or interest the readers; news is everything
that happens, the inspiration of happenings and the result of such happenings;
news comprises all current activities of general human interest, and the best
news is that which interests the most readers.
My book is divided into ten chapters, including this introduction. For
the convenience of students each has been written as a “stand-alone” so they
can be read separately and this has inevitably resulted in some duplication of
background information but this has been kept to a minimum.
Chapter 2 is an overview of Botswana and a survey of the news media
landscape. Most importantly Botswana has been a stable (but not perfect)
democracy since it gained Independence from Great Britain in 1966. It has
had a relatively prosperous economy, based on diamond extraction for most
of that time. This economy has supported a private media sector.
The news landscape is dominated by media that is both government
owned and government controlled. In broadcasting there are two state-
controlled radio stations and three are privately owned. Botswana TV (BTV)
dominates the television sector and the only other TV station eBotswana is a
subsidiary of a South African company.
The print sector is dominated by the government-controlled Daily
News which is distributed free-of-charge five days a week and is the only
daily newspaper in the country. There are a large number of privately-owned
newspapers (most appear weekly) but they suffer for circulation and

6
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

advertising against the Daily News. Private newspaper titles come and go but
there are at east twelve that are presently publishing. They range from the
intensely serious, densely written broadsheets that concentrate on public
affairs such as politics and business to essentially frivolous tabloids that
prefer to publish gossip and sensation. Not all newspapers have their sales
independently audited but the evidence available suggests that the non-
serious newspapers sell better than the others.
Where little is known about newspaper readers the same is not true of
radio and television audiences. The chapter summarises finding of the most
recent National Broadcasting Board survey of listenership published in 2013.
The two government-controlled radio stations are overwhelmingly the
favourites of those surveyed but there are significant differences between
older and younger respondents; the younger preferring the private stations
that mostly broadcast music. The survey results suggested that television
stations broadcast free-to-air in neighbouring South Africa are more popular
than BTV and eBotswana
The chapter surveys the history of newspapers, radio and television in
Botswana. The history of the state-controlled radio and television sectors is
well recorded through contemporaneous government documents. The history
of the government-controlled Daily News is similarly recorded. The origins
and development of the private press is less well served. This is a seriously
under researched area and I have been unable to find a definitive source for
this history and have had to rely on piecing together snippets of information
from various published sources. Copies of the early newspapers themselves
do not seem to be held and it has been impossible to undertake any primary
research in this area.
Chapter 3 on media law might easily be retitled “obstacles to media
freedom”. It takes as its starting point the belief that people can only fully
participate in a democracy if they are well informed to the extent that they
can monitor and assess their leaders’ performances and have meaningful
engagement in public debate and the decision-making processes that impact
on their lives.
The chapter examines the present state of media freedom in Botswana
by examining the laws in the country that can be used to restrict freedom of
the press. It starts by placing Botswana in an international context and

7
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

reviewing the various treaties that Botswana has signed up to because these
international standards provide the basis upon which laws guaranteeing
freedom of expression can be drafted. A number of laws that can restrict
media freedom in Botswana are summarised.
The chapter surveys the experiences of media practitioners and a series
of confrontations between journalists and the government. There is much
suspicion in Botswana that the Department of Intelligence and Security
Services have been at the forefront of the repression of journalists. There is
also a long history of censorship, especially among media controlled by
government.
The chapter ends with a summary of the importance of freedom of
information legislation that at present Botswana does not have.
Chapter 4 is about ethics for media professionals and does not
approach ethics as philosophical theory. Instead, it takes a practical approach
to the ways in which media practitioners ought to behave in an ethical
manner. Journalists are important in any society since they give people
information about what is going on in the world around them and the space
to discuss issues. This means journalists must have the trust of the people.
One way they can gain that trust is by working ethically.
This chapter explores the state of journalism ethics in Botswana, but
this is a huge area and would take a full book to do justice. Therefore I
concentrate on the area of accuracy in reporting because what little statistical
evidence we have about news reporting in Botswana suggests that the main
area of ethical concern of readers is the lack of accuracy, completeness and
balance/fairness in stories. This concern is also shared by consumers of
journalism across the world.
The chapter reviews media ethics in both African and non-African
contexts. What is clear is that among media houses across the world there is
a common understanding about how journalists are expected to behave.
These expectations are set out in codes of conduct.
There is a review of perceptions of journalism standards in Botswana
and the issue of inaccuracy is highlighted. The role of the Press Council of
Botswana and its code of conduct is then explored. The Press Council is not
an active organisation and only issued annual reports in the three years 2006

8
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

to 2008. These reports contained statistics about the number and nature of
complaints from readers about the alleged ethical breaches.
The Press Council’s code has an article devoted to accuracy and the
chapter reviews this and discusses why journalists need to adhere to it. It
looks at an academic study from the United States that identified the main
reasons why news reporters make mistakes. It finishes with some practical
tips on how media houses can make improvements in this area.
Chapter 5 is about how news media in Botswana represent women
and it uses data collected by the South African-based Gender Links to explore
this. The chapter begins with a review of some theory around “media
representations” and “stereotyping” and how journalists “frame” the news in
certain ways that can distort how people view the world around them.
The chapter reviews a number of reports from Gender Links that
mostly concern the content of news reports in newspapers and on radio and
television. The studies examine the underlying gender dynamics within
institutional structures of the media; for example, whether women tend to
cover certain kinds of news more frequently than men and vice versa.
It concluded the proportion of women sources in the news was the
single most important measure with regard to gender and the media, as well
as the extent to which society gives voice to women. In Botswana, Gender
Links also published a survey on gender in the newsrooms which found the
majority of women in media in Botswana work in semi-skilled positions and
on news beats women constitute less than half of all reporters in all except
social news. The chapter also explores gender in advertising and how media
houses in Botswana are tackling gender exclusion in management and senior
jobs.
In research published in 2012, Gender Links found more than two
thirds of women in Botswana have experienced some form of gender violence
in their lifetime including partner and non-partner violence. The findings
from the survey and police data show that GBV “is the most flagrant violation
of human rights in Botswana at the present time”. Only 5 percent of
monitored news articles from Botswana covered GBV and in these
perpetrators were three times more likely to be heard than survivors. The
media still reports on GBV in sensational ways that trivialise the experiences
of women. These findings, which are significantly higher than those reported

9
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

in a study using similar methods in South Africa’s metropolitan Gauteng

province lead the researchers to conclude that GBV has reached pandemic
proportions in Botswana.
Chapter 6 demonstrates that the reporting of LGBTI (lesbian, gays,
bisexuals, transgender and intersex) people in Botswana news media is
almost non-existent. What little coverage there is concentrates on male
homosexuals. This has left a vacuum in people’s understanding about who
LGBTI people are and the lives they lead. This ignorance is profound and the
newspapers in particular have encouraged readers to see such people as sub-
human. The newspapers have spread misinformation and lies, often led by
self-appointed “Christian leaders”. The newspapers in Botswana engage in
hate speech, demonising gay men in particular and in some cases go so far as
allowing people to advocate their murder.
Media practitioners seem to be as ignorant about LGBTI people as the
fundamental Christians, so I start this chapter with a review of the science of
homosexuality which concludes that homosexuals are born homosexual and
that generally people are not recruited into homosexuality. Homosexuals
have existed across history and in all cultures.
Despite the scientific evidence newspapers still report that
homosexuality is “non-African”. The chapter reviews homosexuality in both
the African and Botswana contexts, looking particularly at the legal situation
in Botswana.
The chapter includes a survey of news media coverage of LGBTI in
the Southern African Development Community region, South Africa and
Botswana. Mostly bisexuals, lesbians, transgender and intersex people are
invisible in Botswana news coverage. What coverage there is of gay men is
framed by religious doctrine, supposed national culture and the notion that
homosexuality is a condition that might be unwelcome by the person
inflicted. There is a discussion on how many newspapers in Botswana use
“hate speech” to demonise homosexuals and suggestions on how reporting of
LGBTI people might be improved.
Chapter 7 researches Botswana Television (BTV) which is the
country’s only home-grown television channel; it is state owned and state
controlled. It is also the only television channel available in Botswana that
broadcasts local news. Since its birth in 2000 its news output has been

10
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

criticised for bias towards the ruling Botswana Democratic Party and for a
tendency to report on elite groups in society.
To explore how well BTV covers news, this chapter asks three
questions: i) What are the self-defined aims of BTV news? ii) to what extent
are these aims being met through its news bulletins? And, iii) how well does
BTV fit the model of public service broadcasting.
A survey of news bulletins demonstrates that BTV news promotes the
policies of the government with the almost total exclusion of opposition
voices; it is not impartial and reports are not balanced. It concludes that BTV
news is not fulfilling the aims it set itself which include the necessity to
inform people about events within and outside the country, to interpret such
events and wherever possible suggest appropriate approaches to them and to
do this by providing balanced, credible and professionally-tailored
programmes containing fair and balanced reporting.
Chapter 8 looks at how news media cover national elections in
Botswana. Journalists play a vital role in liberal democracies by giving
citizens information and space to discuss matters of controversy and
importance and help them to reach rational decisions. This is important at all
times and never more so than at election time. People rarely have the
opportunity through time constraints in their lives or the availability of events
to meet election candidates at first hand and to question them on their
policies. The news media mediates this relationship for them and stand in the
place of the public and questions politicians on their behalf. That is the basic
theory; however it is debateable that this happens in practice anywhere in the
world and not at all in Botswana.
In Botswana the state dominates broadcasting and print media access
to state media is not equal during normal times or at elections. In this chapter
I review how public and private media have covered elections in Botswana
since 1999. I begin with a brief overview of the political system in the country
both pre-and post-Independence. To the fore of the discussion is the place of
the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), the one party that has been constantly
elected to form a government since Independence in 1966. The role the news
media (especially state-controlled) is examined. I have drawn on a number of
reports made contemporaneously by election observers and I then offer my
own “snap shot” of Botswana Television coverage of the 2014 election. It is

11
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

impossible not to conclude that the ruling BDP receives more coverage than
its rivals.
I finish by reviewing the SADC election guidelines as a way of looking
forward and encouraging fairer coverage in Botswana at election time.
Chapter 9 looks at the vastly under-researched area of sports
journalism in Botswana. There is no doubt that globally sport, especially the
live coverage of events, scores the highest ratings on television. Over the
years globally sports reporting in daily newspapers has coexisted with and
complemented that on television. This chapter explores the content of sports
pages in private newspapers in Botswana. It is an attempt to compare their
coverage with newspapers around the world. To do this it uses a model
developed by the International Sports Press Survey that explored the quantity
and quality of sports reporting in a number of countries worldwide.
The chapter begins by exploring the nature of sport and its importance
in Botswana before identifying the importance of sport to news media outside
the country. Since no research on the topic of sports media in Botswana
exists, I decided to use the experiences elsewhere as a template. I undertook
a “snap shot” survey of sports pages in Botswana newspapers over one month
to discover exactly what they contained. This is far from a perfect research
sample, so the results obtained should be seen as a pilot study.
The results suggest that the content of sports pages in Botswana do not
mirror those in other countries; by reporting less on matches and events and
more on the politics and business of sport.
Chapter 10 explores how well news media contribute to good
governance in Botswana. The news media are generally recognised as a main
support of a liberal democratic society but there is also always a degree of
tension between governments and media even in democracies with a long
tradition of media freedom. On the one hand the government is responsible
for regulating the media, and needs to use the media to communicate with the
public. On the other hand, the media have a prime responsibility to examine
what government is and is not doing, and to provide the public with
information, comment, analysis, criticism and alternative views.
In this chapter I look at the contribution news media make to good
governance in Botswana by undertaking an audit. I do this using a model that

12
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

has been developed by Colin Roth and published by the United Kingdom’s
Department for International Development.
I begin by discussing the role of media in a liberal democracy and how
in a perfect model they help to contribute to good governance. I do this in the
context of a developing country such as Botswana that aims to be an inclusive
society. I then look in detail at the questions Roth asks as a template to audit
the situation in Botswana The questions involve plurality of media
ownership, the representativeness of media and accessibility to different
sections of society (including poor and vulnerable groups) and the capacities
of journalists to do their jobs and where there might be areas for development.

References
Allan, S. (2010) ‘Citizen Journalism’. In Downing, J. ed. Encyclopedia of
Social Movement Media. [Internet] Sage. Available from:
http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/socialmovement/n53.xml

Greer, G. (1999) A New Introduction to Journalism. Kenwyn: Juta.

Hodgson, F. (1996) Modern Newspaper Practice, a Primer on the Press, 4th
ed. London: Focal Press.
Ingram, D. and Henshall, P. (2008) The News Manual, Vol 1. [Internet]
UNESCO. Available from:
http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%203/volume3_00intr
o.htm

Keeble, R. (1998) The Newspapers Handbook, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

McNair, B. (1998) The Sociology of Journalism. London: Arnold.
Wainwright, D. (1982), Journalism Made Simple. London: Heinemann.

13
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

2
Overview

In this chapter after first introducing the Republic of Botswana to those

unfamiliar with it I review the news media landscape in the country. Despite
a relatively large number of private media houses the state dominates all three
major sectors, print, radio and television. I also look at the history of media
in Botswana. The private press is much under-researched and this is
especially so for the colonial era and before. It is easier to find material on
the history of radio and television; two sectors dominated by the state.
Government archives reveal a number of formal reports and various
memoranda that enable a succinct history of Radio Botswana and Botswana
Television to be compiled.
This chapter also includes a review of audience attitudes to radio and
television in Botswana undertaken by the national Broadcasting Board (2013)

Country overview

Botswana (known until Independence from Great Britain in 1966 as

Bechuanaland) is a landlocked country in southern Africa with borders to
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia. A total 57.4 percent of the
population, estimated at 2,209,208 people, live in urban areas. The largest
city Gaborone with a population of 247,000 is also the capital. The next
biggest urban area is Francistown with a population of 100,079. Other major
urban areas are Molepolole, Mogoditshane and Maun (CIA, 2016).

14
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The main indigenous language is Setswana, which is spoken as a home

language by 77.3 per cent of the population; the second highest is Sekalanga,
spoken by 7.4 percent. English is the official language of Botswana, but is
spoken by only two percent of the population as a home language (African
Media Barometer, 2014, p.29).
There is conflicting data about the extent religion plays in Botswana.
The CIA (2016) states Christianity is the main religion in the country with
79.1 percent of the population practising. Other religions include Badimo,
Baha’i, Hindu, Muslim and Rastafarian. A total 15.2 percent say they follow
no religion.
The International Religious Freedom Report from the United States
State Department (2015) cites a 2006 demographics report published by
Botswana’s Central Statistics Office which says 63 percent of citizens are
members of Christian groups, 27 percent claim their religion as “God”, 8
percent espouse no religion, 2 percent are adherents of the traditional
indigenous religion Badimo, and all other religious groups comprise less than
1 percent of the population.
Anglicans, Methodists, and members of the United Congregational
Church of Southern Africa make up the majority of Christians. There are
also Lutherans, Roman Catholics, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
Baptists, members of the Dutch Reformed Church, Mennonites, and members
of other Christian denominations.
The International Religious Freedom Report also cites a 2011 study by
the Pew Research Center, that found approximately 8,000 Muslims in
Botswana plus “small numbers” of Hindus and Bahais.
Botswana has the third highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world
at approximately 22 percent. In 2015 there were an estimated 3,200 deaths
from HIV-related illness and 348,900 people were estimated to be living with
HIV, however comprehensive and effective treatment programmes have
reduced HIV/AIDS-related deaths (CIA, 2016).
The combination of declining fertility and increasing mortality rates
because of HIV/AIDS is slowing the population aging process, with a
narrowing of the youngest age groups and little expansion of the oldest age
groups. A total of 32.4 percent of the population are aged 14 or under and a
further 21.32 percent are aged 15 to 24. Only 4.13 percent are aged 65 or
over. A further 4.55 percent are aged 55 to 64 years. The population is

15
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

growing at a rate of 1.19 percent. The life expectancy at birth is 54.5 years
(CIA, 2016).
The World Bank (2016) reported that over the past half-century
“political stability, good governance and prudent economic and natural
resource management” helped to “secure robust economic growth”. This was
supported by the discovery of diamonds which makes Botswana an upper-
middle income country, after being one of the poorest countries in Africa.
Botswana’s sustained economic growth averaging 5 percent per annum over
the preceding decade, had been the fastest in the world. Despite Botswana’s
continued economic growth, the country faces high levels of poverty
(estimated at 19 percent of the population) and inequality. Unemployment
has remained persistent at nearly 17.8 percent, and as a consequence, income
inequality in Botswana is among one of the highest in the world (World Bank,
2016).
Botswana is a member of the 15-nation Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC), and Gaborone hosts the SADC Secretariat’s
headquarters. SADC has a broad mandate to encourage growth, development,
and economic integration in Southern Africa.
Education expenditure is among the highest in the world, at around 9
percent of GDP, and includes the provision of nearly universal and free
primary education. The literacy level defined as those aged 15 or over who
can read or write is 88.5 percent of the population (World Bank, 2016; CIA,
2016).
Botswana was a Protectorate of Great Britain until its Independence in
1966 and since then has been a parliamentary republic. The president is both
head of state and head of government. The cabinet is appointed by the
president. The one chamber parliament consists of the National Assembly
which has 63 seats; 57 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies
by simple majority vote (first-past-the-post), four nominated by the president
and indirectly elected by simple majority vote by the rest of the National
Assembly, and two ex-officio members (CIA, 2016).
The House of Chiefs (Ntlo ya Dikgosi), an advisory body to the
National Assembly, consists of 35 members, including eight hereditary chiefs
from Botswana’s principal tribes. It consults on issues including powers of
chiefs, customary courts, customary law, tribal property, and constitutional
amendments.

16
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The Botswana Democratic Party has won every election since

Independence. The 46.5 percent of the vote it received at the 2014 election
was the first time in history that it received less than half the votes cast. The
first-past-the-post election system, where the candidate with the most votes
wins the constituency (even if they are not more than 50 percent of those cast)
meant it still won 37 seats, compared to 20 by opposition parties.
Botswana has a mixed legal system of civil law influenced by the
Roman-Dutch model and also customary and common law. Since
Independence, there has been a significant shift towards the dominance of
common law, underpinned by the country’s Penal Code (Malila, 2015,
p.267).

News landscape

The news landscape is dominated by government–controlled media in

both print and broadcasting, which comes under the Office of the President.
The Directors of Broadcasting Services and Information Services are directly
answerable to the Office of the President (African Media Barometer, 2014,
p.47; MISA, 2015a, p.27). But, there are significant numbers of private
media, especially in the print sector, with a reasonable degree of diversity and
independence (Fombad, 2011, p.18).
In the broadcasting sector, there are two state-owned national radio
stations, three national privately-owned and eight foreign stations in
Botswana, along with one state-owned and one privately-owned television
stations.
There is a perception that Botswana’s economy is able to sustain a
diversity of media outlets and new media houses can establish themselves if
they can find a niche market (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.41).
However, the government and major corporations dominate the amount of
money available to spend on advertising in Botswana and all media outlets
rely on adspend from mobile phone operators, banks, mining companies and
supermarkets. In some cases, 30 percent of total advertising revenue comes
from mobile phone companies (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.41).

Newspapers:

17
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Research I published in 2012 suggested that in Botswana newspaper

titles come and go, either by not appearing regularly or by quietly closing
down. Therefore, the only way to be sure a newspaper is still publishing is to
find it on a newsstand (Rooney, 2012). I did that again in 2016 and found the
state-owned Daily News was the only newspaper publishing daily (Monday
to Friday inclusive) and it is given away free of charge. Of the 15 private
newspapers identified in 2012, the Monday Times and the Global Post
declared bankruptcy in 2015 (MISA, 2015b, p.22) and the Mirror and the
Sunday Tribune appear to have ceased publication.
The newspapers that continue to publish are Mmegi, which appears
Tuesday to Friday. Its companion title, the Monitor publishes on Monday.
The following publish once a week: the Botswana Gazette, the Botswana
Guardian, the Echo, the Midweek Sun, the Patriot on Sunday, the Sunday
Standard, the Telegraph, the Voice and the Weekend Post. A specialist
newspaper the Business Weekly and Review is also published. Other
newspapers from outside Botswana are also widely available for sale in the
country.
It is difficult to get reliable information about newspaper circulations
in Botswana because so few are independently audited and the information
from those that are is confidential. However, figures from the Audit Bureau
of Circulation in South Africa for the three-month period July to September
2011 are available publicly (Rooney, 2012). They show the following: the
Botswana Gazette 21,621; the Botswana Guardian 20,796; the Midweek Sun
16,957; Mmegi 11,242; the Monitor 15,015 and the Voice 26,794.
Some newspapers that do not have independently-audited circulations
make unverifiable claims about the number of copies they print. It is in the
interest of media houses to make people (especially advertisers and potential
advertisers) believe that circulations are high so the following print-runs that
have been reported by researchers need to be treated with caution. The
Sunday Standard 22,000-30,000; the Echo 15,000; the Weekend Post 10,000;
the Telegraph 9,000 (Rooney, 2012; Lesitaokana & Akpabio, 2014, p.211;
Fombad, 2011, p. 20; Motsela, 2010, p.8). One writer made the very specific
estimate that the total circulation figure was 233,443 copies per week (Balule,
2016, p.86).
Newspapers are expensive, costing more than a loaf of bread and are
often unaffordable to ordinary citizens (African Media Barometer, 2014,
p.24). Another factor reducing accessibility to print media is that they are

18
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

almost entirely published in English, although some newspapers such as the

Daily News and Mmegi have Setswana pages in their editions. English is the
official language in Botswana, although the national language is Setswana
and is spoken by about 77 percent of people as a home language; while only
2 percent speak English as a home language (African Media Barometer, 2014,
p.29).
Most of the newspapers are not widely distributed in rural areas and
between 60 and 70 percent of newspaper sales are estimated to be within
100km of Gaborone (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.28). Access to print
media in rural areas is a challenge in a country with a population of 2.2
million people living in 600,370 sq. km, a country the size of France. As a
consequence, Botswana media share the same basic characteristics with those
of many other African states, including production, distribution, resources
and readerships concentrated in urban areas. Community media in Botswana
is a particularly weak area (Zaffiro, 1993; Kabeta & Ndlovu 2009).
Costs of distribution across the entire country are high and private
newspaper companies either distribute the papers themselves or use a variety
of means such as subscriptions, courier and public transport, which are not
very efficient (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.28; Fombad 2011). It can
take up to two days for newspapers printed in Gaborone to reach other major
urban areas, such as Francistown and Maun (Lesitaokana & Akpabio, 2014,
p.220).
The newspaper sector is dominated by the Daily News which is state-
owned and distributed free-of-charge and reportedly has a print run of 70,000
but it is not recorded how many copies are actually delivered (Lesitaokana &
Akpabio, 2014, p.218; Rooney, 2012).
The Daily News is readily available across the country because
government wants it to reach all citizens. Its editorial supports the
government and the ruling BDP and reporters on the paper consider
themselves to be government information officers rather than independent
journalists (African Media Barometer, 2014, pp.28-29). There is a perception
of political interference in the choice of editorial content of the newspaper
and some stories that appear in the private media do not feature in the Daily
News (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.31).
Botswana’s private print media sector is owned by 10 different
independent entities, but one group, Mmegi Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd
(MIH), is in a dominant position. MIH is the holding company to two

19
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

subsidiaries which own four newspapers (the Botswana Guardian, the

Midwek Sun, Mmegi and the Monitor) their combined circulation figures
appears to account for 35 percent of the total circulation figure of Botswana’s
private papers. In addition, MIH also has under its stable Dikgang Publishing
Company (Pty), a wholly-owned subsidiary, which publishes newspapers and
is thought to publish more than half of the local papers. MIH also has a 60
percent shareholding in Bonesa (Pty) Ltd, a newspaper distribution company
that is responsible for the distribution of a number of local papers.
Furthermore, MIH holds 20 percent of the shares in Your Friend (Pty) Ltd,
which owns Gabz FM, one of the three commercial radio stations in the
country (Balule, 2016 pp.95-96).
A survey of newspaper reading preferences among people in Botswana
reported 35.3 percent of respondents read a newspaper daily; 28.5 percent
read once a week; 10.4 percent twice a week and 25.8 percent read
“sometimes”. The most widely read newspapers were the Voice (80 percent
of respondents), the Daily News (78 percent) and Mmegi (67 percent)
(Lesitaokana & Akpabio, 2014, pp.215-216).
It also found, “almost all newsrooms” in Botswana had introduced
online versions of their print newspapers. The three most visited sites were
those of the Voice, Mmegi and the Daily News in that order and 51.2 percent
of participants in the survey read Botswana newspapers online. Participants
said they liked online newspapers because they were free to access and
convenient to read at their workplace or college. Participants were
“disappointed” that online newspaper sites did not have “exciting multimedia
content and highly interactive hyperlinks that provide[d] more information
on stories”. Online editions of most newspapers remain very similar to the
print edition and revenue streams from online platforms remain largely
unexplored. State-run television and radio has yet to extend their reach online
(Mosanako, 2016b, p.33).
However, Internet access outside of work or college is poor. As of 31
March 2017, there were an estimated 690,000 Internet users in Botswana
(29.4 percent of the total population). There were also an estimated 690,000
users of Facebook in June 2016 (Internet World Stats, 2017), but since the
two figures are identical, questions must be asked about the accuracy of the
statistics. Permission is not required to set up websites, blogs and other digital
platforms and there is no law that allows blocking or filtering of Internet
content (African Media Barometer, 2014, pp.21-22).

20
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Magazines:

A survey of magazines in Botswana made by Martha Mosha found that

in 2012 there were 252 magazines listed by Botswana Registry of Companies,
but only about ten locally-produced magazine titles were available on
newsstands. According to the office responsible for issuing International
Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN), a unique number to identify periodicals,
there were about 10 or so magazines that applied for the number each year.
Only about 20 percent of those that applied continued to publish beyond the
first issue (Mosha, 2014, pp.10-12).
As with newspapers it cannot be certain whether a title continues to
publish. The African Media Barometer (2014, p.24) identified the following
as magazines in circulation in 2014: the monthly Economic Express; the
environmentally focussed Wena, Hotel and Tourism; the youth publication
Lapologa; a farmers’ magazine, and the contemporary state-published
magazine, Kutlwano. New monthly magazine entrants in the previous two
years included Wealth, Flair, Architect Design, Peolwane (Air Botswana’s
in-flight magazine) and the general-interest magazine Mahube (African
Media Barometer, 2014, p.29). Magazines published in neighbouring
countries, most notably South Africa, are available for sale throughout
Botswana.
Mosha (2014, pp.13-14) identified a number of reasons for the failure
of locally-produced magazines in Botswana. She saw a lack of audience
research by magazine producers who had not identified a viable market for
their product and could not meet reader expectations. The market for
magazines in a country with a population of 2.2 million people was relatively
small. The costs of production were high, in part because of the relatively
small circulations the magazines achieved. Advertisers were not attracted to
locally-produced magazines, preferring to use those published in South
Africa. There were issues about the distribution of magazines where foreign
publications were often given preference at selling points such as
supermarkets and petrol stations.

Radio:

21
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Radio is the most popular medium of mass communication in

Botswana and more than 75 percent of people surveyed said they preferred it
to reading newspapers or watching television (Lesitaokana, 2013, p.205).
There are few journalists in radio and on-air voices tend to be presenters of
programmes. There are a number of phone-in programmes that afford
opportunities for listeners to discuss current events, but critics say the
presenters tend not to understand issues (African Media Barometer, 2014,
p.38).
The radio sector is dominated by the two state-controlled stations
Radio Botswana 1 (RB1) and Radio Botswana 2 (RB2) which broadcast a
range of programming that includes information, education, music and
general entertainment. In addition, there are three privately-owned stations;
Gabz FM, Yarona FM and Duma FM. All radio is based in Gaborone and
there are no community radio stations in Botswana. Radio stations from
neighbouring countries can be received in some parts of Botswana. Gabz FM,
Yarona FM and RB1 also stream content on the Internet.
RB1 is made up of two sections: culture and entertainment
(programmes), and news and current affairs. The culture and entertainment
section of RB1 is responsible for the general programmes and features
cultural themes, music and drama. Most of the programmes are designed to
educate the public, especially about government activities, but also to
entertain (Botswana Department of Information and Broadcasting website).
RB2 caters for an audience ranging in age from 15 to 45 years
comprising mainly urban and suburban dwellers. The radio station features
contemporary entertainment appealing especially to the younger members of
society and young urban professionals. RB2 also carries the full Radio
Botswana news bulletins six times every weekday. Bulletins are also
available during weekends. Unlike its companion channel RB2 broadcasts
around the clock. As a commercial channel, it generates some revenue of its
own. As a result, it provides recording facilities for commercials, and accepts
sponsored programming (Botswana Department of Information and
Broadcasting website).
A survey published by Botswana’s National Broadcasting Board
(NBB) in 2013 and the most recent of its kind available publicly suggested
that RB1 and RB2 are the dominant players in the radio sector with Duma
FM being the leading private station and foreign stations played a “minimum

22
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

role”, with Motsweding which is broadcast from South Africa being the only
viable foreign station (National Broadcasting Board, 2013, p.6).
The research surveyed 1,005 people across Botswana. Using an
international standard it divided the sample by Living Standard Measures
(LSM) using the respondents’ access to services, durables and geographical
indicators as determinants of standard of living. There are 10 LSMs with 1
the lowest and 10 the highest (NBB, 2013, p.26). The survey results suggest
people from LSM 2 to LSM 4 listened to the radio more than they watched
television and those from LSM 6 to LSM 10 watched more television than
they listened to the radio. An overwhelming majority (92 percent) of
respondents owned at least one functioning radio set and 73.1 percent said
they used radio or television to obtain information on news and current events
every day. The preferred languages for broadcasting were Setswana (67.3
percent) and English (30.5 percent). Among rural dwellers, 81.3 percent
chose government stations (RB1 and RB2) as their favourite and 13.3 percent,
private. Among city dwellers, 69.5 percent chose government radio as their
favourite and 25.6 percent of listeners chose the three private stations. The
remaining 4.9 percent listened to foreign radio stations (NBB, 2013, pp.7-8).
The extreme LSMs 1 and 2 and 9 and 10 did not listen to much radio,
while LSM 5 and 6 were “very prominent” in listening. Slightly more than
half (51 percent) of respondents spent at least an hour daily listening to radio,
but Sunday listening was “relatively low” across all radio stations. The
programme genres respondents listened to most were: news (819 out of
1,005), music (696), sport shows (475) and interviews (292). The quality of
radio content was found to be poor, mainly because programmes were too
similar (68 percent), or there were not enough programmes of the
respondents’ specific age group (74 percent) or poor programme quality (65
percent). Respondents were also dissatisfied by too many breaks in
programmes for advertising (60 percent). They believed radio in Botswana
covered news and events objectively (NBB, 2013, p.8).
The two government stations were overwhelmingly the favourites of
the respondents. RB1 scored 411 from 1,005 and RB2 scored 325. Yarona
FM was the favourite private station with 90, followed by Duma FM (76),
Motsweding (26) and Gabz FM (16). The survey concluded that the market
share of each station was as follows: RB1 (43.9 percent), RB2 (34.1 percent),
Yarona FM (9.3 percent), Duma FM (7.7 percent), Motsweding (2.7 percent)
and Gabz FM (1.2 percent). There were significant differences in radio

23
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

listening preferences between younger and older respondents. Respondents

aged between 15 and 29 years accounted for 84.4 percent of those who chose
Yarona FM as their favourite radio station. The study also found 68.4 percent
of RB1 and 56.3 percent of Gabz FM listeners who chose these radio stations
as their favourite were aged 30 years and above. As age increased the number
of respondents that chose Yarona FM as their favourite decreased. With RB1,
respondents aged 30 years and more accounted for 68.4 percent of those who
chose it as their favourite, suggesting that respondents who favour RB1
increase with age (NBB, 2013, pp.34-38).

Television:

Botswana Television (BTV) is the largest television station in the

country, but it does not transmit across the whole nation, reaching only about
40 percent of the population. BTV is also available via the satellite
subscription service, DSTV, and can thus theoretically be accessed by
viewers with a satellite dish and DSTV decoder throughout the country
(African Media Barometer, 2011, pp.46-47).
The only other free-to-air television station, eBotswana, a relation of
e.tv in South Africa, is broadcast in the capital city Gaborone and the
surrounding 60km. eBotswana, previously the Gaborone Broadcasting
Company, relaunched in 2010 and is 49 percent owned by Sabido, a South
African media company (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.29; Maegwa &
Thapisa,1998, p.27). e-Botswana states its “vision” is to be “the television
channel of choice as well as the best source of entertainment in the country”
(eBotswana website).
Its schedule is dominated by foreign programming, which it says
includes, “Hollywood blockbuster movies that have proven to be a major hit
amongst our viewers”. However, to “grow and nurture local talent”,
eBotswana has also produced local shows that, “not only serve to provide
viewers with locally-produced programs but also helps empower the
Botswana Television Industry” (eBotswana website). The NBB survey
suggested that programmes from this station accounted for 8.7 percent of all
those watched by audiences (NBB,2013, p.33).
Satellite television services are also available on subscription from
DSTV, a South African-based company that broadcasts throughout the
African continent. Multichoice Botswana which runs DSTV reduced its

24
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

prices in 2016 in an attempt to make subscription television more accessible,

however the decline in the Botswana economy and challenges such as poverty
and unemployment will continue to take satellite services out of the reach of
most people (Mosanako, 2016, p.33).
BTV is regarded as a government department and it is fully funded by
the state. BTV is not considered to be editorially independent of the Botswana
Government, the law does not guarantee editorial independence and the
Office of the President regulates BTV and other state media (African Media
Barometer, 2014, p.49). There are few news and current affairs programmes,
and they find it difficult to attract members of the public to participate as
audience members. Producers claim they have to vet people who appear as
part of the studio audience (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.50).
Asian movies and foreign soapies (soap operas) dominate BTV
programming. Some of these foreign programmes form part of a business
arrangement; for example South Korean films are reportedly broadcast in
exchange for advertising for Samsung (African Media Barometer, 2014,
p.50). Few commercials are aired on BTV, and the revenue that is collected
from licence fees goes directly to the central government revenue pool
(African Media Barometer, 2014, p.49).
A survey of locally-produced BTV programming by Seamogano
Mosanako suggested that 23 percent of all such programmes were news and
current affairs; with talk shows, sport and the breakfast show each recording
between 13 and 15 percent each. It also suggested that generally, locally-
produced content on BTV had messages that were consistent with national
development priorities. These appeared in drama and talk shows, current
affairs and educational broadcasts (Mosanako, 2016a, pp.321-323).
Talent shows which focus on performing arts such as music, dance and
poetry, served as a form of “cultural reflection”. National events, such as
Independence Day and President’s Day and international commemorations
such as World AIDS Day were scheduled as special programming on BTV.
These, she believes, make a possible contribution to “nation building” which
has been a priority of national development in Botswana since independence
in 1966. BTV also schedules programmes produced by government
departments through their public relations units which Mosanako says,
“promote the functions, policies and initiatives” of the various ministries that
produce them. About 60 percent of BTV’s target audience were families and

25
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

20 percent, children and young people. BTV did not broadcast programmes
for minority or special audiences.
The NBB audience survey suggests that South African stations
SABC1, SABC2, SABC3 and the satellite broadcaster DSTV dominate the
Botswana market. SABC has the greater share, followed by BTV. The
dominant stations are watched mostly in the afternoon and early evening,
mostly due to the broadcast at these times of soapies and Itshireletse, a
Botswana Police Service programmes. Viewers watch television more during
the week than at weekends (NBB, 2013, p.6, p.9).
Television viewing takes place across the country, but is affected by
LSMs. The survey suggested 36.19 percent of viewers were in cities, with
major villages (35.9 percent), rural villages (17.5 percent) and towns (10.5
percent). In total, 86.6 percent had a TV set in their households, but the
majority of these were in LSM 4 to 7. Only one person surveyed reported
they watched TV online or at an internet café. Nearly everyone surveyed
(92.2 percent) had watched television in the past seven days. Slightly more
than half (51.5 percent) of those surveyed said they spent between 41 minutes
and 3 hours a day watching television (NBB, 2013, pp.46-47).
The five programme genres respondents said they preferred to watch
were: news (769 out of 1,005), films / movies (528), music (511), soap operas
(494) and sports (465). There were criticisms about the quality of
programmes; 76.4 percent felt there were too many repeats; other concerns
were: poor quality programmes (59.2 percent), lack of originality (53.1
percent) and too many American programmes (51.9 percent) (NBB, 2013,
p.9).
SABC1 had the largest market share of 46.6 percent, followed by BTV
(35.6 percent), DSTV (7.6 percent), SABC2 (3.1 percent), SABC3 (2.3
percent) and eBotswana (1.8 percent) (NBB, 2013, p.50). This might have
changed more recently with bureaucratic changes that have made it more
difficult for people to sign up for SABC services.
In 2016, the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority
(BOCRA) invited interested parties to bid for commercial broadcasting
licences for both subscription and free-to-air satellite television that would
end the monopoly of television airwaves in Botswana (Mosanako, 2016b,
p.33). The first licences were awarded in June 2017 (the Botswana Guardian,
30 June 2017, p.5).

26
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Botswana Press Agency (BOPA)

The Botswana Press Agency (BOPA) was established in 1981 to

provide news for the government-owned print media and radio (television
was not established in Botswana at the time). It came at a time when
developing countries were trying to establish their indigenous news
organisations to compete with established international news agencies that
over-relied on governments for sources of information. The Southern African
News Agency (SANA) was initiated in the late 1970s in Cape Town as a
loose association of freelance and fulltime reporters and photographers in
southern Africa (Mosime, 2007, pp.106-107).
BOPA, however, was established as a news agency under the control
of government. Reporters for BOPA were from the earliest days expected to
supply material for both the Daily News and radio. So, a news item aired on
Radio Botswana often originated from a junior reporter or untrained
correspondent from different districts across Botswana. A more senior BOPA
reporter re-wrote and edited it for the Daily News before it went to a pool of
translators who usually wrote a Setswana version of the story. This was then
sent to Radio Botswana where a reporter shortened and adapted the script for
the bulletin before it was finally given to a newsreader. By the time a story
reached the audience, much had been lost from the original story (Mosime,
2007, p.158).
BOPA is able to cover rural areas across Botswana in a way that
privately-owned media cannot afford since it benefits from a large financial
commitment from the Botswana Government and international donors
(Jaffiro, 1993, pp.16-17). This enabled BOPA to quickly become a truly
nationwide news collection agency with more than 20 regional offices.

History of media in Botswana

Newspapers

The early history of newspapers in Botswana is hugely under-

researched and details available today are sketchy. The first newspaper
published for Bechuanaland (Botswana’s name until 1966) is believed to be

27
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

the Vryburg Advocate and Bechuanaland Gazette in 1886-1887, but little is

known about this today (Tutwane, 2014, p.140).
A survey of early newspapers undertaken by Eronini Maegwa and
Amos Thapisa discovered that in the 1890s the British in Bechuanaland set
up a newspaper called Bechuanaland News, printed in English as the official
publication of the colonial administration. It was the mouthpiece of the white
settlers and communicated official notices by government to the tribal
authorities. There were early Missionary Setswana language newspapers
published by Europeans, such as Mahoho a Batswana (1833-1889) and
Molekodi wa Batswana (1856-1857). Early newspapers tended to be
propaganda tools for their owners and publishers and were used as vehicles
for influencing public opinion, policy and attitude (Maegwa & Thapisa,1998,
pp.1-2).
There was a flourishing press outside of Bechuanaland and newspapers
from South Africa and Rhodesia in particular circulated freely inside the
Protectorate. As early as the 1930s the Bechuanaland government was
submitting articles in South African newspapers circulating in Bechuanaland,
including Umtetli wa Bantu and Bantu World, published in Johannesburg by
the Bantu Press (Zaffiro, 1989, p.52). During the Second World War this
cooperation with the Bantu Press resulted in the creation of Indlovu / Tlou
aimed at soldiers and Naledi ya Batswana, a publication in the Setswana
language. As late as the 1950s, no private newspapers were published in
Bechuanaland although South African and Rhodesian newspapers continued
to circulate. The weekly Mafeking Mail and Protectorate Guardian devoted
much of its space to white, urban Bechuanaland news in English and
Afrikaans. The Bulawayo Chronicle was also widely read in Francistown
(Zaffiro, 1989, p.58).
From 1958, the Protectorate had been subsidising the South African
newspaper African Echo and its Setswana counterpart Naledi ya Batswana,
which was published in Johannesburg and widely distributed among literate
Africans in major towns of Bechuanaland (Zaffiro, 1989, p.58; Tutwane,
2011, p.44; Tutwane, 2014, p.140).
The Echo was reportedly unsympathetic to the plight of the Africans
who were denigrated by their white masters both in Bechuanaland and South
Africa. Naledi ya Batswana was considered more measured in its reporting
and promoted inter-racial goodwill and cooperation. At times, it was not
fearful of criticising the colonial administration and protested against

28
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

discrimination. In 1960, Naledi ya Batswana gave positive coverage of the

Bechuanaland People’s Party, the then only opposition party in the
Protectorate, which was demonised by the government (Tutwane, 2011,
p.44).
According to Maegwa and Thapisa’s account, during the 1960s,
political parties produced a number of publications. The Bechuanaland
People’s Party had a monthly publication called Masa (Dawn) in
Francistown. It published in English and Setswana, but appeared
infrequently. It was targeted at educated elites and was anti-colonial
authority. It ceased publication in 1974. The Bechuanaland Democratic Party
(later the Botswana Democratic Party, the party of government since
independence) produced its party publication called Therisanyo
(Constitution) in Kanye. It too published in English and Setswana. The BDP
put out another booklet called Maloma-Tsebe (Warning) to counter the
publication of the Botswana National Front’s (BNF) monthly cyclostyled
newsletter called Pua-Phaa (Straight Talk). In 1967, the youth wing of the
BNF published Naledi ya Masa (Morning Star). The nationalist newspapers
began to disappear to be replaced by independent newspapers such as
Linchwe in 1967 and Mmegi wa Dikgang in 1968, but they struggled to get
readers (Maegwa & Thapisa,1998, pp.2-4).
James Zaffiro, one of the foremost researchers on this topic, reported
that during the 1960s government-controlled media were strengthened. In
1961, Major Alan Donald, an information consultant who went on to become
permanent secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, presented a report on
the need for a government-controlled information service in the Protectorate
that fundamentally shaped and propelled Botswana’s media development
(Zaffiro, 1989, p.76).
Zaffiro says Donald may have overstated the rise of nationalism within
Bechuanaland and successfully persuaded the government of the need to
control information flows within the Protectorate. Until that point there had
never been a government press or radio service in Bechuanaland because
there had not been a perceived need. The early discussions post-1961 were
whether priority should be given to developing a government-run newspaper
or a government-run radio service. At the time there were few whites in
Bechuanaland and radio services from South Africa and Rhodesia that could
be picked up in Bechuanaland were thought to meet their needs for
entertainment (Zaffiro, 1989, pp.55-56).

29
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The Donald Report laid the foundations for the establishment of the
regular government newspaper the Daily News that exists today. Donald
believed a government newspaper had to be of high calibre so people would
have confidence in its contents. He wanted it to aim at the minority of people
that set the pattern of public opinion (Zaffiro, 1989, p.58).
Donald appreciated the use that had been made by the Bechuanaland
Government of the African Echo, but he was concerned that the newspaper
took information from the government and often rewrote it and changed the
emphasise that the government had intended. He was also concerned that the
board of directors of the Bantu Press, the publisher of the African Echo, might
not support the government in a moment of crisis, especially if it had an all-
black board of directors.
Donald proposed the Bechuanaland Government should produce its
own newspaper, while continuing to support the African Echo. He wanted it
to start modestly, as a monthly internal government newsletter and later
increase its print run. It would carry news explaining the actions and policies
of the government and would be positive propaganda by anticipating
criticisms and getting the government’s own versions of events in first
(Zaffiro, 1989, pp.58-59).
Zaffiro reports that in January 1962, the first edition of the monthly
magazine Kutlwano (mutual understanding) was launched. It was to be a
publication aimed at elite opinion formers. Donald believed newspapers
should be aimed at the less than 5 percent of the population he considered to
be a highly-educated, national elite. These were to be the nation’s opinion
formers who were already supporters of the government’s agenda (Zaffiro,
1989, p.68).
Donald believed that below this elite were a further 7 percent of the
population who were “merely” literate. Donald did not care if they read
Kutlwano as they did not have the reasoning powers of the elite and could
more effectively be reached through a weekly, mass-circulation newspaper.
They would be persuaded more by the views of the opinion formers. This
belief guided the rationale for producing the Daily News. The government’s
Bechuanaland Newsletter was discontinued in 1965 and general distribution
of the Bechuanaland Daily News began with an initial print run, distributed
for free, with a circulation estimated at 4,000 copies. The circulation of
Kutlwano doubled from 3,400 per month in 1965 to 7,000 in 1966. The rest
of the population were regarded by Donald as the “unreasoning majority”;

30
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

they were illiterate and out of the range of newspapers and they would be
addressed through radio.
The Bechuanaland Daily News was started in 1965 after having been
an inset in the Mafeking Mail (Maegwa & Thapisa,1998, p.11). It became the
Botswana Daily News at independence in 1966.
For almost fifteen years after Botswana’s independence the Daily
News had almost no competition, except for Linchwe, Mmegi wa Dikgang
and Puisanyo, created in 1967, 1968 and 1972 respectively, but which did not
last beyond 1973. Francis Nyamnjoh believes the newspapers might have
offered competition to the state media, but hardly any challenge to
government, as all three exhibited loyalty and sympathy towards the
government of the day.
Five weeklies – Mmegi, the Botswana Guardian, the Botswana
Gazette, the Midweek Sun and the Voice appeared in the 1980s and 1990s to
compete for an audience with the state radio and Daily News. Later
newspapers to start up included the Sunday Tribune, launched in April 2000,
and Mmegi Monitor, started in 2000 (Nyamnjoh, 2002, p.757).
The 1980s were a decade of economic growth in Botswana and the
country was upgraded from a low-income to a middle-income country. This
growth encouraged the publication of private independent newspapers, such
as the Botswana Guardian (1982), the Examiner (1982), Mmegi Wa Dikgang,
the Botswana Gazette (1985) and the Midweek Sun (1989). The independent
media continued to grow well into the 1990s and saw the formation of the
Francistowner, renamed the Voice in 1992, and several other community or
regional papers such as the Okavango Observer (1995) and the Mirror (1995)
(Mogalakwe & Sebudubudu, 2006).

Radio

Radio broadcasting in Botswana predates Independence in 1966. The

first radio signal in Bechuanaland was received in 1927 and radio was used
mainly as a way for the Colonial Administration based in Mafikeng, South
Africa, to police the Protectorate. In 1934, the service expanded so the
Administration could communicate with various outstations, including
Ghanzi, Maun, Serowe, Tsabong, and Lehututl (Mosime, 2007, p.35; Zaffiro,
2014, p.959).

31
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

South Africa dominated the development of radio in Bechuanaland and

when in 1936 the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was
created it was given a complete monopoly of broadcasting and Bechuanaland
was considered a province of South Africa. There was competition between
Colonial authorities in Bechuanaland and South Africa to shape radio policy
in Bechuanaland in support of the divergent political and economic futures
which each power hoped to bring about. The expressed needs and preferences
of Africans was viewed as secondary or subversive or simply ignored
(Zaffiro, 2014, pp.959-962; Mosime, 2007, p.37).).
The Second World War had created a need for news among the few
Africans that had radio and there developed a strong feeling that governments
should control the mass media (Mosime, 2007, p.42). During the Second
World War there were efforts to expand radio listening by placing a set at
kgotla sites (community councils) for communal listening of news reports
about the war. The initiative had mixed support; some thought not enough
people understood the English language sufficiently well to appreciate the
broadcast, others wanted bulletins in the local Setswana language. It was
generally appreciated that the only way Africans could get news was through
radio, since there were literacy problems (Zaffiro, 2014, pp.963-964).
In accounts of the early development of radio in Bechuanaland and
Africa more generally, it is argued that African Nationalism and fear of
Communism during the 1940s to late 1960s were decisive in firmly placing
broadcasting under government control. The role of the media in Colonial
Africa was initially envisaged as improving communication between
governments and the governed and to enlighten and educate the masses. By
1948, as African nationalism grew, radio began to be seen in a new more
politically sensitive light. Bechuanaland (and other Colonial territories) were
allowed to establish their own broadcasting services as part of an effort by
Colonial administrators to check anticipated popular unrest, Communist
subversion and Nationalist agitation. The government communication
network in Bechuanaland grew from three district centres linked by Mafikeng
in 1947 to 18 by 1952 and 43 by 1960 (Zaffiro, 2014, pp.965-967; Mosime,
2007, p.48).
Once the decision had been made to grant Bechuanaland Independence
radio broadcasting was seen as a tool for countering perceived African
nationalist distortions and lies being spread by “subversive” organisations
and this would ultimately become the deciding factor for media and

32
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

information policy. A government-owned radio station started in 1962,

initially broadcasting for two hours in the evening. At Independence in 1966,
Radio Bechuanaland had been on air for a year. Shortly after Independence,
re-established as Radio Botswana, it became the first and official electronic
medium of mass communication in Botswana and was established as a
government-controlled station rather than a public broadcaster. Radio
Botswana was conceived out of a strong desire to promote a favourable image
of government in the face of perceived threats (Zaffiro, 2014, p.967; Mosime,
2007, p.49; Lesitaokana, 2013, p.202).
The setting up of a highly centralised, tightly controlled national radio
service to serve the needs of the Colonial Administration proved more
powerful than the BBC model of public service or that radio should be in
service of African education, social and economic development (Zaffiro,
2014, p.969). A report for the Botswana Government conducted by A. J.
Hughes in 1968 firmly stated that Radio Botswana belonged under
government control and was not only an instrument of the state, but of the
ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party. The job of the staff at Radio
Botswana was not journalism, but propaganda (Mosime, 2007, p.91).
Letshwiti Tutwane saw the acceptance by the government of the Hughes
Report recommendations as the “genesis of government commitment to
manipulation of media and its commitment to serving narrow, partisan
interests” (Tutwane, 2014, p.141).
In a review of the Hughes Report Sethunya Mosime recorded that
Hughes saw the role of the mass media in Botswana as being to introduce the
modern world to illiterate, unsophisticated and backward people. Hughes
believed the role of the radio service was to impart information and not
entertainment. Hughes ignored indigenous minorities in isolated areas of
Botswana, believing they were not worth the expense that would be involved
in channelling mass media to them. He thought them not so well educated,
less amenable to persuasion and that their land did not have much potential
for development (Mosime, 2007, pp.90-93).
Hughes insisted that Radio Botswana was not a public service
broadcaster like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), instead it was
a government department and “under no circumstances was it to be used to
frustrate or oppose the government which it is part” (Hughes, 1968, p.30 cited
by Mosime, 2007, p.95). Hughes believed there was no such thing as
“impartial” news and he said services such as the BBC, Voice of America

33
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

and Radio Moscow that broadcast to Africa all contained propaganda for their
countries. He believed Botswana had to have news broadcasts that reflected
the needs, interests, achievements and aspirations of the people and their
government (Mosime, 2007, p.97).
In the 1970s, Radio Botswana, now broadcasting from Gaborone,
extended its transmission capabilities into rural areas. The growing
population, rising literacy levels and new industrial developments in the
country prompted the need to expand services (Lesitaokana, 2013, p202).
Programme formats on Radio Botswana favoured education, agriculture and
music. Announcements of cabinet decisions and parliamentary debates and
news were also transmitted. Radio Botswana established a newsroom in the
early 1970’s and the number news bulletins were increased from one to four
a day. Today, bulletins are broadcast every hour (Botswana Department of
Information and Broadcasting website).
As the only broadcaster, Radio Botswana had no local competition, but
people living close to borders of neighbouring countries were able to pick up
foreign stations. The Department of Information and Broadcasting realised
its programme schedules were congested and in April 1992 launched RB2 as
an entertainment channel. Initially, it extended only 50km from Gaborone,
but now serves the whole country (Botswana Department of Information and
Broadcasting website).
The Botswana Government which owned and controlled both stations
ensured there was no competition between the two and sought a younger
audience for the new RB 2. Towards the end of the 1990s two private radio
stations Gabz FM and Yarona FM were licensed to operate within a 75km
radius of Gaborone. In 2007, another privately-owned station, Duma FM was
launched to broadcast nationally and in the same year the other two private
stations were allowed to broadcast nationally (Lesitaokana, 2013, p203).

Television

Television came relatively late to Botswana when the country’s first

national television service started in 2000. Botswana Television (BTV) was
a long time coming. The delays in launching a television service can be linked
to issues of national development planning. Infrastructure such as electricity
was still not generally available and as a sparsely populated country, the cost
of providing electricity was high, limiting the provision of services that

34
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

required large amounts of electric power, such as televisions (Mosanako,

2014, p.153).
There were also issues of cost. In 1989 the Botswana Ministry of
Finance believed only 1.5 percent of Botswana’s population would be able to
afford a television set which cost the equivalent of the average annual income
of the time (Mmusi, 2002, p.19). As early as 1968, A. J. Hughes advised
against starting a television service because most places did not have
electricity and the cost would be out of reach of all but a tiny handful of the
population and transmission costs were not likely to be recouped in licence
fees and advertising revenues. (Mmusi, 2002, p.16).
In 1984, the then President Ketumile Masire announced that
broadcasting in Botswana would not be complete without a television service.
By 1988 the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) had produced a
feasibility study that stated the problems associated with launching a
television service would far outweigh the benefits. The perceived problems
were that television programmes and commercials might encourage cultures
alien to unsophisticated people in Botswana. There was concern about the
portrayal of violence, sexual permissiveness and that television would show
affluent lifestyles and promote dissatisfaction where there had been none
before. The benefits of a television service included its ability to educate
people, increase public awareness of health and modern farming and foster
national identity. ITU reported that if a television service were to be started
in Botswana it should be a public service station rather than a commercial
one (Mosime, 2007, p.116; Mmusi, 2002, pp.17-19).
A second study in 1990 by Ted Makekgene, one-time Director of the
DIB, suggested that a television service could be introduced in phases,
starting with a small news and current affairs service (Mmusi, 2002, p.21). In
1993, a report by Studio Hamburg Media made a strong case for starting a
television service but its recommendation was rejected because
representatives of government ministries sitting as The Television Reference
Group thought the capital cost too high (Mosime, 2007, p.120). It said that if
government decided to go ahead with a television service the justification
would have to be based on other considerations rather than economic viability
(Mmusi, 2002, pp.27-29).
The government supported this view and in March 1997 it decided
Botswana should have its own television service and it would be 100 percent
funded by the government under the control of the Department of Information

35
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

and Broadcasting (Botswana Department of Information and Broadcasting

website). When it launched in July 2000 it was under the control of the
Ministry of Presidential Affairs within DIB. The early days were fraught and
BTV subsequently went through four different Directors of DIB and five
different substantive and acting general managers in the first five years of
operations. Sethunya Mosime characterised these as “power struggles”
between foreigners in the project team that launched the service and local old
guard in DIB (Mosime, 2007, p.125).
By 2003 the government’s claim that BTV would have editorial
independence was under challenge; the best journalists left the station and
opposition politicians complained about the domination of BTV news by the
ruling party at their own expense (Mosime, 2007, p.126). In April 2001 the
head of news and current affairs resigned citing censorship (Mosime, 2007,
p.159). In 2003, DIB was divided into the Department of Information
Services (DIS) and Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS) which would
control BTV and Radio Botswana. It was clear that BTV was firmly under
government control when in 2004 a Savingram (memorandum) was issued
through the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Communication and
Technology to the DBS stating,

“whenever introduction of new programmes and / or a review of programmes is effected,

proposals should first be referred to the Ministry ... to get concurrence of the Minister to
avoid the airing of programmes out of tune with Government policies or viewer / listener
expectations” (Mosime, 2007, pp.159-160).

References

African Media Barometer (2014) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of

Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Balule, B. (2016) ‘Promoting and Safeguarding Media Pluralism in
Botswana: an assessment of legal risks’. Commonwealth Law Bulletin, 42
(1):84–104. Available from:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03050718.2015.1110496
Botswana. National Broadcasting Board. (2013) ‘Audience Survey for the
Broadcast Sector in Botswana’. Report from Probe Market Intelligence.
Gaborone: National Broadcasting Board.

36
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Fombad, C. (2011). Media Law in Botswana. London: Kluwer Law

International.
Internet World Stats (2017) Internet Users in Africa. Available from:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm
Kabeta, J. and Ndlovu, T. (2009) Botswana Media Ssustainability Index.
Washington: IREX. Available from:
http://www.irex.org/resource/botswana-media-sustainability-index-msi
Lesitaokana, W. (2013) ‘Radio in Botswana: A Critical Examination of its
Growth and Dominance Across Botswana’s Mass Media Landscape’.
Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 20:1:197-211.
Lesitaokana, W. and Akpabio, E. (2014) ‘Traditional Versus Online
Newspapers: The Perspective of News Audiences in Botswana’. Journal of
Applied Journalism & Media Studies 3 (2):209–224.
Maegwa, E. and Thapisa, A. (1998) Situation Analysis and Profile of Mass
Communication in Botswana. Gaborone: Ministry of Finance and
Development Planning.
Malila, I. (2015) ‘Codified Law and the Changing Normative Context of
Disputes in Traditional Settings in Botswana’. Canadian Journal of African
Studies, 49 (2):267-283.
Mogalakwe, M. and Sebudubudu, D. (2006) ‘State Media Relations’. Journal
of African Elections, 5 (2):216-220.
Mosanako, S. (2014) Television in Botswana: Development and Policy
Perspectives. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Queensland.
Mosanako, S. (2016a) ‘The State of Coverage of Development Issues on
National Television in Botswana’. Botswana Notes and Records, 48:315-327.
Mosanako, S. (2016b) ‘Botswana National Overview’. In: So This is
Democracy? Windhoek: Media Institute of Southern Africa.
Mosha, M. (2014) ‘The Local Print Magazine Industry in Botswana’. In:
Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers. Gaborone: University
of Botswana, Department of Media Studies.
Mosime, S. (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, Durban.
Motsela, S. (2010) ‘Botswana: National Overview’. In: So This is
Democracy? Windhoek: Media Institute of Southern Africa.

37
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Nyamnjoh, F. (2002) ‘Local Attitudes Towards Citizenship and Foreigners

in Botswana: An Appraisal of Recent Press Stories’. Journal of Southern
African Studies, 28 (4):755-775.
Rooney, R. (2012) ‘Characteristics of the Botswana Press’. Global Media
Journal African Edition, 6 (1) [Internet]. Available from:
http://globalmedia.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/80
Tutwane, L. (2011) ‘The Myth of Press Freedom in Botswana: From Sir
Seretse Khama to Ian Khama’. Journal of African Media Studies, 3(1):43-55.
Tutwane, L. (2014) ‘Government and Press Relations in Botswana: Down the
Beaten African Track’. Cross-Cultural Communication, 10 (5): [Internet].
Available from:
www.cscanada.net/index.php/ccc/article/viewFile/5220/6355
United States. CIA (2016). Factbook Botswana. Available from:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bc.html
United States. Department of State (2015) ‘International Religious Freedom
Report’. Washington: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
World Bank (2016). Botswana overview. Available from:
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/botswana/overview
Zaffiro, J. (1989) ‘Twin Births: African Nationalism and Government
Information Management in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1957-1966’. The
International Journal of African Historical Studies, 22 (1):51-77. Available
from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/219224
Zaffiro, J. (1993) ‘Mass Media, Politics and Society in Botswana: The 1990s
and Beyond’. Africa Today, 40 (1):7-25.
Zaffiro, J. (2000) ‘Broadcasting Reform and Democratization in Botswana’.
Africa Today, 47 (1):87-102. Available from:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4187309
Zaffiro, J. (2014) ‘In service of Two masters: a Political History of Radio in
Pre-independence Botswana’. Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media
Studies, 28(6):958-976.

Websites
Botswana. Department of Information and Broadcasting:
http://www.dib.gov.bw/
eBotswana. Available from http://www.ebotswana.co.bw/about.html

38
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

3
Media law

According to civil society group the Media Institute of Southern Africa

(MISA), Botswana is considered a success story in the southern Africa region
because it has had a fast-growing economy and political stability. It is also
held up as the model of a thriving democracy on the African continent for
holding free and fair elections on a regular basis and having a constitution
that provides for fundamental rights (MISA, 2015b, p.20).
But, it and critics such as media academic Letshwiti Tutwane argue
that this is not necessarily the complete picture. Tutwane says this might be
partially accurate but there are undemocratic tendencies and not only in
regard to the media (Tutwane, 2011, p.43). Under the camouflage of good
governance and a sound economy is a government intent on muffling
inquiring minds and squashing dissenting voices (MISA 2015b, p20).
Freedom House in its annual reviews of press freedom in Botswana have in
recent years labelled the country’s press only “partly free’’ (Freedom House,
2016).
This chapter explores the present state of media freedom in Botswana
by examining the laws in the country that can be used to restrict the freedom
of the press and reviewing the experiences of journalists and media houses.
It begins by explaining why it is important in a democracy to have a free press
and gives an overview of the international conventions and instruments that
underpin this. It then details the laws that might be used to limit media
freedom and surveys the experiences of media practitioners in Botswana. It

39
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

ends by reviewing the arguments in favour of freedom of information

legislation in Botswana.

Media and democracy

People can only participate fully in a democracy if they are well-

informed; only then can they effectively monitor and assess their leaders’
performance and have a meaningful engagement in public debate and the
decision-making processes that impact their lives (UNESCO, 2011, p.14;
McNair, 2009, pp.19-33; Balule, 2016, p.84;). Freedom of access to
information is one of three essential requisites of democracy: the others are,
freedom to participation in the decision-making process and accountability to
the citizens by those who on their behalf exercise power. But, unless citizens
have adequate information on the issues confronting them, they will be
unable to take enlightened decisions. Without such information, citizens will
neither be able to comprehend the day-to-day workings of the government
nor will they be able to participate (Opuamie-Ngoa, 2010).
Access to information is essential to the health of democracy for at
least two reasons. First, it ensures that citizens make responsible, informed
choices rather than acting out of ignorance or misinformation. Second,
information serves a “checking function” by ensuring that elected
representatives uphold their oaths of office and carry out the wishes of those
who elected them. In some societies an antagonistic relationship between
media and government represents a vital and healthy element of fully
functioning democracies (Centre for Democracy and Governance, 1999, p.3;
UNESCO, 2011, p.14).
The main conditions for freedom of the press (a term that in this chapter
also embraces freedom of mass communication, media freedom, freedom of
speech and freedom from censorship) include an absence of censorship
licensing or other controls by governments. This provides an unhindered right
to publish and disseminate news and opinions and the right to access news,
views, education and culture. The media are free to obtain information from
relevant sources
When we think about “freedom” we need to recognise there are
distinctions between the negative “freedom from” and the positive “freedom
to”. “Freedom from” includes an absence of state excesses such as censorship

40
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

and other restrictions of civil liberties. It requires the state to desist from
acting. It includes freedom from the threats of advertisers to withdraw
advertising revenues and the threat of media owners to interfere in editorial
work including the checking of facts in all articles and other printed matter
(Jones & Holmes, 2011. p.82; Matumaini, 2011, pp.231-232).
“Freedom to” places an obligation on the state to act positively to
provide a suitable set of circumstances suitable to establishing informed
citizenship. This could include freedom to access reliable and diverse sources
of information and opinion (Jones & Holmes, 2011, p.82). It also includes the
right of media organizations and individual journalists to collect, process and
disseminate news and information; the freedom to empower the voiceless of
society, including the promotion of community, popular, institutional or
alternative media so that groups presently marginalized will be able to
participate in the democratic process; the freedom to establish independent
media which can support a variety of civil society movements and a variety
of political movements and the freedom to open up public discussion on
issues crucial to democratic decision-making involving all stakeholders on a
given issue (Matumaini 2011, pp.231-232).

International instruments for freedom of expression

In the 20th century free speech and free press rights were included in
international treaties and international law and Botswana has signed or
ratified a number of such that impact on media freedom (African Media
Barometer, 2014, p.17).
In its very first session in 1946 the United Nations General Assembly
adopted Resolution 59(I) which stated, “Freedom of information is a
fundamental human right and ... the touchstone of all the freedoms to which
the United Nations is consecrated.” The European Court of Human Rights
has stated:

Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of [a democratic]

society, one of the basic conditions for its progress and for the development of every man
(sic)… it is applicable not only to “information” or “ideas” that are favourably received
or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend,
shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population. Such are the demands of

41
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no “democratic society.”

(Article 19, 2004)

These international standards provide the basis upon which laws

guaranteeing freedom of expression can be drafted. Such laws have the
advantage of making it clear to people what their rights are, and what the
obligations of public administrators are in respect of those rights. It helps the
watchdog function of the media – and of civil society – immensely by
providing benchmarks to measure progress. The most influential of the
international treaties is the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR);
Article 19 which states,

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom
to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers” (United Nations, 1948; Article 19, 2004).

There have been other international conventions since 1948. Two of

the most significant are the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(ACHPR) (Louw, 2004, p.6; Balule, 2013 pp.3-4). The ICCPR is an
elaboration of the civil and political rights set forth in the UDHR and aims at
transforming the rights spelt out in the latter into legally binding obligations.
Media freedom is protected under Article 19 (2):

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom
to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either
orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice”.

The ACHPR protection of freedom of expression is set out in Article

9 (2) which provides: “Every individual shall have the right to express and
disseminate his opinions within the law”.

Legislation that restricts the media in Botswana

The Media Institute of Southern Africa Botswana in 2004 estimated

there were 15 laws that negatively impacted the media. To this we should
also add the Media Practitioners Act of 2008. Many of these laws have not

42
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

been used but they are there (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.5, Louw,
2004, pp.21-32). Most of them do not specifically target the media, but rather
apply to all citizens equally. Observers say that many of the laws are framed
in broad and vague terms and might contradict the Constitution.
Discretionary powers are often given to the President or other authorities
which if invoked could impact on media freedom (Louw, 2004, p.15).
Raymond Louw (2004, p.15), editing a digest of laws that restricted
media in Botswana, noted that in practice Botswana tended to avoid using
legislation against the media, but the presence of such laws has induced self-
censorship in the media which is unsure whether the legislation might at some
stage be invoked. However, his comments were written before the Media
Practitioners Act of 2008, which imposes a register on media practitioners,
was passed.
The Constitution of Botswana does not guarantee media freedom but
it does reference freedom of expression in Section 12 (1):

“Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom
of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to
receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and
information without interference (whether the communication be to the public generally
or to any person or class of persons) and freedom from interference with his
correspondence” (SADC, 2004, p.21).

The right to freedom of expression is not absolute and may be limited.

The freedom of expression section is not aimed specifically at the media and
restricts all citizens. The Constitution restricts the freedom of expression in
Section 12 (2) when, “reasonably required in the interests of defence, public
safety, public order, public morality or public health”. There is also a
provision to restrict freedom of expression,

“for the purpose of protecting the reputations, rights and freedom of other persons or the
private lives of persons concerned in legal proceedings, preventing the disclosure of
information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of the
courts, regulating educational institutions in the interests of persons receiving instructions
therein, or regulating the technical administration or the technical operation of telephony,
telegraphs, posts, wireless, broadcasting or television.”

43
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Section 16 of the Botswana Constitution permits some of the rights

entrenched in the Constitution to be set aside during a state of emergency or
during a war (SADC, 2004, pp.25-26; African Media Barometer 2014, p.12).
Although the Constitution does not expressly guarantee media
freedom, the High Court of Botswana has held that this freedom is implicitly
guaranteed as an aspect of freedom of expression (Balule, 2016; Baule, 2013;
Louw, 2004, p.17). This decision, Botswana media law specialist Badala
Balule contends, is consistent with the theory that the guarantee of freedom
of expression goes further than the theoretical recognition of the right to
speak or to write. Freedom of expression also includes the right to use
whatever medium is deemed appropriate to impart ideas and to have them
reach as wide an audience as possible.
Botswana’s Penal Code, establishes a code of criminal law in
Botswana, and some of the provisions have an impact on the operations of
media practitioners. Section 47 gives the President an absolute discretion to
declare any publication to be prohibited that in his opinion is contrary to
public interest. If a prohibited publication is printed outside Botswana it is
necessary to obtain a permit from the relevant Minister to import it into
Botswana (Government of Botswana, 1964; SADC, 2004, p.33).
Section 48 (1) makes it an offence for any person, other than a public
officer in course of his duty, to print, make, import, publish, or possess or to
be in control of any prohibited publication. Section 49 empowers the police
and administrative officers to seize publications that they reasonably believe
to be prohibited under the Code.
A noteworthy feature of the Code is that it criminalizes sedition. In
terms of section 50 (1) it is prohibited for anyone to publish anything that:

• brings hatred or contempt, or that incites disaffection against the President or the
Government of Botswana or against the administration of justice; or
• raises discontent or disaffection amongst the inhabitants of Botswana or promotes ill-
will and hostility between different classes of the population of Botswana.

This provision of the Penal Code is rarely used, but in September 2014
Outsa Mokone, the editor of the Sunday Standard was charged with sedition
under Sections 50 and 51 of the Penal Code after his newspaper reported a
story about President Ian Khama being involved in a car accident. The
Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) began searching for
Edgar Tsimane the journalist who wrote the story and he fled to South Africa.

44
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The State considered the article might be malicious and defamatory to the
President in his personal and private capacity (MISA, 2015a, p.28, p.31;
Balule, 2016, p.92; Freedom House, 2016). The Africa Media Barometer
(AMB) reported that it was unclear if Mokone had been charged because he
published this story or if it was related to other stories the Sunday Standard
was writing that focussed on corruption in the DISS. AMB reported, “These
actions were being seen as a form of intimidation meant to deter potential
sources ‘who will think twice before engaging with the media’.” AMB also
reported that laws restricting media had been present for a long time and now
the laws were being used “and they are starting to cause fear” (African Media
Barometer, 2014, pp.15-16).
Section 192 of the Penal Code creates the offence of criminal
defamation. This is defined under Section 193 as a publication likely to injure
the reputation of any person and expose him/her to contempt, hatred or
ridicule or cause damage to his/her profession or trade. People who
contravene the provisions of the Code regarding the prohibited publications
or offenders under the seditious publications provisions are liable to
imprisonment of up to three years. There is no prescribed penalty for criminal
defamation (SADC, 2004, p.34).
The Penal Code is not directed specifically at the media, but Louw
points out that Section 91 covering insults relating to Botswana makes it an
offence to publish anything with, “the intent to insult or bring into contempt
or ridicule national symbols, the flag, national anthem and the standard of the
President of Botswana”. The term “intent” is vague and can easily be used to
silence legitimate criticism and presents an area of uncertainty for the media
(Louw, 2004, p.25).
There are a number of acts of parliament that can infringe on the ability
of journalists to report freely, although they were not passed specifically to
target the media. Below are listed some of the main legislations.

The National Security Act, 1986 (SADC 2004, p.65; Balule 2016,
p.90; Louw, 2004, p29).

The primary purpose of the Act is to make provision for matters

relating to the national security of Botswana, including official state secret
information. The National Security Act, 1986 makes it unlawful for any
person who has obtained official information (in whatever form) as a result

45
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

of his/her present or former position as a civil servant to reveal that

information without authorisation. The prohibition is enforced by the
possibility of up to 30 years’ imprisonment, applied indiscriminately to all
government information, regardless of subject or triviality.
The Act applies to all sectors of the media. Section 5 criminalizes the
communication of classified matters to unauthorised persons. It is not a
defence that the accused did not know and could not have reasonably known
that the information concerned related to a classified matter. Section 9 of the
Act makes it an offence for anyone to attempt, aid, incite, or persuade another
person to do any of the prohibited acts under the Act.
Section 13(1) gives the Attorney-General the power to allow the police
to obtain information from anyone who is believed to be in possession of
information about someone else who has committed or is about to commit an
offence under the Act. What is significant about this particular section in the
legislation is that it could potentially be used by the Attorney General to
compel journalists to disclose confidential sources of information.
The field of the section is very wide, and it renders all government
information not subject to disclosure to the public. Also, the concept of
national security is not clearly defined in the Act and this ambiguity allows
the government to use the Act to suppress the dissemination of embarrassing
or inconvenient information to the public (Louw, 2004, p.29).

The Public Service Act, 2008 (Louw, 2004, pp.23-24; Balule, 2016,
p.90).

Section 34 (1) prohibits public servants from disclosing the contents of

any document, communication or information that has come to their notice
in the course of their duties unless authorised by the minister in writing. This
means that no information about the conduct of the administration may be
disclosed without the minister’s authority, a ban which conflicts with
accepted standards of public disclosure of information by civil servants in a
democracy.
The provisions in the Act, coupled with the absence of an access to
information law, have fostered a culture of secrecy in government making it
difficult for citizens and the media to access official information.

46
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Printed Publications Act, 1968 (SADC, pp.31-33; Louw, 2004, p.21;

Limpitlaw, 2012, pp110-112).

This Act provides for the registration of newspapers and obliges the
Registrar of Newspapers to maintain a register of newspapers in Botswana.
It is an offence for anyone to print or publish a newspaper in Botswana
without registering with the Registrar. Section 8 empowers the relevant
minister to declare any newspaper not to be a newspaper for the purposes of
the Act.
Section 11 empowers the police to seize any publication or newspaper
printed or published in contravention of the Act. The Act also empowers
magistrates to issue warrants authorising the police to enter any premises
where it is reasonably suspected that a newspaper that has been printed or
published in contravention of the Act is being kept.

Corruption and Economic Crime Act, 1994 (Limpitlaw, 2012, p.141;

Louw, 2004, p. 30).

Section 44 of this Act makes it an offence for anyone to disclose

information relating to an on-going investigation or to the identity of a person
being investigated for corruption or the commission of an economic crime.
This impedes the performance of the media’s watchdog role and media
practitioners in Botswana feel the prohibition on publication of issues under
investigation make it difficult and often impossible for the media to report
and expose corrupt practices. Journalists in Botswana are often restricted
from reporting ongoing investigations under this Act. In May 2015, for
example, the Botswana Gazette offices were raided by the Directorate on
Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) on the premise that the newspaper
broke Section 44 of the Act. The Botswana Gazette broke a story linking a
Zambian national who was deported from Botswana to alleged corrupt deals
linked to his relationship to the DISS (MISA, 2015b, p.21; Freedom House,
2016).
In 2014, the DCEC successfully sought in the Lobatse High Court to
stop publication of a series of stories by the Sunday Standard regarding a
DCEC investigation into corruption allegations against the DISS Director
Issac Kgosi. The order also required the newspaper to return information it

47
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

had related to the case. MISA reported this was tantamount to interfering with
the newspaper’s editorial independence (MISA, 2015a, p.28).

Intelligence and Security Service Act, 2007 (Limpitlaw, 2012, p.134)

Although not directed at the media itself, certain of the provisions of

this Act relate to the unauthorised disclosure of intelligence-related
information and could indirectly hamper the media’s reporting ability.
Section 19 prohibits the disclosure by any intelligence or security service
officer (or someone who has held such a position) of the identity of a
confidential source of information to the Directorate of Intelligence and
Security or someone who is involved in covert operational activities of the
directorate.
Section 20 prohibits, among other things, the disclosure by an officer
or a member of the support staff of the intelligence or security services of any
information gained by virtue of his or her employment. Failure to comply
with sections 19 or 20 is an offence, and the penalty is a term of imprisonment
not exceeding 12 years.

Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2007 (Limpitlaw,

2012, p.136).

Section 22 of the Cybercrime Act empowers a police officer or any

person authorised by the commissioner of police or by the director of the
DCEC to apply in writing to a judicial officer for an order compelling, among
other things, a person to submit specified data in that person’s possession,
which is stored on a computer or computer system.
These provisions might well conflict with a journalist’s ethical
obligation to protect his or her sources. However, it is important to note that
whether or not requiring a journalist to reveal a source is in fact an
unconstitutional violation of the right to freedom of expression depends on
the particular circumstances in each case, particularly on whether the
information is available from any other source. Consequently, it is extremely
difficult to state that these provisions are, by themselves, a violation of the
right to freedom of expression under the Constitution.
Section 16 of the Cybercrime Act regulates the electronic traffic in
pornographic and obscene material. In terms of Section 16 (2), any person

48
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

who, among other things: publishes pornographic or obscene material

through a computer or computer system; possesses pornographic or obscene
material in a computer or computer system or on a computer data storage
medium; accesses pornographic or obscene material through a computer or
computer system commits an offence and the penalty is a fine, imprisonment,
or both.
In terms of Section 16(3), where the material relates to child
pornography, the penalty fines are higher and periods of imprisonment
longer.
The Act is rarely used against journalists but in March 2015, journalist
Daniel Kenosi was arrested and jailed under Section 16 of the Act in a case
of unlawful distribution of pornography. He was also detained in respect of a
criminal defamation charge under Section 192 of the Penal Code (MISA,
2015b, p.31; Freedom House, 2016).

The Media Practitioners Act 2008 (Government of Botswana, 2008;

Limpitlaw, 2012, pp.113-118; Tutwane, 2014, p.143; Freedom House, 2013).

The Act was passed in 2008 but as of 2017 it had not been enacted.
The Act requires media practitioners to be registered by a government agency
and establishes a Media Council.
The definition of “media practitioner” in Section 1 of the Act is all
encompassing. It is,

“a person engaged in the writing, editing or transmitting of news and information to the
public, and includes a broadcaster under the Broadcasting Act, a journalist, editor or
publisher of a publication and the manager or proprietor of a publication or broadcasting
station.”

Under the Act a “publication” includes all print, broadcast and electronic
information which is published. “Published” means issued for distribution,
by sale or otherwise; and “publisher” means a media institution or person
who is responsible for the production of a publication.
The Act establishes a Media Council, “that shall operate without any
political or other bias or interference, and shall be wholly independent and
separate from the government, any political party or other body” (Section 4).
The objectives of the Media Council are to preserve media freedom and to
uphold standards of professional conduct and promote good ethical standards

49
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

among media practitioners through a code of ethics issued by the Council

(Section 5a and 5b).
The Media Council is also tasked “to monitor the activities of media
practitioners” (Section 5f) and “to receive complaints directed against media
practitioners” (Section 5g). The Act also requires the Media Council “to
register and accredit resident media practitioners,” to issue accredited
resident media practitioners with identity cards and; to maintain a media
register (Section 5i; 5j and 5k). The Act allows for imprisonment for a term
not exceeding three years or a fine of P5,000 or both for media practitioners
who do not register (Section 6(5)).
The membership of the Media Council is made up of all publishers of
news and information, whether or not in the private or public sector (Section
7(1)). The Act creates a Media Council Complaints Committee, with eight
members appointed by the minister. They are required to have a serious
interest in the furtherance of the communicative value of the media, do not
have a financial interest in the media and; are not in the employ of the media
(Section 11(1b)). The Complaints Committee will hear complaints against
media practitioners and if the complaint is found proved, the disciplinary
action which may be directed by the Complaints Committee shall include any
or a combination of the following:

Warning or reprimanding a media practitioner;

Imposing a fine on a media practitioner;
Suspending a media practitioner’s registration by the Council for a specified period; or
Removing the practitioner’s name from the register; (Section 14(2)):

Under the Act, the minister will appoint an Appeals Committee

consisting of a legal practitioner recommended by the Law Society of
Botswana (to chair the Appeals Committee); a member of the public; and a
representative of the media recommended by the Council (Section 15(1)).
The Act also allows the minister to, by statutory instrument, make
regulations, “relating to any other matter intended to safeguard the interests
of the public and promote professional standards in the media” (Section 38b).
The Act has not come into force mainly because it was fiercely
contested by media freedom advocates, such as the MISA and the Law
Society which has refused to appoint a representative to sit on the Appeals
Committee of the Media Council Complaints Committee (African Media
Barometer, 2014, p.16; MISA, 2015a, p.29). MISA complained that the

50
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Media Council complaints committee that would adjudicate on alleged code

of ethics violations was appointed solely by the Minister of Presidential
Affairs and Public Administration. This meant the government through its
appointees could strip journalists of the right to practice their profession.
MISA complained that the Act also gave the minister powers to make
regulations on any matter intended to “safeguard the interests of the public
and promote professional standards in the media” and to regulate the
registration and accreditation of foreign journalists (MISA, 2015b p.22).

Communications Regulatory Authority Act, 2012 (Communications

Regulatory Authority Act, 2012; Balule, 2013, pp.7-9; African Media
Barometer, 2014, p.33).

This Act replaced the Broadcasting Act of 1998 that had set up a three-
tier structure for broadcasting: namely public, commercial and broadcasting.
The 2012 Act eliminated community broadcasting and replaced public
broadcasting with state broadcasting. It abolished the National Broadcasting
Board (NBB) and replaced it with the Communications Regulatory Authority
to oversee regulation of broadcasters. However, it only regulates private
broadcasting and leaves state radio and television untouched (African Media
Barometer, 2014, p.44). Media practitioners in Botswana saw the new Act as
a way to restrict community broadcasting.
Section 12 (1) of the Constitution obliges the state to promote diversity
and pluralism in the media so that the freedom of expression becomes a
reality, but by excluding community radio, the Act denies the opportunity to
use whatever medium is appropriate to impart information and ideas. The Act
does not promote diversity of content and so violates international norms on
broadcasting (Balule, 2013, pp.9-12).
The Act took over the roles of the former National Broadcasting Board
and the Botswana Telecommunications Authority. The Minister of Transport
and Communication appoints the Communications Regulatory Authority
Board. There is no public involvement in the selection of the secretariat or
the board and a suspicion among the media community that people are chosen
to serve not only for their professional qualifications but for their political
interests (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.45).
The Communications Regulatory Authority Board is not considered to
be independent of government because before it issues broadcast licences it

51
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

must first notify the minister, which suggests that approval is being sought
from the government and the regulator does not have exclusive jurisdiction
on licensing matters. The minister also has the right to overturn
Communications Regulatory Authority decisions if national security or
relations with a foreign government are threatened (Balule, 2013, p.15).
The Communications Regulatory Authority Board has seven members
who are all appointed by the government minister and no procedure is in place
to ensure selection is open and democratic. This varies from the previous
National Broadcasting Board that was established under the Broadcasting
Act, 1988. Then, a list was drawn up for the minister by a nominating
committee which comprised a member of the Botswana Law Society, the
Vice Chancellor of the University of Botswana and a nominee from the
Office of the President, which gave the appointment process an element of
transparency. In contrast, the government minister has sole discretion in
appointment of members of the board (Balule, 2013, p.16).

Press freedom in Botswana

Botswana has ratified the ICCPR and ACHPR. It has also adopted the
Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic Media
which affirms that the establishment, maintenance and fostering of an
independent, pluralistic and free media is essential to the development and
maintenance of democracy in a nation. The Declaration urges African states
to take positive measures to guarantee the establishment of media freedom
(Louw, 2004, p.5; Balule, 2013, p.4; Balule, 2016, p.88). However, such
international instruments have no automatic application in Botswana’s
domestic law because they have not been incorporated by legislation (Louw,
2004, p.19). Although the ICCPR and ACHPR are not binding in Botswana
there is evidence that courts sometimes have used them as guidance (Louw,
2004, p19). The Botswana Court of Appeal (the country’s highest court) has
held that courts must interpret domestic laws in a way that is compatible with
the state’s responsibility not to be in breach of international law for creating
treaties, conventions, agreements and protocols within the United Nations
and the African Union (Balule, 2013, p.3). Media practitioners are sceptical
about the government’s commitment to the international treaties, believing

52
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

that it is not considered a priority, so it signs treaties but does not honour them
by making them law (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.17).
In Botswana, the largest-circulating newspaper, the only television
station and two of five local radio stations are directly controlled by the
government. The government has also used a range of measures to harass the
private press, including deportation of foreign journalists (Tutwane 2014,
p.144). MISA reported a “clamping down” of the media by government
during 2015. It saw this as due to the “interlinkage between power, patronage
and corruption”. In 2016, NGOs reported the government attempted to limit
press freedom and continued to dominate domestic broadcasting. The INK
Centre for Investigative Journalism said the environment for journalists was
one of “intimidation” by officials (US State Department, 2017).
MISA reported,

“The hierarchy of the rich state has cascaded into pockets of power and influence for
people in leadership allowing them to benefit financially along the various rungs of the
supply chain. Party membership and position especially, but not exclusively in the ruling
party, have become an important ticket for accessing jobs, business loans, opportunities
and the winning of tenders for supplying to the government and its agencies” (MISA,
2015b, p.20).

MISA believes media reports exposing these corrupt practices are

unpalatable for the political establishment, mostly because the cases reported
involve people high up on the ladder of hierarchy. The DCEC tends to come
down hard on the media, by raiding media houses arresting journalists or
intimidation through surveillance (MISA, 2015b, p.20).
Media practitioners in 2014 reported a series of confrontations with the
Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) (African Media
Barometer, 2014, p.13). It was reported that journalists had been followed
and had their phones bugged. Offices at media houses were broken into and
laptops taken. A member of the public posted a comment on Facebook about
a topic discussed on a radio show and within 30 minutes security officers
interviewed him and the radio station was admonished for allowing people to
express themselves on air (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.13).
Practitioners reported that there was lack of clarity over the mandate
of DISS and it was being used to spy on citizens and ordinary people were
“being continually harassed” by DISS officers (African Media Barometer,
2014, p.14). A number of reporters have reportedly left their jobs because

53
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

they and their families have been threatened (African Media Barometer,
2014, p.14). In 2017, the Sunday Standard newspaper published extracts from
a report prepared for DISS that revealed its close links with some media
houses that was useful in DISS’s attempt to undermine the ruling Botswana
Democratic Party’s political opponents (Sunday Standard, 16 July 2017, p.1).
In March 2016, freelance journalist Sonny Serite who had covered
stories for the Botswana Gazette about alleged corruption which were critical
of the president was arrested by officers of DISS and charged under Section
317(2) of the Penal Code for obtaining documents allegedly containing “state
secrets”. This happened ten months after the detention of the Botswana
Gazette’s managing editor Shike Olsen, a reporter at the paper Innocent
Selatlhwa and a lawyer Joao Salbany over a corruption expose. Salbany, who
is not a Botswana citizen, later left the country when the authorities refused
to renew his work permit (Mosanako, 2016, pp.35-36).
Repression of journalists continues to be a problem. In a review of
media freedom in Botswana in 2016 Seamogano Mosanako identified the
continuing court case of involving Sunday Standard editor Outsa Mokone,
the first Botswana journalist ever to be charged with sedition. It was, she said,
proof that the tension between the state and journalists would not be resolved
soon. Mokone was charged following a report in his newspaper about a car
accident that allegedly involved Botswana President Ian Khama while
driving alone at night (Mosanako, 2016, pp.34-35; Sunday Standard, 1
September 2014, p.1). After publication the reporter of the story Edgar
Tsimane fled to neighbouring South Africa in fear of his life and he has been
living as an asylum seeker since 2014. The case against Mokone is being
handled under sections 50 and 51 of Botswana’s Penal Code which outlaw
any “intention to bring into hatred or contempt or to incite disaffection against
the person of the president or the government of Botswana as established by
law”. Mosanako says there is an increasing perception among politicians and
academics of growing authoritarian tendencies by the Botswana Government
(Mosanako, 2016, p.35).
There is a long historical tendency of media censorship in Botswana,
especially among media controlled directly by the government. After
Botswana gained Independence in 1966, control of the media in Botswana
was centred in the Office of the President (OP) and the government media
(the Daily News and Radio Botswana) took instructions from the OP
(Tutwane, 2011, p.45) and in time it treated the government press “as a

54
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

propaganda tool” (Tutwane 2014, p.144). Tutwane identifies a long history

of censorship in government media and all articles destined for the Daily
News were routinely despatched to the OP to be edited by the President’s
Permanent Secretary. Tutwane reports that it was, “normal at Radio
Botswana for journalists to receive calls from the Office of the President
directing that a story to be broadcast was prohibited or just to give directions
on a certain story” (Tutwane, 2011, pp.47-48).
Interference by government in editorial independence of state media is
not just a historical phenomenon. Media practitioners report numerous recent
examples of interference at Botswana Television. The OP interferes and the
permanent secretary is said to make editorial decisions to the extent that “top
people” have been to the station to approve news before it went on air and in
some cases has ordered it be replaced with “something less controversial”
(African Media Barometer, 2014, p.48).
A continuing concern in Botswana is the economic power the
government has over the private media; radio and newspapers as it is the
biggest single purchaser of advertising in the country. The high dependence
of the private media on government advertising revenue limits their
independence and government has used this to curb the watchdog role of the
media (MISA, 2015b, p. 20). Media houses are not able to prove the ban is in
operation, but MISA reported (2015a, p.27) a “grapevine” circulated at the
time of the 2014 national election that the government was withholding
advertising from newspapers said to be critical of it (MISA, 2015a, p.27).
In May 2001 the Botswana government ordered all ministries,
departments, parastatal organisations and private companies in which the
government was a stakeholder to stop advertising in the Botswana Gazette
and its companion the Midweek Sun following the newspapers’ reporting of
a number of alleged scandals in government, the Botswana Defence Force
and at elections (Louw, 2004, pp.15-16; Tutwane, 2014, p.144). Later, the
government banned the supply of police and crime information to the two
newspapers. The directive giving the order on advertising stated this was
because of “persistent negative and often hostile reportage on government
and its institutions by the two newspapers” (Louw, 2004, p.16). The
advertising ban reduced the income of the papers and began to undermine
their commercial viability.
The ban was challenged and the High Court at Lobatse declared it
unlawful as it violated the newspapers’ right to freedom of expression (Louw,

55
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

2004, p.16; Tutwane, 2014, p.144; Limpitlaw, 2012, p.158). The ruling in the
case of Media Publishing (Pty) Ltd v The Attorney-General and Another was
that,

“Government cannot act with a view to taking away an individual’s benefits as an

expression of its displeasure for the individual’s exercise of a constitutional right as this
would tend to inhibit the individual in the full exercise of that freedom for fear of incurring
punishment” Limpitlaw, 2012, p.158).

The ruling also stated,

“[A]n individual, being a beneficiary to governmental patronage, who in the exercise of

its freedom of expression goes beyond what the government is comfortable with, faces the
possible unpleasant consequence of losing certain benefits which it would otherwise have
received. This hinders the freedom to express oneself freely” (Limpitlaw, 2012, p.158).

Despite the court ruling, the Botswana Government continues not to

advertise in media houses that displease it. In a review of media freedom in
Botswana in 2015, MISA reported the ban, “has had a devastating effect on
the sector”. It reported that while top officials adamantly denied any mention
of a ban and instead referred to the move as a rationing of adverts, members
of the media intercepted communication that specified the media houses that
government departments were able to do business with and the ones they had
to avoid. MISA reported several media houses had downsized and
streamlined their operations as a result. Two newspapers, the Global Post and
Monday Times closed down in early 2015 after declaring bankruptcy (MISA,
2015b, p.22). The ban passed off by the Botswana Government as a “cost-
cutting measure” continues and is seen by media practitioners as a ploy to
influence their editorial content, “with a view to making it less critical of the
government or even to stifle the media altogether” (Mosanako, 2016, p.32).
In October 2014, parastatals were told to pass their advertising through
their responsible ministry and to provide the OP with details of their
advertising expenditure. Media houses were suspicious that this was to ration
advertising for media houses that were not critical of the government (African
Media Barometer, 2014, p.40). It was reported in 2014 that the Sunday
Standard did not get advertising because it was at “loggerheads with the
government” and the Botswana Defence Force had stopped advertising in the
Botswana Guardian (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.40).

56
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

An editorial in Mmegi, the only private daily newspaper in Botswana,

reflecting on the 2001 High Court case in favour of freedom of expression,
said advertising bans by governments and big business amounted to
economic intimidation and harassment against critical media. It said
businesses threatened to withdraw advertising from newspapers in an attempt
to stop them from reporting what they often dismissed as “malicious”
allegations. It added,

“Since advertising revenue is the lifeblood of newspapers, some are forced to swallow
their pride and spike their stories. This is the truth about how freedom of expression is
under siege in Botswana. Economic might must not stand in the way of truth and fact or it
will surely be used to stranglehold reporting to death. In the twilight language of
newspapers caught in such a trap, this is called publish or perish. However, we will not be
intimidated” (Mmegi, 8 March 2013).

Freedom of information legislation in Botswana

There is no freedom of or right to information legislation in Botswana.

UNESCO, the United Nations agency mandated to promote freedom of
expression and freedom of the press, explains freedom of information in this
way,

“Freedom of information may be interpreted narrowly as the right to access information

held by public bodies or, more broadly, as including access to and circulation of
information held by other actors. It is intrinsically linked to the basic human right of
freedom of expression. Freedom of information is therefore also fundamentally connected
to press freedom, representing a crucial element to enable media to strengthen
democratization, good governance and human development through its roles as a watch-
dog over the abuse of power (promoting accountability and transparency), as a civic forum
for political debate (facilitating informed electoral choices), and as an agenda-setter for
policymakers (strengthening government responsiveness to social problems). In turn,
complete realization of the right to know cannot take place without a free, independent,
plural, ethical and professional press” (UNESCO, 2011, p.14).

The right to information entails the right to seek information as well as

the duty to give information. The duty to enable access to information rests
with the government but could extend to private persons where the
information is required for the exercise or protection of a right. Access to
information is an essential requirement for the effective enjoyment of

57
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

freedom of expression and enables informed public debate. The news media
is critical to freedom of expression as they provide a “marketplace of ideas”
resulting in the development of informed and diverse societies (Balule, 2016,
p.89). Freedom of information and the transparency it promotes has a direct
consequence on fighting government corruption which is often identified as
the primary hindrance to development (UNESCO, 2008, p.3).
The Constitution of Botswana guarantees the right to information as an
aspect of freedom of expression and protects the “right to receive ideas and
information without interference”. But, as Badala Balule says there is no right
to information law in Botswana and there are laws that make access to
information very difficult, for example the National Security Act, 1986 and
the Public Service Act, 2008 (Balule, 2016, p.90).
The right to information has been enshrined in international
instruments since the first meeting of the United Nations in 1946 and was
provided for under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in 1948 and later in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
in 1966. The African Union adopted the African Charter on Democracy,
Elections and Governance in 2007 with one of its objectives to foster access
to information and freedom of the press (Botlhale & Molefhe, 2013, pp.205-
206).
In Botswana in 1997 the government included a pledge to develop right
to information legislation as part of Vision 2016, a long-term vision for the
country’s socio-economic and political development to be achieved by the
year 2016. However, this did not happen as the government resisted many
requests from civil society groups to draw up a bill for parliament. In 2012
after about two years’ preparation MP Dumelang Saleshando, with the help
of the office of the Attorney General and a number of civil society
stakeholders, tabled a Right to Information Bill as a private member’s bill
The bill aimed to extend the right of members of the public to access
information, particularly documentation, in the possession of public
authorities. The bill eventually failed after opposition from members of the
ruling Botswana Democratic Party (Botlhale & Molefhe, 2013, pp.208-210).
Another bill was introduced in 2015, again without success.

References

58
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

African Media Barometer (2014) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of

Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Article 19 (2004) Freedom of Expression and the Media. Manchester: British
Council.
Balule, B. (2013) ‘Diversity and Pluralism Compromised: From the
Botswana Broadcasting Act 1998 to the Communications Regulatory
Authority Act 2012’. Statute Law Review, 34:189-206.
Balule, B. (2016) ‘Promoting and Safeguarding Media Pluralism in
Botswana: an Assessment of Legal Risks’. Commonwealth Law Bulletin, 42
(1):84-104.
Botlhale, E. and Kaelo Molefhe, K. (2013) ‘The Death of the Right to
Information Bill in Botswana’. International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions 39 (3):204-213
Freedom House (2013) Freedom of the Press Botswana. Washington:
Freedom House. Available from:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-
press/2013/botswana#.UwMaPYXzpTE
Freedom House (2016) Report: Botswana. Freedom House, Washington.
Available from:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/botswana
Government of Botswana (1964) Penal Code of Botswana (cap 08:01, Laws
of Botswana) (1964). Available from:
www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/bw/bw012en.pdf
Government of Botswana (2008) Media Practitioners Act (No. 29 of 2008).
Available from:
https://www.researchictafrica.net/.../botswana/Media_Practitioners_Act_20
08.pdf
Jones, P. and Holmes, D. (2011) Key Concepts in Media and Communication.
London: Sage.
Limpitlaw, J. (2012) Media Law Handbook for Southern Africa. Vol. 1.
Johannesburg: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

59
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Louw, R. ed. (2004) Undue Restriction, Laws Impacting on Media Freedom

in the SADC. Windhoek: MISA.
Matumaini, J. (2011) ‘What is the State of Media Freedom in Tanzania?’
African Communication Research, 4 (2):225-226.
MISA: Media Institute of Southern Africa (2015a) So This is Democracy?
State of Media Freedom in Southern Africa 2014. Windhoek: MISA.
MISA: Media Institute of Southern Africa (2015b) So This is Democracy?
State of Media Freedom in Southern Africa 2015. Windhoek: MISA.
Mmegi (2013) Between freedom and advertising, Mmegi, 8 March
Mosanako, S. (2016) ‘Botswana National Overview’. In: So This is
Democracy? Windhoek: Media Institute of Southern Africa.
SADC (2004) Media Law: A Handbook for Media Practitioners. A
Comparative Overview of Media Laws and Practice in Botswana, Swaziland
and Zambia. Vol. 2. Johannesburg: Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Tutwane, L. (2011) ‘The Myth of Press Freedom in Botswana: From Sir
Seretse Khama to Ian Khama’. Journal of African Media Studies, 3(1):43-55.
Tutwane, L. (2014) ‘Government and Press Relations in Botswana: Down the
Beaten African Track’. Cross-Cultural Communication, 10 (5): [Internet].
Available from:
www.cscanada.net/index.php/ccc/article/viewFile/5220/6355
UNESCO (2008) Freedom of Expression, Access and Empowerment. Paris:
UNESCO.
UNESCO (2011) The Right To Know. Paris: UNESCO.
United Nations (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Available
from: http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html
United States State Department (2017) Botswana 2016 Human Rights Report.
Available from:
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2016
&dlid=265226

60
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

4
Ethics

Ethics is the foundation of journalism: without it there is no journalism. David

Ingram and Peter Henshall (2008) in a three-volume journalism training
manual produced by UNESCO, put it starkly when discussing ethics and the
law:

“Some of the ethical principles we discuss are so important to professional journalism that you
really have no choice but to obey them. If you disregard these central principles of journalism, you
will not only have behaved badly as a journalist, but you will also have undermined the very
foundations upon which professional journalism is built.”

In this chapter I explore the state of journalism ethics in Botswana.

This is a huge area of study and would take more than a single chapter to deal
with fully. Because of that I concentrate on the area of accuracy in reporting.
What little statistical evidence we have about news reporting in Botswana
suggests that the main ethical concern of readers is the lack of accuracy,
completeness and balance/fairness in stories This concern is shared across the
world in both developed and developing countries.
I start by outlining what ethics are and why they are important in news
media anywhere in the world, before concentrating on the African context
and the concept of “Afriethics”, a uniquely African model of media ethics,
developed by Francis Kasoma (1996). Although media academics in the past
twenty years or so have engaged with Kasoma’s ideas I can see little evidence
that media practitioners in Botswana have taken Kasoma as their role model.

61
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Rather, they have developed codes of ethical practice to guide their work that
have distinct similarities with codes of conduct in use in pluralist democracies
across the world.
I then look at codes of conduct and what they are meant to achieve
before looking specifically at the Botswana Press Council, its ambitions and
its own codes. I do this after summarising some of the main concerns about
journalism standards that were raised in a series of local workshops.
Then, I look specifically at the standard of accurate reporting in
Botswana newspapers exploring it in the context of global standards in
journalism. I finish by discussing what journalists might do to improve their
standards of accuracy.
This chapter started life as a paper for a research seminar at the
University of Botswana (Rooney, 2015).

Defining ethics

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of moral

behaviour and understanding ethics can provide the tools for making difficult
decisions. The goal is not to make ethical decisions with which everyone
agrees, but to increase the ability to defend critical judgements on some
rational basis (Day, 2006, p.20). In simple terms, morality is the right or
wrong (or otherwise) of an action, a way of life or a decision, while ethics is
the study of such standards as we use to judge such things. For example,
abortion may be “moral” or “immoral” according to the right or wrong code
we employ but “ethics” tells us why we call it immoral or moral and how we
make up our minds.
Ethics is sometimes called moral philosophy; we use it to criticise,
defend, promote, justify and to answer questions of morality, such as: How
should we treat one another? What is right and wrong? How can we know or
decide? Where do our ethical ideas come from? What are rights? Who or
what has them? Should we coerce one another? Can we find an ethical system
that applies to everyone? (Newell, 2005).
Broadly speaking ethics can be examined from two perspectives. One
is “metaethics”, that is, philosophical on the nature of moral judgments. The

62
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

other perspective is that of “applied ethics”, that is the attempt to choose from
among various ethical approaches in deciding practical matters. Between
these two approaches lies a middle ground. “Normative ethics” is concerned
with the criteria (standards or norms) of what is morally right or wrong
conduct. “Professional ethics” refers to professional behaviour,
encompassing applied and normative ethics (Starck, 2001, pp.136-137;
Oosthuizen, 2002, pp.12-16).
In journalism ethics we are mainly concerned with the “normative
ethics” that is what is the right thing to do in any given circumstances.
Journalists and other media practitioners have developed codes of ethical
conduct to offer guidance and I shall explore this more fully later in this
chapter.

Why ethics are important to news media

In many societies when we talk of “media ethics” we usually mean

“journalism ethics”. This is because of the important role journalists play in
society. Much of the academic work that looks at media ethics looks at
journalism, but there are also ethical codes for advertisers and public
relations. Some codes also exist for general broadcasters, such as at the BBC
(British Broadcasting Corporation, n.d.).
Journalists are very important in any society. They give us information
about what is going on in the world and newspapers, radio and TV give space
for people to discuss ideas and to make important decisions (Jones and
Holmes, 2011, pp.182-183.) We do not have personal experience of the news.
This applies to what is going on in the next village as well as in the next
continent. Journalists decide what is important – what to print or broadcast –
and what is not. The argument goes that what journalists chose to report (and
not report) can have a profound effect on the entire society (McNair, 1998,
p.35). This means that journalists must take care to report accurately and
include as many voices with different views as possible. People go further
and say news media have a democratic duty of acting as a watchdog against
government thereby making it transparent and accountable to the people.
Ultimately, with credible information provided by a free press, the citizen can
increase oversight of government activities and therefore affect decision-

63
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

making. This happens most obviously at election time when the news media
should give full, unbiased information about the platforms of all political
parties to enable people to make up their own minds who to vote for.
Away from elections, the news media have a major responsibility to
examine what government is and is not doing, by reporting the news,
interpreting the news, influencing citizens’ opinions, setting the agenda for
government action, and educating citizens about politics and encouraging a
political culture to evolve (Roth 2001, p.10; Ojo 2003, p.828). Ideally, the
media should provide voice to those marginalized because of poverty, gender,
sexual orientation, or ethnic or religious affiliation. This is to ensure their
views and concerns become part of public debate. It is also possible that this
might contribute to the easing of social conflicts and to promoting
reconciliation among divergent social groups (Coronel, n.d. p.6; Allan, 1999,
pp.49-50).
What journalists decide to leave out and not tell us is just as important
as what they do tell us (Potter, 2006, pp.8-9). People must be able to trust
journalists to do the right thing and tell the truth (McNair, 1998, p.64). But,
unfortunately, there is a lot of concern that journalists are not behaving well
and instead of giving us useful serious news they give us too much that is not
serious such as the private lives of celebrities and other famous people (Jones
and Holmes, 2011, pp.210-211). This tabloid journalism has given all
journalism a bad name. There are also worries that journalists are using bad
methods – sometimes illegally – to get information (Leveson, 2012).
Ethics aims at developing a comprehensive set of principles and
standards for the practice of media, but they are not identical across the world.
Every society has its own ethical values and practices (Liu, Volcic, & Gallois,
2011, pp.112-115). Media Ethics are not a product of a single idea, thought,
practice or will that cover everything. Ethics evolve over time and become
integrated into society.

Media ethics in an African context

Media ethics set out the broad standards by which journalists might be
expected to behave; what people and institutions ought to do or how they
should conduct themselves. These expectations stem from the fundamental

64
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

value of the society in which the journalists operate. A society’s dominant

political ideology leads to the formulation of policy which determines what
people expect from the media (Oosthuizen, 2002, p13.)
In Africa during the 1990s there was a growing belief that most African
newspapers were very unprofessional and in particular reports on politics
were highly biased with little truth, they were one-sided and exaggerated and
not put into context. Newspapers were often guilty of advocacy journalism
and sensationalism. In general, African newspapers were full of
exaggerations, based their reports on flimsy hearsay, made headlines cry
wolf, quoted sources out of context, denied a fair hearing for people against
whom allegations were made, were very biased in reporting, published smear
campaigns columns based more on the emotions of the writers than on
reasoned opinions, and were guilty of illogically written editorials and more
(Francis Kasoma (2000) in Retief, 2002, p.37; Francis Nyamnjoh, 2005,
pp.83-84).
According to Francis Nyamnjoh, although the news media were mostly
to blame for poor standards you could not divorce their situation from the
circumstances prevailing in the countries in which they worked. He said
journalism ethics had to be placed in the context of the country in which they
operated, so it followed that if dishonesty and corruption was overlooked in
society generally, media practitioners would simply reflect this (Nyamnjoh,
2005, p.86).
Francis Kasoma believed that the “humaneness” of journalism had
given way to the expediencies of financial and political competition in search
of profit maximisation and was abandoning the objective of “serving the
people”. He saw a news media that had its own agenda of self-enrichment
and self-aggrandisement and refused, “to be held accountable for the harm it
causes to society both individually and collectively”. He wanted African
journalists to return to the “primordial ethical checks and balances that have
always existed in African society and ensured reasonably good moral order”.
He maintained that Africa’s journalists closely imitated the professional
norms of developed countries and therefore their own aims and objectives
became blue-prints of media in industrialised societies as there were
considered world standards that every journalist should observe (Kasoma,
1996, p.95).
Kasoma had a poor view of global journalism believing it was
disintegrating into a “power-centred profession which always wants to have
the last word on issues and hardly admits any wrong-doing”. Such journalists

65
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

were propagating their own individual agendas as opposed to societal ones.

Kasoma believed that journalists as a collective group should be more
concerned with the effect of society of what they disseminate, instead of
leaving this responsibility to individual journalists or media houses (Kasoma,
1995, pp.96-.98). He submitted that journalists could not exceed limits
permitted by the society in which they worked. He argued for more
“Africanness” in African journalism.
He identified a form of news reporting in African newspapers that he
labelled “vendetta journalism” which put the individual journalist’s or the
media house’s interests ahead of society. He described vendetta journalism
as, “a journalism of hatred, revenge, and dislike against people in the news”
(Kaoma, 1995, p.99). He identified some of the practices of vendetta
journalism as: using abusive language against sources or any other people in
the news they are reporting; choosing not to approach a source for comment
on a story that incriminates him/her; selectively choosing facts that paint a
bad picture of the source and writing a biased story; and using sarcasm in
reporting sources the journalists hate or dislike (Kasoma, 1995, pp.99-100).
He decried journalists who made “allegations against politicians, based on
the flimsiest hearsay and suspicion there is dirt under the political carpet” as
it was not the same as actually exposing the dirt (Kasoma, 1995, p.101).
Kasoma developed a model of “Afriethics” that depended on
journalists performing “good acts” that served the whole community and the
more beneficial to a larger community the acts were, the ethically better they
were. The need for the common good for the community overshadowed all
acts in African society. He was convinced of African society’s humane
approach to life and proffered it as the only redeemer of the world’s press.
Kasoma insisted African journalists could learn from the emphasis on the
community and society in Afriethics and they did this by developing a deep
sense of right and wrong so that they were able to feel guilty for behaving
unethically and they would try to correct colleagues who falter in their
journalistic performance. Kasoma wished for media houses to be more like
families with dialogue in the newsroom regarding what news and information
should be disseminated and what not, as opposed to the existing mainly one-
way communication in which the editors gave instructions and reporters
carried them out. Kasoma believed morals in African journalism should lay
stress on the social conduct of journalists as a collective and communal
profession in which the wrongs of an individual journalist had a capacity to
tarnish the image of everyone who practiced it (Kasoma, 1995, pp.103-110).

66
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Kasoma’s work made an impact on media academics, but it is less clear

that media practitioners engaged with his ideas as there is no evidence that
the ethical deficiencies among journalists he identified changed as a result of
his work. Among academics, Fackson Banda offered a detailed critique of
Afriethics (Banda, 2009, pp.235-239). Banda believed Kasoma’s views on
Africa were based on a romantic notion of how life was lived in rural Africa
before the colonialists arrived and there was little evidence that life in
contemporary Africa was like this. Today, major decisions are taken by
people in cities who are more in tune with western influences. People in
Africa today are open to a wide variety of influences from many facets of life,
including religion, law and culture. Afriethics did not allow that times had
changed and made it seem that media ethics had frozen in precolonial African
times.
Reviewing academic studies of news media practice in Africa, Robert
A White (2010, pp.63-65) discovered journalists had different motivations,
such as a basic understanding of their role and a sense of compassion for the
sufferings of the people, but he concluded there probably was no one typical
ethical journalistic practice since the reasons for ethical journalism could vary
greatly in different African contexts. White developed a hypothesis that
journalists in Africa tended to see their obligations as a duty to inform the
public of events which concerned the public’s welfare and to represent the
plight of the ordinary people. Most wanted to be involved with the powerful
decisions of the day, such as political elections and major policy decisions.
This suggested that they wanted to make liberal-democracy work, but African
journalists were often sceptical of institutions of democracy and perceived
African society as divided into a ruling class of political and business leaders
using power arbitrarily for their wealth accumulation and for rewarding
friends, and a mass of the people with uncertain incomes and poor housing
and frequently mistreated by officials, the police, and landlords. Journalists
were paid little and often had insecure jobs and tended to identify with the
mass of the poor. The high points of their job came when they could reveal
the corruption, inefficiency, and injustice caused by the ruling class and
officialdom. White found little evidence that a communalistic worldview with
loyalty to family, ethnic ties, and community was a direct influence on a sense
of moral obligation in journalists. However, they were not ethically consistent
and could be idealistic in reporting violations of human rights in one moment,
and then sell out their independent conscience in the next moment.

67
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Codes of conduct

Today in Africa, as elsewhere in pluralist democracies, journalism

ethical norms tend to be driven by codes of conduct or practice. Codes of
conduct generally are a means by which professional organisations declare
the values that guide their work, determine their social role and determine the
professional norms they consider appropriate (Bertrand 2000, cited in
Himelboim & Limos, 2008, p.240). Codes describe the broad normative
ideals of the journalism profession and it is these that articulate what people
and institutions ought to do or how they should conduct themselves
(Oosthuizen, 2002, p.13). Journalist codes of ethical conduct seek to achieve
several objectives, including enhancing the dignity, influence and reliability
of the relevant professions in the eyes of the public. They also help to prevent
the imposition of external limitations and supervision (such as media laws)
on journalists. The state is prevented from intervening in media activity and
content, while media practitioners impose limitations and restrictions on
themselves. The media are often encouraged to create a code of ethical
conduct under threat of legislation (Himelboim & Limos, 2008, p.240).
Ethical codes are usually voluntary and therefore difficult to enforce (Dennis
& Merrill, 1991, cited in Himelboim & Limos, 2008, p.240). The sort of
content a code has will depend on the kind of body that drew it up, such as a
trade union, a publisher’s association, a government appointed committee or
a statutory body. For example, the interests of members of a journalism trade
union will not always be identical with those of the publishers of a newspaper
that employs them (Harris, 1992, p.47).
With codes for journalists there are three types of direct beneficiary.
First, there are readers and audiences of the media house for which the
journalist works. Clauses which lay down the requirement that reports should
be truthful, accurate, objective etc., can be seen as designed to protect readers
and audiences from being manipulated and to allow them to rely on the
information given in those reports when making their daily decisions.
Second, there are individuals from whom the journalist obtains material. For
example, a code may state that a journalist should not breach the confidence
of a source who has given information only on condition that his or her
identity not be disclosed. And third, there are those whose story a journalist
is investigating. Thus, a code may also state that a reporter should not harass
or intrude on the privacy of the person or persons about whom he or she is

68
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

writing. Although newspapers carry a great deal of material that is not news,
it is only those parts of them that do convey news, and that involve the work
of reporters, which are the subject of press codes of conduct. One other area
of media practice that has been singled out for codification is advertising
(Harris, 1992, pp.48-50).
The Botswana code draws on the many already operational codes of
media ethics that exist elsewhere in the world and would not seem out of
place in many other countries. In a review of codes of journalism codes of
conduct within South Africa, for example, Johan Retief identified common
denominators within these codes of conduct that included articles on
accuracy, truthfulness, fairness, impartiality, confidentiality, conflicts of
interest, invasion of privacy, trauma, stereotyping and social responsibility
(Retief, 2002:38-45). All of these characteristics exist in one way or another
within the Botswana code. There have been several academic studies
observing the content of journalism codes of conduct across the world. They
found that there is a near total consensus that the codes should include norms
on accurate, truthful and honest reporting (Himelboim & Limos, 2008,
p.242).

Journalism standards in Botswana

I want now to look at journalists in Botswana and the many obstacles

they face in their reporting. Some are due to a scarcity of resources and some
due to deliberate attempts by government officials to withhold information.
Despite these obstacles, private media in Botswana are said to pursue their
oversight function with determination, but it is more difficult for private
media organisations than for government-owned ones to obtain access to
government-held information (Rooney, 2012; Freedom House 2011; Motsela
2010).
Media practitioners in Botswana recognise these problems. In 2009,
and again in 2011 and 2014, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung sponsored African
Media Barometer workshops with media practitioners in Botswana to collect
attitudes on media performance in the country (African Media Barometer,.
2009; African Media Barometer, 2011; African Media Barometer, 2014).
Participants felt many journalists lacked sufficient knowledge and capacity

69
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

and made mistakes as a result, but errors were not a result of malice. They
said that journalists were unwilling to admit mistakes and an inaccurate story
might appear as the newspaper’s main headline, but the apology for the
inaccuracies very rarely appeared on the front page.
Workshop participants reported that sometimes articles were
inaccurate because it was difficult to get information, and this led to reporters
relying on speculation. Each government ministry has a public information
officer, but they tend to block information, rather than provide access to it.
Participants said reporting was generally fair and was not considered to be
“gutter journalism” although accuracy, fairness and balance were sometimes
found to be lacking. A voluntary media code of ethics for all print media
drafted by the self-regulatory Press Council of Botswana (PCB) was adopted
in 2004 to assist journalists in this regard.
I recognise the difficulty in identifying “inaccurate” reporting in
newspapers in Botswana. Unless readers have been personally involved in
the circumstances of the news item, or have some personal or expert
knowledge of the subject covered, they would not be able to gauge its level
of accuracy. The only way for a reader to be certain that an inaccuracy had
occurred would be if the newspaper publicly acknowledged such.
An inaccuracy would be said to be publicly acknowledged when a
newspaper published an item clearly stating it had made a mistake (see for
example, Matter of Fact, the Midweek Sun, 6 May 2015, p.4). These items
might be only a correction of facts, or they might include a formal apology to
those who have been misrepresented (see for example, Apology, the Echo,
27 February 2014, p.12). In addition, an inaccuracy might be alleged to have
taken place when an aggrieved person or organisation writes a letter of
complaint or sends a press release that is then published by the newspaper
(see for example, US Embassy Press Release, the Sunday Standard, 18 May
2014). The allegation of inaccuracy might also take the form of a paid
advertisement from an interested party commenting on a news item that did
not directly relate to itself. An example of this was an advertisement written
and paid for by the BOPEU trade union published in a number of newspapers
referring to an alleged inaccuracy in the Patriot on Sunday newspaper about
Independence Day not being a paid holiday (see for example, Weekend Post,
26 September 2014, p.16). In the cases of letters, press releases and paid
advertisements, it is not necessarily the case that the newspaper formally
acknowledges any wrong-doing.

70
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

I am not going to attempt to quantify how many times inaccuracies are

acknowledged since such action is entirely at the discretion of the newspaper
and it is possible that some newspaper titles are more willing to publicly
acknowledge its mistakes than others. So statistically, I shall rely only on data
available from the PCB which allows readers to complain to it about instances
of alleged inaccuracies (among other ethical considerations).

The PCB and the Code of Conduct

The PCB is the custodian of the ethical code of conduct for journalists
in Botswana. It was established in 2004 as a self-regulatory body to handle
complaints from the public about the media (African Media Barometer, 2011,
p.52). There is a counter, statutory body called the Media Council, established
by the Media Practitioners Act (MPA) in 2008, although this is not yet
operational as the law has yet to be implemented.
The PCB exists to promote a free, ethical, pluralistic and self-
regulating news and information media, in the areas of print and broadcast
journalism. It is there to promote the observance of media ethics by all media
practitioners in accordance with a common Code of Practice. The PCB was
originally intended for all the country’s media – state, private, print and
broadcasting. However, it became clear over time, and with the passing of the
MPA in 2008, that state media could not be regulated in such a way, as it was
in effect operating as a government body and thus answerable only to the
state (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.52).
Through the Media Code of Ethics of Botswana, the PCB says it is
committed to promoting public awareness of both the rights and
responsibilities of the media, in an effort to balance freedom of expression
with a responsible media. One African Media Barometer workshop reported,
the Press Council’s members had a “good” code of ethics, which had been
implemented by private media houses (African Media Barometer, 2011,
p.52). The existence of the PCB reportedly had led to a reduction in litigation
against the media. However some aggrieved parties still preferred to take a
matter to court to get financial compensation. The statutory Media Council,
once operational, would be able to order apologies and corrections;
reprimand, fine, suspend and even deregister media practitioners; while the

71
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

self-regulatory Press Council will demand that any media in the wrong must
publish the complaints committee’s report and an apology. Press Council
decisions are not enforceable (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.52).
The PCB Code of Ethics has 22 articles divided into five categories:
general standards, general duties of a media practitioner, good practice, rules
of the profession and editorial rules (see Appendix 1).
The code concerns itself with a number of areas of journalist endeavour
which can be broadly divided into two areas: (i) the personal responsibility
of the journalist and (ii) editorial content.
The articles of the code which are about the personal responsibility of
the journalist include such matters as undue pressure from advertisers;
making payments for information; plagiarism; protecting confidential
sources; under no circumstances suppressing news (unless it borders on
issues of national security); allowing a fair opportunity for organizations or
individuals to respond to issues raised in publications; and using ethical
means to secure information and photographs. All of the foregoing is practice
that involves activity prior to the writing and subsequent publication of
editorial material. It is impossible through a scrutiny of newspaper pages to
ascertain to what extent these articles are being followed.
The remaining articles are about editorial content in one way or
another. These articles include the right to unbiased, accurate, balanced and
comprehensive information; respect for privacy; the granting of corrections
where inaccurate information has been published; separating comment from
facts; hate speech; identifying innocent relatives and friends of convicted
criminals; identifying victims of gender violence; dealing with minors; and
intrusions into personal grief.
The code draws on the many already operational codes of media ethics
that exist elsewhere and has adopted and adapted these to suit its own
purposes. The code of conduct would not seem out of place in other media
environments. However, there are glaring omissions under Art 19 Hatred and
Disadvantaged Groups, which detail a list of groups falling under this
category but does not include people living with HIV/AIDS nor LGBTI
people.
The PCB heard complaints from members of the public from 2006 to
2008. After 2008, with the passing of the MPA which introduced a Media
Council it became unclear which of the two bodies would be responsible for
hearing complaints. As a result, no formal complaints have been heard since

72
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

2008. This is to the possible detriment of ethical media standards in Botswana

because as a result of the lack of official activity it has been impossible for
those working in the news media to develop understandings of how their own
codes might be applied in practice and no public space has been created in
which discussions about the rightness or otherwise of the codes exists.
Table 1 details the number of complaints received and dealt with by
the PCB. In three years of operation a total of 18 complaints were received
of which seven were subsequently withdrawn. Of the 10 cases adjudicated all
were upheld, but three were appealed.

Table 1 Complaints to the PCB

Received withdrawn adjudicated upheld dismissed appealed
2006 4 2 2 2 0 0
2007 8 3 4 4 0 1
2008 6 2 4 4 0 2
Source: PCB annual reports 2006, 2007, 2008 (Press Council of Botswana n.d).

Note some cases involved more than one category.

There is a lack of clarity with these statistics as not all categories have
clear definitions nor do they all relate directly to the PCB code of ethics. In
other countries a complainant would be expected to cite which of the code of
ethics they allege has been broken thereby directly relating the perceived
misdeed to the code that the journalists themselves endorsed. The PCB does
not do this. The categories “sensitivity” and “defamation” have no direct link
with the code, while “inaccurate”, “incorrect”, and “imbalance” all speak in
one way or another to articles four, five and seven of the code. The category
“misleading” might also belong here but it is not entirely clear. It is debatable
whether the PCB should be dealing with the category “defamation” as this is
a legal matter, probably best left to the law courts.
With all these caveats in place, we can see from Table 2 that the
overwhelming concerns of complainants to the PCB were about accuracy and
imbalance, accounting for 11 out of the total 18 complaints received in the
three years. This concern about accuracy and fairness was echoed by
participants in the African Media Barometer workshop who reported
“accuracy, fairness and balance were sometimes found to be lacking”
(African Media Barometer, 2011, p.53).

73
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Table 2 Categories of complaints to the PCB

Year Inaccuracy Sensitivity Defamation Imbalance Invasion Misleading Denied
/ incorrect of right of
privacy reply
2006 1 2 1 0 0 0 0
2007 4 0 3 2 1 1 1
2008 1 0 1 3 0 0 0
TOTAL 6 2 4 5 1 1 1
Source: Author using PCB annual reports 2006, 2007, 2008 (Press Council of Botswana n.d).

The Media Complaints Committee noted it received complaints from

media houses against other media establishments. There were also times
when media houses refused to publish adjudications made against them after
they had been found to have violated a code. The PCB noted this was a “very
disturbing trend and does not auger well for enforcement and application of
self-regulation”. It noted for the public to have any confidence and trust in
the PCB adjudications they had to be published and broadcast by the media
whether it had been ruled in their favour or not. It concluded, “To
systematically fail to do this, and selectively publish only those cases ruled
in their favour would only serve to reinforce the public’s perception that
media are only a self-serving fraternity” (Press Council of Botswana, n.d.).
The PCB noted that its Media Complaints Committee was easily the
preferred forum for dealing with privacy cases while the courts dealt with far
less than half the number of cases brought before the committee. The PCB
route through corrections, apologies, undertakings and so on, was the
preferred mode of settling media disputes between members of the public and
the media industry as opposed to litigation. The PCB said it believed that
self-regulation was the only suitable way of promoting high editorial
standards and achieving redress for intrusions and inaccuracies, while at the
same time maintaining press freedom (Press Council of Botswana, n.d.).
The PCB noted in its 2008 annual report that public education in the
work of the PCB was a “high priority”. Lack of resources prevented the PCB
going to people at community level and or district councils to brief them
about its mandates. To date this still remains an issue.

Accuracy

74
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Two of the PCB code’s articles are directly relevant to my present

study: Article 2 and Article 5.

Article 2 states. “Accuracy

i. When compiling reports, media practitioners must check their facts properly, and the
editors and publishers of newspapers and other media must take proper care not to publish
inaccurate material. Before a media institution publishes a report, the reporter and the
editor must ensure that all reasonable steps have been taken to check its accuracy. The
facts should not be distorted by reporting them out of the context in which they occurred.
ii. Special care must be taken to check stories that may cause harm to individuals,
organizations or the public interest. Before publishing a story of alleged wrongdoing, all
reasonable steps must be taken to ascertain and include the response from the individual
or organization (Botswana Press Council, n.d.)

Article 5 states. “Comment, Conjecture and Fact

A media practitioner shall distinguish clearly in his/her publications between comment,
conjecture and fact. The comment must be a genuine expression of opinion relating to fact.
Comment or conjecture must not be presented in such a way as to create the impression
that it is established fact (Botswana Press Council, n.d.).

Journalists on newspapers (and also radio and television) have a

responsibility to put before the public information that is accurate and based
on truth. Journalists ask their readers to accept their integrity when writing
their news reports. Readers and audiences demand information without
deliberate falsehoods. Reporters are expected to include all relevant facts in
their stories unless there is some compelling reason for omitting some salient
piece of information. They also expect reporters to give balanced accounts,
not in favour of one side or another (Day, 2006, p.27).
Truth is essential to the democratic process since democracy depends
on an informed citizenry. News media are the prime conduits of information
when they do not provide truthful, accurate, and meaningful information they
deprive their audiences of the ability to make rational decisions in matters
(such as voting at election times) of great importance to them. Louis Alvin
Day identifies three concepts of truth in journalism (i) the story must be
accurate; ii) it should promote understanding by being as complete as possible
and not intentionally withholding information; and iii) it should be fair and
balanced (Day, 2006, pp.83-88).

75
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Trust between journalist and reader breaks down when it is discovered

that journalists have failed to produce accurate reports of the events they
cover. Getting things right is important because readers must feel that they
can trust their newspapers (or other news media). The main way they do this
by having confidence that the reports and articles in the newspapers are
accurate.
The African Media Barometer workshop in 2009 reported that in
Botswana, even with a code of ethical conduct journalists did not follow basic
principles. Journalists from both state and private media tended not to get
both sides of the story and misquoting was “very common” (African Media
Barometer, 2009, p.58). The extent of the problem was not fully known
because members of the public did not make known mistakes to the PCB and
instead directly approached the media house concerned.
The workshop recognised that sometimes reporters were inaccurate as
it was difficult to get information because people did not cooperate. There is
also a lack of a formal access to information law in Botswana so journalist
could not demand the information. The lack of availability of information led
to journalists speculating about the truth. Participants concluded that errors
in the Botswana media were not the result of malice and newspapers in the
country were generally “quite conservative” and were professional
mainstream publications and not “sensation-filled tabloids”. One reason
given for mistakes taking place was that media houses in Botswana were
under-resourced and struggled to retain experienced journalists who could
mentor younger journalists. There was also a lack of specialisation in the
media as a result of limited funds and high staff turnover (African Media
Barometer, 2009, p.58).
Outside of Botswana, there have been many academic studies into the
relationship between media accuracy and credibility. Put simply, the more
errors there are in an article, the less credible is the news story. Errors not
only diminished respect for the newspaper but also tarnish the media’s
working relationships with the sources relied upon for information. If sources
of news cannot trust the newspaper to get it right, they are unlikely to
willingly work with that newspaper in the future.
Academic research gives us an insight into how often newspapers
make mistakes. Scott Maier surveyed people who had been used by
newspapers in the United States as sources in news stories to find out from
these news sources how accurate they thought the reports were. Maier also
asked the sources why they thought errors happened.

76
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

News sources found one or more errors in 61 percent of the news and
news feature stories they reviewed. Multiple errors were common. The top
errors were: essential information missing; quotes distorted; story
sensationalized; misquotation; inaccurate headlines on stories; numbers
wrong; misspelling; job title wrong; name wrong; location wrong; time
wrong; date wrong; and address wrong (Maier, 2005, pp.539-541).
The main reason given by sources, when asked to judge why the
reporter made a mistake, was simply that the reporter did not understand what
he or she was writing about.
Here are the top seven reasons for errors
1. Reporters did not fully understand the story;
2. Pressure to get the story done on time;
3. Not enough research;
4. Did not ask enough questions;
5. Events surrounding the story were very confusing;
6. Laziness on the part of the news staff;
7. Pressure to scoop others. (Maier, 2005, p.542)

The way forward

Africa Check, a non-partisan fact-checking organisation, has

developed a detailed practical guide on how reporters can ensure accuracy in
their writing (Moodie, 2014). Here are some extracts. The full guide is
available at this link https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-how-reporters-
can-ensure-accuracy-in-their-writing/

Know your subject

Most stories require a bit of advance research, even if you’re a beat
reporter and fairly familiar with the issues involved. But be very choosy about
the sources of your information.

77
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Wikipedia is fine for an overarching view but it can often be incorrect

or slanted by the individual bias of contributors. Stick to original source
material as much as possible. If you’re using secondary sources like news
reports, look for articles published by reputable newspapers, magazines and
reporters.

No such thing as a stupid question

Just because something has been published don’t assume that it is right.
We all get things wrong from time to time. Errors slip through news editors
and sub-editors. Articles in library and online news archives that have been
subject to corrections after publication may not include links or cross-
references to those corrections.
The importance of proper research cannot be understated. Never go to
an interview without preparing for it first. And during an interview, check
key facts like dates, spellings and places with the interviewee. Mistakes – big
and small – are easily perpetuated if you don’t take the trouble to check things
with the source directly. There is no such thing as a stupid question. More
often than not people will appreciate your diligence.

Use a recorder
Record the interviews you conduct. If you record an interview, there is
little room for error. Transcribing interviews can however be a hugely time-
consuming process and rather onerous when working to a tight deadline.
During an interview, jot down the timecode of the recording at key moments
or when the interview says something noteworthy. That way you can locate
it quickly later.

Your notes are crucial

Always take notes. Recorders fail and batteries die. There are few
things worse than doing a long interview and discovering afterwards that the
interview didn’t record. Your notes are also a crucial guide to the interview.
Mark key quotes in your notebook with an asterisk or underline them so you
can find them more easily when you sit down to write the article.

78
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Check all the details, no matter how inconsequential they may seem.
Go over important aspects with the interviewee until you are certain you have
it right.
It is very important to take the time to check the dates, times, ages,
exact titles and names. Don’t make assumptions. Nothing annoys people
more than having their names misspelt.

You can’t write about something you don’t understand

Check anything you don’t understand. You can’t write about
something if you don’t understand what it’s about. Remember there are no
stupid questions. If it’s a dauntingly complex issue or subject, for example,
something to do with science or technology or economics, try and explain it
back to the person you are interviewing. They won’t mind and will appreciate
your attempts at clarity.

The importance of independent sources

If you are breaking a story or are dealing with a contentious issue, then
make sure you have at least two sources – preferably three – who are not
connected to each other in any way. This is what is meant by “two
independent sources”. They must be independent of each other. If the person
you are interviewing is not media savvy make them aware that what they are
saying will be printed or broadcast. They need to be aware of the possible
consequences of talking to you on-the-record.
If someone is being sketchy and vague about something seemingly
important (politicians and bureaucrats, for instance, often try to avoid being
pinned down), then stop them and state your understanding of the issue as a
question. For instance, if you were interviewing an official in the Department
of Health you could say: “Let me make sure I understand what you are saying.
The department’s policy for national health insurance has changed to
x,y,z…?”

Writing the story

Before you sit down to write, take a moment to consider whether the
story you plan to write will be fair and accurate. Do you need to approach
someone else for further comment to give the article balance? If there is

79
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

something niggling you, deal with it, don’t ignore it. Your instinct is usually
right.
During writing, pause to think if you have captured the essence of what
each person told you. Does someone need a little bit more weight in the story,
a little bit more explanation or perhaps a little bit less? Can their point of view
be put more concisely and more clearly in indirect speech? Are you
representing the essence of what they told you accurately when you put it in
indirect speech? Is the phrasing ambiguous or difficult to understand? What
is the essence of what they told you? Remember, no matter how pressed for
time you are, your name is on the article and your reputation for getting it
right is the most important asset you have.
Check the details against your notebook, your recording and source
material: all the facts, names, dates, titles and positions and any figures of
any kind. Don’t rely on recall.

Check, check and check again

If there is anything you are unsure of, or if there are details you forgot
to double-check during the interview, call the interviewee back immediately.
With any online checking, try go to the most authoritative sources – not
Wikipedia – but places where you can access original source material.
Likewise if you need to check things that have been reported in the news,
refer to credible news organisations. Always attribute your source material.
If you are unable to verify a specific fact, leave it out or write around it. If it
is a fact or detail that is crucial to the article, tell the news editor that you’ve
got a problem. Don’t keep silent.

Cleaning copy
No matter what deadline pressure you are under, take ten minutes and
read carefully through your finished article. Do this at least twice. On the first
reading look for spelling and grammar errors. Tighten and brighten the copy
and check each and every little fact. It often helps to print out a copy of the
article, underline or highlight key aspects like names, dates, times, places and
quotations, and then check them against your notes and source material.
On the second reading, think about the bigger picture, the sense of the
piece, whether it’s balanced and fair and ethical. You’ll probably spot a few
remaining typos along the way. If you have the time, go through it again.

80
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

There is nothing more irritating to a news desk than messy copy littered
with spelling mistakes. There are lots of online dictionaries available.
Fewer spelling errors and cleaner copy means the news desk and the
sub-editors can concentrate on the big-picture stuff: the facts, the balance and
angle of the story and the ethical and legal issues.

APPENDIX

The Botswana code of journalism ethics

(From the Press Council of Botswana.)

Preamble
The safeguarding of the freedom of speech in Botswana should be
closely connected to the right of access to information. The media should
endeavour to collect information and news and to publish them as correctly
as possible. In pursuance of this endeavour the media recognizes that the
individual citizen is entitled to respect for his/her personal integrity and the
sanctity of his/her private life and the need for protection against unjustified
violations. Journalists are however encouraged to demonstrate receptiveness
to unfamiliar realities, and an ability to report on these realities without
prejudice.

APPLICATION
1. Application
i. The Code will govern the conduct and practice of all media
practitioners, media owners, publishers and Media Institutions to be enforced
by the Press Council of Botswana.
ii. Each media sector shall submit its Code of Ethics, which will align
to that of the Press Council of Botswana.

GENERAL DUTIES

81
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

2. General Standards
i. Media practitioners must maintain the highest professional and
ethical standards.
ii. They must carry out their functions, which include informing,
educating and entertaining the public professionally and responsibly.
iii. They must take reasonable steps to ensure that they disseminate
accurate and balanced information, and that their comments upon events are
genuine and honest.
iv. They must never publish information that they know to be false or
maliciously make unfounded allegations about others that are intended to
harm their reputation.

GENERAL DUTIES OF MEDIA

1. General Duties of a Media Practitioner
i. A media practitioner has a duty to maintain the highest professional
and ethical standards by being honest, fair as well as courageous in gathering,
reporting and interpreting information.
ii. A media practitioner shall at all times defend the principle of the
freedom of the press and other mass media by striving to eliminate news
suppression and censorship.

GOOD PRACTICE
2 Accuracy
i. When compiling reports, media practitioners must check their facts
properly, and the editors and publishers of newspapers and other media must
take proper care not to publish inaccurate material. Before a media institution
publishes a report, the reporter and the editor must ensure that all reasonable
steps have been taken to check its accuracy. The facts should not be distorted
by reporting them out of the context in which they occurred.
ii. Special care must be taken to check stories that may cause harm to
individuals, organizations or the public interest. Before publishing a story of

82
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

alleged wrongdoing, all reasonable steps must be taken to ascertain and

include the response from the individual or organization.

3. Correction of Inaccuracy and Distortion

i. If a Media Institution discovers that it has published a report
containing a significant distortion of the facts, it must publish a correction
promptly and with comparable prominence. If a Media Institution discovers
that it has published an erroneous report that has caused harm to a person or
institution’s reputation, it must publish an apology promptly and with due
prominence.
ii. A Media Institution must report fairly and accurately on any finding
by the Press Council on its performance.

4. Right of Reply/Rebuttal
Where a person or organization believes that a media report contains
inaccurate information or has unfairly criticized the person or organization,
the Media Institution concerned must give the person or organization a fair
opportunity to reply.

5. Comment, Conjecture and Fact

A media practitioner shall distinguish clearly in his/her publications
between comment, conjecture and fact. The comment must be a genuine
expression of opinion relating to fact. Comment or conjecture must not be
presented in such a way as to create the impression that it is established fact.

RULES OF PROFESSION
6. Undue Pressure and/or Influence
i. Media owners and publishers, and media practitioners must not
suppress or distort information about which the public has a right to know
because of pressure or influence from their advertisers or others who have a
corporate, political or advocacy interest in the Media Institution concerned.

83
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

ii. A media practitioner must not succumb to cultural, political or

economical intimidation intended to influence the outcome of the published
or broadcast material.

7. Public Interest
A media practitioner shall exercise his/her profession in the public
interest without undue interference from any quarter.

8. Payment for Information

i. Media Owners and Publishers and Media Practitioners must never
publish or suppress a report or omit or alter vital facts in that report in return
for payment of money or for any other gift or reward.
ii. Media owners, publishers and media practitioners must not pay
people to act as information sources unless there is demonstrable public
interest value in the information. (They must also indicate when the
information has been paid for).

9. Reporting of Investigations
i. In our law a person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
Media institutions are entitled to inform the public about arrests of suspects
by the police and the trial of persons accused of crimes. They should,
however, not publish the names of suspects until the police have filed formal
charges against them unless it is in the public interest to do so.
ii. Where a media institution has started to report a criminal
investigation, it should normally follow up and report subsequent
developments in the case.

10. Privacy
It is normally wrong for a media practitioner to intrude into and to
report upon a person’s private life without his or her consent. Reporting on a
person’s private life can only be justified when in the public interest to do so.

84
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

This would include: detecting or exposing criminal conduct; detecting or

exposing seriously anti-social conduct; protecting public health and safety;
and preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action of
that individual where such a person is doing something in private which he
or she is publicly condemning.

11. Intrusions into Grief or Shock

In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries should be carried
out and approaches made with sympathy and discretion.

12. Interviewing or Photographing Children

i. Media Practitioners should not normally interview or photograph
children under the age of sixteen in the absence of or without the consent of
a parent or a legal guardian/authority.
ii. In interviewing and photographing children in difficult
circumstances or with disabilities, special sympathy and care must be
exercised.
iii. Children should not be approached or photographed while at
schools or similar institutions without the permission of the school authorities
or institutions.

13. Children in Criminal Cases

Media Institutions must not publish the names of any offenders under
sixteen arrested by the police or tried in the criminal courts.

14. Victims of Crime

Media Institutions must not identify victims of sexual assaults or
publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless the victims
have consented to such publications or law has authorized them to do this. In
cases where consent is given subject to certain conditions, then such
conditions must be respected.

85
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

15. Innocent Relatives and Friends

Media Institutions should generally avoid identifying relatives or
friends of persons convicted or accused of crime unless the reference to them
is necessary for the full, fair and accurate reporting of the crime or the legal
proceedings.

16. Gathering of Information

i. Media Practitioners should normally use open methods of gathering
information in which they clearly identify themselves as media practitioners.
Generally they should not obtain or seek to obtain information or pictures
through misrepresentation, subterfuge or undercover techniques.
ii. Surreptitious methods of information gathering may only be used
where open methods have failed to yield information in the public interest.
These methods may thus be employed where, for example, they will help to
detect or expose criminal activity, or will bring to light information that will
protect the public.

EDITORIAL RULES
17. Hatred and Disadvantaged Groups
Media Institutions must not publish material that is intended or is likely
to cause hostility or hatred towards persons on the grounds of their race,
ethnic origins, nationality, gender, physical disabilities, religion or political
affiliation. Media institutions must take utmost care to avoid contributing to
the spread of ethnic hatred or dehumanizing disadvantaged groups when
reporting events and statements of this nature. Dehumanizing and degrading
pictures about an individual may not be published without the individual’s
consent.

18. National Security

86
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

i. Media Institutions must not publish/broadcast material that will

prejudice the legitimate national security interests of Botswana in regard to
military and security tactics or strategy, or material held for the purpose of
intelligence relating to defence.
ii. This provision does not prevent the media from exposing corruption
in security, intelligence and defence agencies and from commenting upon
levels of their expenditure and overall performance.

19. Plagiarism
No media practitioner should engage in plagiarism. Plagiarism consists
of making use of another person’s words or ideas without proper
acknowledgement and attribution of the source of those words or ideas.

References

African Media Barometer (2009) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of

Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
African Media Barometer (2011) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of
Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
African Media Barometer (2014) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of
Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Allan, S. (1999) News Culture. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Banda, F. (2009) ‘Kasoma’s Afriethics’. The International Communication
Gazette, 71 (4):227-242.
British Broadcasting Corporation (n.d.) Editorial Guidelines. Available from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidelines-accuracy-
introduction
Coronel, S. (n.d.) The Role of the Media in Deepening Democracy. Available
from:

87
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan010194.pd
f
Day, L. (2006) Ethics in Media Communications Cases and Controversies.
Boston: Wadsworth.
Freedom House (2011) Report: Botswana. Washington: Freedom House.
Available from:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&country=8002&year
=2011
Harris, N. (1992) ‘Codes of Conduct for Journalists’. In: Belsey, A. and
Chadwick, R. eds. Ethical Issues in Journalism and the Media. London:
Routledge.
Himelboim, I. and Limos, Y. (2008) ‘Media Perceptions of Freedom of the
Press: a Comparative International Analysis of 242 Codes of Ethics’.
Journalism, 9:235-265.
Ingram, D. and Henshall, P. 2008. The News Manual, Vol 3. [Internet]
UNESCO. Available from:
http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%203/volume3_00intr
o.htm
Jones, P. and Holmes, D. (2011) Key Concepts in Media and
Communications. London: Sage.
Kasoma, F. (1996) ‘The Foundation of African Ethics (Afriethics) and the
Professional Practice of Journalism: The Case for Society-centred Media
Morality’. Africa Media Review, 10 (3):93-116.
Leveson, L. (2012) An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the
Press. Executive Summary. London: Stationery Office.
Liu S., Volcic, Z., and Gallois, C. (2011) Introducing Intercultural
Communication, Global Cultures and Contexts. London: Sage.
Maier, S. (2005) ‘Accuracy Matters: A Cross-Market Assessment of
Newspaper Error and Credibility’. Journalism and Mass Communications
Quarterly, 82 (3):533-551.
McNair, B. (1998) The Sociology of Journalism. London: Arnold.

88
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Moodie, G. (2014) How Reporters Can Ensure Accuracy in Their Writing.

Available from: https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-how-reporters-can-
ensure-accuracy-in-their-writing/
Motsela, S. (2010) ‘Botswana: National Overview’. In: So This is
Democracy? Windhoek.: Media Institute of Southern Africa.
Newel, P. (2005) Introducing Philosophy II: Ethics. [Internet] Available
from:
http://www.galilean-library.org/manuscript.php?postid=43789
Nyamnjoh, F. (2005) Africa’s Media Democracy and the Politics of
Belonging. London: Zed Books.
Ojo, E. (2003) ‘The Mass media and the Challenges of Sustainable
Democratic Values in Nigeria: Possibilities and Limitations’. Media, Culture
& Society, 25 (6):821-840.
Oosthuizen, L. (2002) Media Ethics in the South African Context, an
Introduction and Overview. Landsdowne: Juta.
Potter, D. (2006) Handbook of Independent Journalism. Washington: Bureau
of International Information Programs, Department of State.
Press Council of Botswana (n.d.) Welcome. Available from:
http://pcbotswana.org/
Press Council of Botswana (n.d.), Code of Ethics. Available from
http://pcbotswana.org/
Retief, J. (2002) Media Ethics an Introduction to Responsible Journalism,
Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Rooney, R. (2015) Would You Believe it? Accuracy as an Ethical Concern
in the Botswana Private Press. Available from:
https://www.scribd.com/document/287448717/Accuracy-as-an-Ethical-
Concern-in-the-Botswana-Private-Press-Rooney

Roth, C. (2001). The Media in Governance: a Guide to Assistance.

Developing Free and Effective Media to Serve the Interests of the Poor,
London: Department for International Development.

89
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Starck, K. (2001) ‘What’s Right/Wrong with Journalism Ethics Research?’

Journalism Studies, 2 (1):133-150.
White, R. (2010) ‘The Moral Foundations of Media Ethics in Africa’. Ecquid
Novi: African Journalism Studies, 31(1): 42-67.

90
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

5
Gender

This chapter is about how news media in Botswana represent women and it
uses data collected by the South African-based Gender Links to explore this.
The chapter begins with a review of some theory around “media
representations” and “stereotyping” and how journalists “frame” the news in
certain ways that can distort how people view the world around them.
Then I look at Gender Links and its reports on how news media across
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) represent women,
before taking a closer look at the situation in Botswana.

Representations

A large body of scholarly literature has found that news in both state-
controlled and privately-owned media focuses on powerful people and
institutions and generally reflects established interests. This is not unique to
Botswana or Africa, it happens across the world. The news pays most
attention to and upholds the actions of elite individuals and elite institutions
with this focus that gives greater access to those at the top, presenting images
of the world that are lacking in diversity. Often, the media do not merely
represent, they also recreate themselves and their vision of the world (Croteau
& Hoynes, 2003; McNair, 1998, p.78; Becker & Vlad, 2009; Shoemaker et.
al. 2009; Schudson & Anderson, 2009; McQuail,1994, p.135; Hodkinson,
2011, p.135; Made, 2008, p.8). Denis McQuail, a media scholar, says that

91
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

there is a good deal of evidence that news not only tends to focus on a narrow
set of problems, especially as defined by government or other “elite” or
“official” sources but that preferential access is given to the voice of
institutional authority with the relative invisibility of lower status persons
(which would include women) (McQuail, 1992, pp.174-175).
The creators of media content have often reproduced the inequalities
that exist in society based on race, class, gender and sexual orientation. This
is not to say that the media have acted as a mirror, passively reflecting the
inequalities of society. Rather, the media industry, and media content has
largely reflected the perspectives on the owners who are themselves part of
the society’s elite. Journalists themselves have little control over their own
output as they are employees of an organisation and as such are answerable
to their bosses all the way up to the media house owner (Croteau & Hoynes,
2003; McNair, 1998, p.62).
The question that needs to be asked is how do media representations
of the social world compare to the external “real” world? Representations are
not “real”. Representations of “reality” in the news are the result of processes
of selection that inevitably mean that certain aspects of reality are highlighted
and others neglected (Schudson & Anderson, 2009, p.97). So, in the context
of this chapter, the work of elite men (politicians, businessmen etc.) are
reported favourably and the activities of women (whether in business, in the
home or elsewhere) are ignored. This leads to what Gaye Tuchman called
“symbolic annihilation of women” (Tushman, 1978, p.8). She said relatively
few women were portrayed in the mass media (she was thinking especially
of television) and those that did appear were condemned or trivialised. That
is to say they are not literally made extinct by, say, killing, but they are treated
as if they did not exist and this detracts from women’s opportunities to
participate fully in society.
Some media theorists say media contribute to social control by
rewarding those who conform to cultural values and punishing those who do
not (McQuail, 1994, p.135). Women, and other groups in society are taught
how to behave (and how not to). The media plays a big part in this
socialisation, but it is not the only influence (and in Botswana probably not
even the main one). Churches, family, neighbours and schools all contribute
to this.
In this chapter I am interested in the role of the news media in
representing the “real world.” When trying to analyse how media

92
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

representations compare to the “real” world there are issues about what is the
“real” world? Social constructionists say that no representation of reality can
ever be totally “true” or “real” since the media must frame an issue (as a news
item, for example) and choose to include or exclude certain components of
the reality which has many facets (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003; McNair, 1998,
p.62). In a simple example, a person might make a speech lasting one hour,
but television news has only three minutes in which to report it. Therefore,
the reporter must decide which part of the speech should be presented to the
public. That is the “reality” of the speech, the rest that went unreported does
not exist as far as the television audience is concerned.
The processes of news production involve more than just selection and
summarization of important events (Shoemaker et. al., 2009). News reports
have a special format and a specific style of language, depending on the type
of newspaper or TV programme. Events may become more focused,
personalized, and dramatized as they are transformed into news reports. Some
of this is down to the audience that the media house is chasing. In Botswana,
for example, the tabloid newspaper the Voice reports news differently to the
extremely serious Sunday Standard. This can be seen in the choice of topics
that each choses to cover and the language and general tone of the report that
is used.
Journalists also share a professional ideology about the nature of news.
They must routinely decide what is news and what is not. Teun van Dijk
points out that journalists follow professional procedures in making decisions
and compiling their reports and this allows them to work fast to meet
deadlines, but the actions are ideologically rooted and, since their news
reports embody these values, they are also known and shared by the reading
public (van Dijk, 1988, pp.154-161). This allows journalists to assume that
they write what the public wants (McNair, 1998, p.77; Shoemaker et. al,
2009).
The ideological nature of news and other professional attitudes and
practices suggest that they are more than just practical ways of managing
huge amounts of information within strict deadlines. The values are not
arbitrary. They reflect the class, gender, and ethnic position of the journalists
and play an important role in the reproduction of power. (van Dijk, 1988,
pp.154-161). To guarantee a steady supply of news, independently of what
actually happens in the world, and for an effective organization of their
newsroom, journalists must make sure to tap sources that provide continuous

93
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

information that may be used to make news. In Botswana, these sources are
mostly powerful or elite institutions, such as the government, state agencies,
parliament, big corporations and political parties, unions and the police.
This reproduction process is not direct. It does not mean that journalists
always agree with the actions or opinions of those in power, although their
possible dissent is strictly limited by the constraints set by the editors or
directors of privately owned news organizations, and hence by corporate
interests that are hardly at variance with those of the elites in power. Of
course, in the state-controlled media of Botswana it is a given that the media
house supports the government and by extension the ruling party.

Stereotypes

A constant concern about the reporting of women is that much of it is

“stereotypical”. Stereotyping is a process of selection, magnification and
reduction. A stereotype is a fixed mental image of a group that blows up that
attribute until it obscures all others and is boiled down into a narrow and
generalized version of the lives and identities of such groups (Day, 2006,
p.418; Medhurst, 1998, p.285). For example, if male homosexuals are
repeatedly and exclusively depicted as feminine, then audiences may gain the
impression that all gay men have such characteristics or even that they are the
defining traits of homosexuality. It is subordinate and minority groups who
tend to be affected most by the pervasiveness of stereotypes and the depth of
their impact (Hodkinson, 2011, p.201). Media stereotypes can perpetuate
real-world discrimination, harassment, and all too often, violence against
groups and genders portrayed as outsiders (Day, 2006, p.417).
When media representations tend to depict groups of people in
particular ways they may play an important part in determining how readers
come to think about individuals who are members of those groups and are
encouraged to adopt expectations about the roles those people occupy
(Sparks, 2010, p.200). So, if the media depict few females in business
occupations, then consumers of the media might come to think of males as
much more likely to be in business. Gender categories are culturally
constructed, that is although men and women are born biologically different
we learn what it is to be male and female so, gender is something that we do,
rather than something that we are (Hodkinson, 2011, p.220).

94
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Gender Links survey

A review conducted for Gender Links of the Southern African

Development Community (SADC) found studies suggest that gender
stereotyping is most pronounced in television because of the distinctive male
and female target audiences. In adverts, men tend to be portrayed as more
autonomous. They are shown in more occupations than women. Women are
shown mainly as sex objects, housewives or mothers. Men are more likely to
be shown advertising cars or business products; women as advertising
domestic products. Also, men are more likely to be shown outdoors or in
business settings and women in domestic settings. Men are more often
portrayed as figures of authority. While older men seem to gain authority in
advertisements, older women seem to disappear (Morna & Ndlovu, 2007,
p.9)
Gender Links, a Johannesburg-based advocacy group, surveyed 15
countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region,
including Botswana, to determine the attitudes of men and women to 25
questions in contentious areas, such as polygamy, sex work and sexual
orientation. The results were scored so that a maximum of 100 would indicate
the most progressive attitudes and 25, the least (Morna et. al., 2016, p.21).
In Botswana, 5,803 people responded to the survey (3,067 female;
2,736 male) and a gender attitude score of 55 was recorded (compared to an
average score for the SADC region of 53). Women in Botswana scored 57
and men, 53 (Morna et. al., 2016, p.22).
This was the first survey of its kind and Gender Links concluded the
results reflected societies in transition from gender blind (and blinkered) to
gender awareness and sensitivity (Morna et. al., 2016, p.30). Researchers
identified some “confusing and contradictory” responses. In Botswana, 69
percent of females and 71 percent of males agreed or strongly agreed that a
woman should obey her husband. Also, 36 percent of females and 47 percent
of males agreed or strongly agreed that a man should have the final say.
Responses were evenly split on the statement, “a woman can refuse to have
sex with her husband”: 50 percent of females and 50 percent of men agreed
or strongly agreed. A total of 34 percent of women and 38 percent of men

95
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

agreed or strongly agreed that, “If a woman wears a short skirt she is asking
to be raped” (Morna et. al., 2016, p.24-27).
Gender Links was mostly concerned with the content of news reports
in newspapers and on radio and television. Its Gender and Media Progress
Study (GMPS) was conducted across 14 SADC countries in 2015 and was a
follow-up to studies in 2010 and 2003 and is the most extensive single study
of gender in and through the media undertaken in Southern Africa. It was
published as Whose News? Whose Views? (Ndlouvu & Nyamweda, 2015).
The study concerns media content and examines the underlying gender
dynamics within institutional structures of the media; for example, whether
women tend to cover certain kinds of news more frequently than men and
vice versa.
It concluded the proportion of women sources in the news was the
single most important measure with regard to gender and the media, as well
as the extent to which society gives voice to women. Across the SADC
region, the researchers concluded that for the most part women and men
appeared in traditional masculine and feminine roles; women dominated (100
percent) as sex workers, for example. This perpetuates traditional stereotypes
around women’s worth in society. The media tended to portray women as sex
objects and they rarely were allowed to speak on issues of national
importance. Journalists rarely interviewed woman in professional or
government roles. Women dominated as students, pupils or schoolchildren as
well as children and young people (Ndlouvu & Nyamweda, 2015, pp.41-45).
Of the 27,045 stories monitored in the study, 36 percent were written
by women. Overall in the SADC region it appeared that women reporters
deliberately seek out female sources and that female sources are more
comfortable to talk to a women reporter, especially concerning sensitive
topics like gender-based violence. This led researchers to conclude that if
more women work as journalists then it is likely to translate to more women’s
voices being heard. In SADC, the topic most frequently covered by women
reporters was HIV/AIDS (47 percent). Only 22 percent of sport stories; 29
percent of political and government stories and 36 percent of crime and
violence stories were written by women; demonstrating a traditional gender
division of labour in newsrooms (Ndlouvu & Nyamweda, 2015, pp.63-64).
Women were more visible on television as news anchors (45 percent).
Women typically appeared as faces on television which fed into the

96
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

stereotype of women’s value existing only in their physical attributes

(Ndlouvu & Nyamweda, 2015, p.65).

Botswana
Gender Links published a short country-specific GMPS report on
Botswana which looked at gender in media houses and in the news (Gender
Links, 2016).

Gender in the newsrooms

The study gathered data on women and men within 12 media houses
in Botswana and found women constitute 44 percent of media employees
(compared to 40 percent in SADC). Women comprise 32 percent of those in
management (34 percent regionally), a significant increase from 18 percent
recorded in 2009. The majority of women in media in Botswana (55 percent)
work in semi-skilled positions, leading researchers to conclude gender gaps
in occupational levels of the media are still pronounced. On news beats, the
GMPS found women constitute less than half of all reporters in all news beats
except in social news (67 percent). They are least represented in legal (12
percent), political (27 percent) and sports (25 percent) beats.

Gender in news content

The survey covered eight media houses (three state-owned, five
private) of which five were print, two radio and one television. Students at
the University of Botswana monitored a total of 766 news items over 14
staggered days in April 2015. They found 28 percent of sources used in news
stories were women, which was a small increase from previous studies. There
were significant differences between media houses with the state-controlled
Daily News having the highest proportion (48 percent) and the radio station
Duma FM, the lowest (5 percent). Generally in Botswana print has the highest
proportion of women sources (34 percent), followed by radio (21 percent)
and television (14 percent). This went against the trend across SADC where
the proportion of women sources in television is higher than print.
The GMPS-Botswana found women in Botswana are more likely to be
heard on celebrity, art, entertainment and media topics (49 percent), health,
HIV and AIDS (44 percent) and social and crime and violence (34
percent).Women’s views are completely absent on climate change and barely
heard in sports (16 percent), politics (17 percent) and economics (25 percent).

97
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

In research published in 2012, Gender Links found more than two

thirds of women in Botswana (67 percent) have experienced some form of
gender-based violence (GBV) in their lifetime including partner and non-
partner violence (Lowe Morna & Rama, 2012). A smaller, but still high,
proportion of men (44 percent) admit to perpetrating violence against women.
Nearly one third of women (29 percent) experienced Intimate Partner
Violence (IPV) in the 12 months to the prevalence survey that formed the
flagship research tool in this study. In contrast, only 1.2 percent of Batswana
women reported cases of GBV to the police in the same period. Thus the
prevalence of GBV reported in the survey is 24 times higher than that
reported to the police.
Patriarchal attitudes are a significant underlying factor driving the
incidence of GBV in Botswana. While women and men affirm gender
equality in the public domain this has not translated in their private lives
particularly in their intimate relationships.
The findings from the survey and police data show that GBV “is the
most flagrant violation of human rights in Botswana at the present time”.
Only 5 percent of monitored news articles from Botswana covered GBV and
in these perpetrators were three times more likely to be heard than survivors.
The media still reports on GBV in sensational ways that trivialise the
experiences of women.
These findings, which are significantly higher than those reported in a
study using similar methods in South Africa’s metropolitan Gauteng province
lead the researchers to conclude that GBV has reached pandemic proportions
in Botswana.

Women’s perceptions of the news

Women are a potential growth market in print media so fair portrayal

of women in media and advertising is important as women are an increasing
target audience for advertisers. It is important for media not to alienate
potential growth audiences through images and articles that perpetuate
stereotypes, subtle forms of sexism and discrimination and do not reflect
women in their diverse roles (Made & Ndlouvu, 2011, p.24).
In 2005, 54 percent of women responding in SADC said they made
their own decisions about where to get news; 76 percent of women and 56

98
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

percent of men said news would be more interesting if stories depicted

women in a wider range of roles and men in non-traditional roles (Made &
Ndlouvu, 2011, p.24).
The “page 3 girl” which shows a clothed young woman in a supposedly
alluring pose published each week in the Voice newspaper is an example of
how women are often treated as mere sex objects. The feature is dedicated to
one woman who is considered to be beautiful and sexy. According to Gender
Links, “Its popularity suggests a readership that accepts its insertion as well
as blatant acceptance of the portrayal of women as commodities.” Pictures
like these, “are used to lure readers, and women are presented in a way that
perpetuates beauty being valued over intellect and opinion”. The newspaper
claims to advertise women in this manner to increase sales (Morna et. al.,
2010, p53).
The Voice is the only newspaper in Botswana to publish gratuitous
pictures of young women that are not connected in any way with a news
report or feature article. They stand alone. The use of such “pin-ups” was
popularised by the Sun newspaper in the United kingdom in the nineteen-
seventies. The pictures appeared on page three of the newspaper (as they do
in the Voice) and such was their popularity quickly all pin-up pictures of this
type became known as “Page Three girls”. The pictures in the Sun were
usually of bare-breasted “topless” women, but sometimes they were totally
naked; in the Voice the women are clothed but pose in ways that (one
supposes, as this is a matter of personal taste) are meant to be sexually
provocative. Larry Lamb, the editor of the Sun when Page Three girls were
introduced later said they pictures were of “nice” girls and that “sleazy
pictures were unlikely to see the light of day” (Lamb, 1989, p.111). He said
the pictures were valuable to the Sun because they got the paper talked about.
Soon, rival newspapers were also publishing similar pictures. Lamb claimed
(although on what evidence he never revealed) that women readers were as
interested in Page Three girls as men (Lamb, 1989, p.117). In time the Sun
became the biggest selling daily newspaper in the English language.
Reviewing the Sun’s Page 3, media scholar Patricia Holland says such
pictures were provocative and sexualised and aimed at men’s “lustful gaze”
(Holland, 1998, p.24). Such images made women feel less secure in all sorts
of public arenas. They also call into question, she says, the role of the press
as a potential space for the expression of women’s democratic aspirations and
public participation (Holland, 1998, p.28). There were many critics of the

99
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

“pin-ups” and claims that pictures of scantily-clad women encouraged sexual

violence, such critics were dismissed by the Sun as “killjoys” (Chippendale
& Horrie, 1990, p.200).
When surveyed, readers claim that they feel insulted by, sexual images
in newspapers. In Botswana, 45 percent of women and 37 percent of men
surveyed said they were uncomfortable with sexual images of women being
used in news. Some 42 percent of women and 38 percent of men said they
found the use of sexual images of women in the news “insulting”. Only 4
percent of women and 12 percent of men said they found such images
“entertaining” (Morna et. al., 2005, p.59). These images apparently do not
prompt audiences to rush out and buy the news (Morna et. al., 2005, p.12).

Advertising

Advertising plays an important role in socialisation, it influences

consumption and public opinion and world views as it portrays and interprets
society’s definition of roles of men and women. Most adverts seek to
reinforce what is socially accepted behaviour and roles for the two sexes by
defining what is masculine and what is feminine (Morna & Ndlovu, 2007,
p.8).
Gender Links research found that gender stereotyping was most
pronounced in television because of the distinctive male and female target
audiences; men tend to be portrayed as more autonomous and are shown in
more occupations than women. Women are mainly shown as sex objects,
housewives or mothers. Men are more likely to be shown advertising cars or
business products; women as advertising domestic products (Morna &
Ndlovu, 2007, p.9).
Women’s body parts are portrayed more often in print and television
adverts than are women’s faces, while the opposite is true of men. Women
are construed as subordinate and passive sex objects; through positioning of
the body and facial expressions (Morna & Ndlovu, 2007, p.9).
As with news content, the issue is not just whether women and men are
present or absent, it is also about how they are portrayed (Morna & Ndlovu,
2007, p.16). Women are seen, but not heard; their voices rarely are heard in
voice-overs in commercials and the most blatant stereotypes can be seen in
print adverts and billboards. With billboards, women often have no

100
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

relationship to the product advertised, they are just a lure or decoration

(Morna & Ndlovu, 2007, p.17).
In the Gender Links survey published in 2015 the proportion of women
to men subjects in advertising in Botswana was 50 percent for each. However,
researchers concluded that adverts continued to tap into women’s physical
appearance to sell products. “The high presence is not a case of gender
responsiveness but rather a case of commercial exploitation” (Ndlovu &
Nyamweda, 2015, p.48).
My own observation is advertisements in newspapers in Botswana do
not largely indulge in gender stereotyping. Woman and men are depicted
together for advertisements for banking and other financial services. A
woman is as likely to be in business as a man. This is not the case on
Botswana Television where stereotypes abound. In any evening you can see
commercials for food and household products. It seems without exception
women are portrayed in domestic roles. For example, in one commercial
break close to 20:00 hours (5 July 2017) I saw a commercial for Sunlight
washing powder where a woman does the laundry. A woman stars in the
commercial for Savlon antiseptic and it is she who nurtures the children who
have accidents while playing. Meanwhile, in the commercial for Sensodyne
toothpaste it is a male “dentist” who shares his expertise on how good the
product is for those with sensitive teeth and gums. It is to be noticed that when
newspapers carry advertisements for such as food, toiletries and household
products they tend not to feature images of people, but concentrate on shots
of the products themselves and their prices.

The workplace

In news media, woman are not only excluded from news reports, they
are also excluded from management in media houses. In Africa, for example,
Maria Zuiderveld found that media management is often a male domain
where women are excluded and women feel that they have to prove
themselves on a daily basis. Women also have to overcome the pressure of
combining family life with professional responsibilities in an occupation that
often requires 24-hour availability, as news can happen at any time and thus
a journalist can never take time off from work (Zuiderveld, 2011, p.403).

101
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

In a survey of research on gendered structures in African newsrooms,

Zuiderveld found the roles of a woman and a journalist are hard to combine
with cultural views of femininity, domesticity and reproduction and many
African countries were unable to deal with male traditionalist tendencies that
threaten gender equity. In Senegal, female journalists were regarded by their
families as having lost their femininity as they had to work long hours and
spend a great deal of time away from home. In Nigeria broadcasting “the
wayward and assertive attitudes of journalists” are not regarded as suitable
characteristics of a good wife. In a study in Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe,
Lesotho and Zambia, few of the male respondents had any experience of
working with a female editor (Zuiderveld, 2011, p.403).
In research published by Gender Links from the SDAC region in 2009,
20 percent of women cited “discouraging working conditions” as a main
reason for there being fewer women than men in media houses. Most women
had dual roles and found it hard to balance family and professional
responsibilities. A total of 70 percent of men surveyed, however, said the low
number of woman was because they did not train as journalist and did not
apply for jobs (Morna et. al. 2009, p.7).
Interviewed by the Editor’s World Forum in 2014 Beata Kasale, the
female publisher and former editor of Botswana’s tabloid newspaper the
Voice, (which includes the “Page 3 Girl) reported women occupied the top
positions at the media house; publisher, editor, advertising and marketing
director, operations manager, advertising manager and sub editor and in the
newsroom the photographer was a woman, but she described women editors
as their own worst enemies as once in power they forgot about gender
mainstreaming. She acknowledged the impact of unequal caring
responsibilities on the career progression of women with children (WAN-
IFRA, 2014)
In Botswana some media houses with the help of Gender Links have
united to create a policy on gender that included institutional issues, such as
human resources practice, sexual harassment, advertising and marketing and
editorial content. It was developed with the input of the management of
Botswana media houses, including radio stations Duma FM, Gabz FM,
Yarona FM and newspapers, Mmegi and the Monitor, the Sunday Standard,
the Echo and the Voice. The policy is wide-ranging and covers issues in the
workplace as well as editorial matters.

102
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Coleen Lowe Morna, Chief Executive of Gender Links, in a forward

to the policy document said a holistic approach is needed to ensure gender
equality in media and this includes the creation of a conducive environment
for gender equality to flourish so media houses have to put in place deliberate
strategies to level the playing field such as developing gender policies to
guide their operations. It was this belief in change that spurred the media
houses to develop a gender policy to guide their operations (Gender Links,
n.d. p.2).
Regarding workplace issues, the policy’s intention is to promote
gender balance and sensitivity in staff composition, institutional culture and
practices to ensure a conducive working environment to empower both men
and women. Its target is for recruitment that eventually give a 50:50 percent
balance of male and female decision-makers. Media houses in Botswana
detected no direct discrimination against women but realised that the
predominance of women in contract and freelance work denied them benefits,
especially maternity leave and medical aid, so the media houses committed
to ensuring gender balance among permanent employees. The media houses
committed to review policies on flexi-time working to be more sensitive
towards the parental responsibilities of its employees, consistent with the
needs of the organization and in a way that does not compromise quality and
or productivity.
On editorial content, the media houses seek to achieve gender balance
and sensitivity in the representation and portrayal of women and men in all
news and feature programmes and give a gender perspective to news content
in a number of ways, including increasing the number of women’s voices
heard so as to balance both sexes represented in the story and ensuring that
the views and voices of women are equally heard. Stories would also avoid
language that promotes gender stereotyping and will use gender-neutral
language. In pictures, women will not just be shown as models and beauty
queens, but also as people of substance who make contributions in
boardrooms and politics.
To achieve this media houses commit themselves to developing
gender-sensitive training, developing a directory of women contacts, working
with civil society on covering specific gender-related events such as the
Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence each December, building
gender into long-term and short-term planning, anticipating events of a

103
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

gender-related nature in the news calendar of forthcoming events and

exploring gender story ideas in greater depth.
The code of conduct also covered areas away from news including
sales and marketing and sexual harassment in the workplace.

The way forward

News media are one of the most important yet difficult areas to work
for advancing gender equality. The media can be part of the problem, or the
solution in changing attitudes and behaviours. As more formal or legislated
discrimination against women diminishes, the key challenge confronting
gender equality is to change mindsets hardened by centuries of socialisation
and reinforced by deeply-entrenched custom, culture and religious beliefs
(Morna et. al., 2016, p.264). In recent years educational institutions across
the SADC region, including the University of Botswana and Limkokwing
University of Creative Technology have expanded programmes in
journalism, mass communications and media studies to take account of the
needs for capacity building in the media industry.
The Polytechnic of Namibia (PON), with the assistance of Gender
Links has pioneered teaching of gender in journalism, believing that training
is one of the best strategies to bring about greater gender balance and
sensitivity in the media, especially by changing attitudes. PON’s National
Diploma: Journalism and Communication Technology attempts to change the
mindsets of reporters so that they might recognise the gender dimensions in
all their stories (Lowe Morna & Shilongo, 2004, p.11). Gender Links, through
its Gender in Media Education project has found that educational institutions
welcome opportunities to mainstream gender into their curricular but that
time and available resources hinder implementation (Lowe Morna &
Shilongo, 2004, pp.110-111).
The importance of education on gender and journalism has been
recognised for many years. In 2002, for example, UNESCO recommended
all non-degree and degree programmes in communication should include a
course in Media and Gender that among other objectives would sensitise
students to the social construction of gender and attendant privileges,
stereotypes and prejudices. It would include the role of the media in the
construction, perpetuation and restructuring of gender roles, stereotypes of

104
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

African women and men in national and international media, and proactive
coverage of positive gender relations (Kwame Boafo, 2002, p.32).

APPENDIX 1

Press Council of Botswana Gender Code of Ethics

Preamble

Members of the Press Council of Botswana recognize that gender

equality is intrinsic to freedom of expression; that all women and men have
the right to communicate their views, interests and needs, and that “giving
voice to the voiceless” is critical to citizenship, participation, and responsive
governance. Members shall strive to ensure, through progressive targets, that
women’s views and voices are equally heard and represented across all
media. Members pledge through this code to strive for gender balance and to
challenge gender stereotypes in and through the media.
The Code is informed, among others, by the Constitution of the
Republic of Botswana; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); the African Charter on Human
and People’s Rights; the Windhoek Declaration on Media Freedom in Africa
and the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development and Botswana
Vision 2016 and the Code of Ethics

2. Definition of terms

Discrimination means any act, omission, distinction, exclusion or any

differential treatment which disadvantages or compromises any person either
directly or indirectly based on sex, race, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age,
disability, nationality, and/or marital status or other analogous ground.
Gender stereotyping means media that portrays a person or persons of
a certain gender in a manner that exploits, objectifies or demeans.
Negative gender portrayal refers to language, attitudes or
representations (either explicit or implied) which tend to associate particular

105
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

roles, modes of behaviour or characteristics to people on the basis of gender

in a manner that restricts and entrenches the role of persons of such gender in
society or sections of society.
Sexist language is language that unnecessarily excludes one sex or
gives unequal treatment to women and men.

3. Application

3.1 The Gender Code of Ethics will govern the conduct and practice of
all media practitioners, media owners, publishers and media institutions that
are members of the Press Council Botswana.
(i) Incorporating definitions from the Protocol to the African Charter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa; (ii) South
African Advertising Standards Authority Code of Conduct; (iii) Australian
Commercial Radio Codes of Practice and Guidelines and (iv) Australian
Commercial Radio Codes of Practice and Guidelines.
3.2 This Gender Code of Ethics amplifies the Media Code of Ethics.
Therefore this Gender Code of Ethics should be read together with the Media
Code of Ethics of the Press Council of Botswana.

4. Basic Principles

4.1 Media practitioners are required to seek and acquire information

on gender issues. They should keep abreast of gender debates/issues.
4.2 Media coverage should be balanced, fair and inclusive of both
sexes.
4.3 Members shall ensure a diverse range of female perspectives is
included in stories, including politics, economics and war.
4.4 Media headlines, news highlights, pictures, audio and graphics
should guard against over simplifying and reporting gender issues out of
context.

5. Equitable treatment in media coverage

106
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

5.1 Media houses must strive for a balance of women and men as
sources, experts, authorities and commentators on a wide range of issues
debated in the media.
5.2 Media houses should give equal prominence to achievements of
both men and women.
5.3 A special effort must be made to ensure that women’s contributions
to the socio-political and economic developments of society are captured.
5.4 Media houses must be pro-active in sourcing male voices in non-
traditional areas and roles.

6. Accountability

6.1 Media practitioners should act responsibly at all times. Media

houses should have policies that encourage reporting on gender issues.
6.2 Public officials, regardless of sex and social standing, should be
held accountable for their actions. Sex should not be accorded undue
emphasis in coverage.

7. Balance, Credibility, and Impartiality

7.1 Members shall encourage robust and free debate in which women
and men are given equal access to air their views.
7.2 Members shall ensure that the range of stories, sources and images
portray men and women in all their diversity, in a fair and equitable manner.
7.3 Media practitioners and media houses should refrain from publicly
identifying themselves in any way with partisan statements or actions.
7.4 Media practitioners should refrain from associating with
organizations that condone sexism and other forms of discrimination.
7.5 Media practitioners should be courageous and challenge
stereotypes without fear.

107
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

8. Minimizing Harm

8.1 Gender stereotyping

8.1.1 Members should use non-sexist, gender-sensitive language.
8.1.2 Media Practitioners are not permitted to report stories that
advocate hatred based on gender, and which constitutes incitement to cause
harm.
8.1.3 In reporting sensitive issues such as gender-based violence,
special care must be taken to balance the public’s right to know with
compassion for those affected.
8.1.4 Sources should be treated equally and with respect, regardless of
their sex and class. The rights of all should be upheld all times.
8.1.5 Members shall avoid discriminatory references to people's sex,
gender, sexual orientation or preference and anything which denigrates.

8.2 Coverage of gender-based violence

8.2.1 Media houses should not publish or broadcast any material,
which judged within context, sanctions, promotes or glamorises any aspect
of violence against women; promotes misogyny or constitutes incitement to
harm.
8.2.2 Media houses and practitioners should ensure that the identity of
rape victims and victims of sexual violence is not published.

9. Advertising

9.1 Media houses should ensure that consistent gender standards are
applied between advertising and editorial content.
9.2 Gender stereotyping or negative gender portrayal should not be
permitted in advertising.

10. Workplace: Creating an enabling environment

108
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

10.1 Media houses should have effective and enforceable policies on

sexual harassment.
10.2 Media houses should ensure they develop policies that promote
gender balance on all beats and equity.

References

Chippendale, P. and Horrie, C.(1990) Stick It Up Your Punter, the Rise and
Fall of The Sun. London: Heinemann.
Day, L. (2006) Ethics in Media Communications Cases and Controversies.
Boston: Wadsworth.
Holland, P. (1998) ‘The Politics of the Smile’. In: Branston, G. and Stuart
Allen, S. eds. News, Gender and Power. London: Routledge.
Kwame Boafo, S. (2002) Communication Training in Africa, Model
Curriculum, Non-degree and Degree Programmes. Paris: UNESCO.
Gender Links (2016) Southern Africa Gender and Media Progress Study
(Botswana). Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Hodkinson, P. (2011) Media, Culture and Society, an introduction. London:
Sage.
Lamb, L. (1989) Sunrise, the Remarkable Rise and Rise of the Best-selling
Soaraway Sun. London: Papermac.
Lowe Morna, C., Dube, S., and Makamure, L. eds. (2016) SADC Gender
Protocol 2016 Barometer. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Lowe Morna, C., Mpofu,T. and Glenwright, D. (2010) Gender and Media
Progress Study, Southern Africa. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Lowe Morna, C. and Ndlovu, S. eds. (2007) Gender and Advertising in
Southern Africa. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Lowe Morna, C., Rama, K. and & Agnes Muriung, (2005) My views on the
News. The Southern African Gender and Media Audience Survey, final
report. Johannesburg: Gender Links.

109
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Lowe Morna, C., Rama, K. and Ndlovu, S. (2009) Glass Ceilings, Women
and Men in Southern Africa Media – Botswana. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Lowe Morna, C. and Rama, K. eds. (2012) The Gender Based Violence
Indicators Study Botswana, Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Lowe Morna, C. and Shilongo, P. (2004) Gender in Entry Level Journalism.
Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Made, P. (2008) Women in the News: Strengthening the Voice and Visibility
of Women in the African Media’s Coverage of Elections, Politics, and
Governance. A Handbook for Women Politicians and the Media.
Johannesburg: Inter Press Service.
Made, P. and Ndlouvu, S. (2011) Making Every Vote Count. A Handbook for
Gender in Media Centres of Excellence. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
McQuail, D. (1992) Media Performance, Mass Communication and the
Public Interest. London: Sage.
Medhurst, A. (1998) ‘Tracing Desires, Sexuality and Media Texts’. In:
Briggs, A. and Cobley, P. eds. The Media: an Introduction. Harlow:
Longman.
Ndlovu, S. and Nyamweda, T. (2015) Whose News? Whose views? Southern
Africa Gender and Media Progress Study. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Sparks, G. (2010) Media Effects Research, a Basic Overview. 3rd ed. Boston:
Wadsworth.
Tuchman G. (1978) ‘Introduction: The symbolic Annihilation of Women by
the Mass Media’. In: Tuchman, G., Kaplan Daniels A. and Benet, J. Hearth
and Home Images of Women in the Mass Media. New York: Oxford
University Press.
van Dijk, T. (1988) News Analysis, Case Studies of International News in the
Press. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
WAN-IFRA (2014) ‘Women's work: recognising female achievement in the
newsrooms of Africa’. World News Publishing Focus, 28 August. Available
from: https://blog.wan-ifra.org/2014/08/28/womens-work-recognising-
female-achievement-in-the-newsrooms-of-africa

110
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Zuiderveld, M. (2011) ‘Hitting the Glass Ceiling, Gender and Media

Management in Sub-Saharan Africa’. Journal of African Media Studies, 3
(3):401-415.

111
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

6
LGBTI

LGBTI (lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and intersex) people are
largely ignored by the news media in Botswana. This has left a vacuum in
people’s understanding about who they are and the lives they lead. The
ignorance is profound and the newspapers (wittingly or unwitting, I cannot
be sure) have encouraged readers to see such people as sub-human. The
newspapers have spread misinformation and lies, often led by self-appointed
“Christian leaders”.
In this chapter I begin by reviewing the science of homosexuality as
this will help readers to understand the depths of ignorance that journalists
have on the subject. Journalists should in all subjects they report on make the
effort to understand what they are writing about. Often, we excuse journalists’
ignorance because we say they merely reflect the views and attitudes of the
society in which they live. So, I review attitudes to homosexuality in Africa
more generally and in Botswana in particular. It is important to remember
that media reflect society but also play a part in shaping how society views
certain topics or communities, such as LGBTI people (Walter, 2006, p.4).
Generally, ignorance about outgroups, such as LGBTI people, favours the
development of stereotypes and prejudices. The media have the ability to
increase understanding or the power to re-enforce negative perceptions that
contribute to discrimination.
I then turn my attention to the coverage of LGBTI people in news
media in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), South
Africa and Botswana. I have undertaken a survey of reporting of LGBTI

112
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

matters in Botswana newspapers over a period of six years. I discover that

LGBTI people are largely ignored, but when they are reported it is mostly
negatively. The negativity is so severe that in many instances it becomes hate
speech where especially homosexual men are described as less than animals
and deserving of death.
I end the chapter with suggestions on how the reporting of LGBTI
people by the Botswana news media might be improved.

The science of homosexuality

Much of the conversation about homosexuality and LGBTI people

ignores the science on the subject and often statements are made as fact when
no evidence exists to support them. It would be useful here to review some
of the current science on the subject of sexual orientation. J Michael Bailey
and colleagues (Bailey et. al., 2016, pp.46-68) reviewed the available
scientific research and concluded that there is considerably more evidence
supporting “non-social” causes of sexual orientation than “social”. Non-
social refers to the genetics of a person and social refers to a person’s life
experiences. In simple terms, people are born homosexual. They concluded
the most often talked about social causes of homosexuality that people are
recruited by adult homosexuals or homosexuality is caused by poor
parenting, is generally not the case. They also conclude there is no good
evidence that homosexuality increases where societies are tolerant.
They also conclude that same-sex activity appears to have existed
throughout human history and in most cultures, including throughout Africa.
Claims that same-sex activity is “absent” in a particular culture are “often
demonstrably false, even when the culture does not have the words to
describe such activity” (Bailey et.al., 2016, p.66). They conclude that same-
sex activity in Africa was “observed from the earliest recorded times and in
hundreds of discrete cultures across the continent” (Bailey et.al., 2016, p.67).
They also conclude that same-sex interactions are common throughout
hundreds of animal species, reporting, “there is abundant evidence that non-
human animals engage in same-sex genital interactions under free-ranging
conditions and therefore this behaviour cannot be explained as a result of
captivity in abnormal environments” (Bailey et.al., 2016, p.68).

113
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

African context

Despite the scientific evidence, throughout Africa there continues to

be a deep-rooted irrational response to sexual minorities and they draw on
notions of naturalism, fundamentalist readings of scripture and nationalist
ideas of “authentic” African culture and this allows people to see LGBTI
people as outsiders undeserving of rights equal to other members of society.
John McAllister, an academic researcher, writes that opposition to equal
rights for sexual minorities would remain strong even if the rationalisations
for homophobia [a hatred of homosexuals] were debunked. The irrationality
provides the cover for the laws and social conventions that institutionalise
hostility towards sexual minorities (McAllister, 2013, p.S89).
Samuel Tesunbi, who studies African media representation of
homosexuality, reported, “In Africa, the passionate denial of the existence of
same-gender relationships is routine, a given – the result of a well-oiled
public opinion machine and governmental sanctions, or a lingering colonial
homophobic mentality” (Tesunbi, 2010, p.250).
It is thought homosexuality is a deviation introduced by outsiders such
as Arabs, French and English. However, sufficient historical evidence exists
to show the existence of same-sex practices that predate the arrival of
missionaries and colonialists in Africa, although people did not identify
themselves as “gay” or “lesbian” in the Western sense. Relationships were
often conducted in private and kept “invisible”. In many African contexts, the
existence of homosexual acts are denied, or else are thought of as un-biblical,
sinful and unnatural (Tesunbi, 2010, pp.250-251; Msibi, 2014). Sex and
sexuality are treated as taboo discussion subjects in some societies. Some
countries in SADC openly oppose acknowledging and addressing of diverse
sexual orientation. Botswana rates among the most accommodating (Ndlovu
& Nyamweda, 2015, p.88).

Botswana context

Like a number of other African cultures Setswana culture in Botswana

has a deeply engrained respect for privacy and discretion. In the past, this
enabled sexual non-conformity to be tolerated provided it was kept private.
McAllister says that this traditional attitude may account for the relative

114
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

tolerance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in

Botswana compared to some other African countries (McAllister, 2013,
p.S92).
According to Martin Foreman (1999), within each society an estimated
5-10 percent of the population is engaging in same-sex sexual relations. Even
if a conservative estimate of 2 percent is applied, then in Botswana with a
population of 1·5 million [at the time he was writing], 30,000 Batswana
(citizens of Botswana) could be inclined toward same-sex sexual activities
(Cited in Ehlers et.al., 2001, p.849). The population in Botswana today
comfortably exceeds 2 million, so it might be supposed the number inclined
toward same-sex activities is greater than 30,000.
The Constitution of Botswana has a bill of rights which prohibits
discrimination on any grounds and guarantees the right to privacy and
personal liberty among others. It is noteworthy, that the Constitution of
Botswana, unlike the Constitution of South Africa, does not prohibit
discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. It only prohibits
discrimination on the grounds of sex. Also, unlike the South African
Constitution, which expressly provides in Section 39, that the courts must
apply international law in cases before them, the Constitution of Botswana
does not have any such provision.
As well as Botswana, a further 37 African countries criminalize
homosexuality which stems from imported British laws in place from the late
nineteenth century (Nzioka, 2014). Although homosexuality has been
completely decriminalised and LGBTI people have equal rights under the law
in Britain, the laws originally imposed during Colonial times remain largely
in place in Africa and in 10 of the countries anti-LGBTI laws have been
strengthened (Nzioka, 2014).
The main legislation criminalising homosexual acts is the Penal Code
of Botswana which was adopted in 1950 at a time when the country was a
British protectorate (Government of Botswana, 1964).
Section 164 provides: Any person who (a) has carnal knowledge of any
person against the order of nature; (b) has carnal knowledge of an animal; or
(c) permits any other person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against
the order of nature, is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding seven years.
Section 167 also provides: Any person who, whether in public or
private, commits any act of gross indecency with another person, or procures

115
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

another person to commit any act of gross indecency with him or her, or
attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any person with
himself or herself or with another person, whether in public or private, is
guilty of an offence.
The Penal Code (Amendment) Act 1998 amended Section 22 of the
Penal Code to make sexual acts between women also a criminal offence. This
was after the constitutionality of the Penal Code was challenged in court in
what has become known as the Kanane case. (Fombad, 2004, p.166;
Selemogwe, 2014, p.407; Ditshwanelo website; Quansah, 2004, p.203).
Prosecutions for homosexual activity in Botswana are rare. In 2016 a
man was sentenced to three and a half years in jail (two of which were
suspended) by a Gaborone Magistrate Court for violating Section 164 of the
Penal Code (Botswana Gazette, 8 September 2016). Before that the last
recorded case was in 1995 involving Mr. Utjiwa Kanane, a Botswana citizen
and Mr. Graham Norrie, a British citizen who were arrested in December
1994 and charged under sections 164 and 167 of the Botswana Penal Code,
with engaging in unnatural acts and indecent practices between males.
Trials of the two men were heard separately. Mr. Kanane pleaded not
guilty to the charges laid against him. Mr. Norrie pleaded guilty to the charge
of indecent practices between males. He was fined and subsequently left
Botswana. In March 2002, the High Court in Francistown upheld the
constitutionality of sections 164 and 167 of the Penal Code. It held that the
provisions of the Botswana constitution that protect rights to privacy,
association, and freedom of expression could be curtailed by legislation
enacted to support “public morality”. The Court found that sections 164 and
167 prevented harm to public morality due to “carnal knowledge against the
order of nature”.
Additionally, it found that although lesbian intercourse was not
considered to be any sort of carnal knowledge (i.e., neither natural nor
unnatural), there was no gender discrimination in the penal code
(Ditshwanelo website).
The case was appealed to the Court of Appeal in 2003 which decided
Section 167 of the Penal Code as it stood at the time (1994) when Mr Kanane
was charged under it, was a violation of the constitution. Therefore, Mr
Kanane could not be charged under this provision. Their decision was based
on the fact that the law at the time discriminated on the basis of gender.

116
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

However, the penal code was amended in 1998, making the section applicable
to both males and females.
The Court judgement said the time was not right to change the law
relating to homosexual acts and gay men and women did not represent a
group that required protection under the constitution. The judges also stated
there was no evidence that “public opinion in Botswana has so changed and
developed that society... demands such decriminalisation”. They found that
public interest must therefore always be a factor in the court's consideration
of legislation particularly where such legislation reflects a public concern
(Ditshwanelo website).
Although colonial anti-sodomy laws were still on the books, and
efforts to repeal them had been firmly resisted, after leaving office, former
president Festus Mogae revealed that during his tenure (1998-2008) he
instructed the police not to arrest or harass “homosexuals” (Mail & Guardian,
14 March, 2011, cited in McAllister, 2013, p.S92).
In research conducted in Botswana by Gender Links 45 percent of
women and 51 percent of men agreed or strongly agreed that people who
were attracted to the same sex should be outlawed, prompting the gender-
rights group to comment that given the exceptionally high levels of
homophobia in southern Africa, this figure was in fact lower than might have
been expected and was “an encouraging sign” of more tolerant attitudes
emerging (Lowe et. al, 2016, p.23). In earlier research, Gender Links found
that sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) had yet to become an issue
of relevance despite “rampant discrimination” in the SADC region (Ndlouvu
& Nyamweda, 2015, p.10).
The current Botswana President Ian Khama declared in a 2010
interview with the Voice newspaper that, “I don’t think being gay is illegal.
If you see someone and you know that they are gay, they are not going to be
arrested and charged [even though] there are certain acts, which are
performed by such people, which are illegal. Gay people in this country ...
are not discriminated against because they are gay or lesbian. They can fully
participate in society like everyone else. Even in the privacy of their homes,
whatever they do, you don’t have the police watching or knocking at their
doors. Being gay is private. Let us take it gore ke tsa bone [that it is their
business]. I think the police know that whatever consenting adults do in the
privacy of their homes is really up to them” (The Voice, 12 November, 2010,
cited in McAllister, 2013, p.S92).

117
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The messages from the President and the Botswana Government have
been mixed. The government was criticised by human rights, sex workers’
rights and LGBTI groups after a draft national policy on HIV was said to
provide for the police and immigration authorities to “arrest” local men who
had sex with men and sex workers and “deport and evoke permits” of
foreigners (Nzioka, 2014).
In February 2012 the Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals of Botswana
(LEGABIBO) attempted to register as a society with the Botswana Registrar
of Societies. The application was rejected on the grounds that Botswana’s
Constitution did not recognize homosexuals and LEGABIBO’s objectives
were incompatible with the peace, welfare and good order of Botswana.
Activists filed an application with the High Court and in November 2014, the
court ruled LEGABIBO could be registered (See, for example, Weekend Post,
15 November 2014, p.1; Patriot on Sunday, 16 November 2014, p.4; Echo,
20 November 2014, p.10). The Botswana Government announced in January
2015 that it would appeal the High Court decision (See, for example,
Weekend Post 17 January 2015, p.9). The Court of Appeal heard the case and
in March 2016 ruled in favour of the High Court (See, for example, Mmegi,
17 March 2016, p.2; Botswana Guardian, 18 March 2016, p.1).

Media coverage of LGBTI in SADC

The Whose News? Whose Views report by Gender Links is the first
comprehensive study of media coverage in SADC of LGBTI issues and what
is increasingly becoming known as sexual orientation and gender identity
(SOGI). It monitored 27,045 items. The report found African media have a
history of sensationalising stories related to SOGI issues. Media highlight
sexuality in stories where it is not relevant, creating a sense of “otherness”.
They perpetuate stereotypes that construct LGBTI people as “hyper-sexed”
(Ndlovu & Nyamweda, 2015, p.88).
The report found there are ethical breaches in the misuse of language,
negative stereotypes and lack of LGBTI sources. Reports are judgemental
and often have religious bias. Reports tend to make fun of LGBTI people,
portraying the exoticism or even depicting homosexuals as predators:
labelling, stereotyping and stigmatising LGBTI people by emphasising
sensationalism. The media does not take a fair attitude towards LGBTI

118
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

people. People with diverse sexualities and gender identities remain largely
absent from public discourse in Africa. When LGBTI stories do appear, they
tend to be international stories with little relevance to the African context
(Ndlovu & Nyamweda, 2015, p.89).
The survey revealed that only 0.1 percent of coverage in the SADC
region concerned SOGI issues. “This shows a systematic devaluation of the
topic and lack of diversity in the media.” Media houses do not consider this
as a topic of importance, so it does not get on the news agendas (Ndlovu &
Nyamweda, 2015, p.89).
The number of stories reported was so small it was impossible to break
them down by individual countries within SADC. However, the survey
showed that of the SOGI items, 55 percent concerned discrimination, 27
percent rights and 9 percent homophobia. There were no reports about
gender-based violence, rape, legislation or political responses, leading the
researchers to conclude coverage was reduced to a reaction to events or
narrations of important people saying something about SOGI (Ndlovu &
Nyamweda, 2015, p.90).
Of those speaking on SOGI, 54 percent were men and 46 percent
women. Of those reporting on SOGI issues for media houses, 33 percent were
women and 67 percent men. Researchers concluded stories on SOGI often
lack the voices of LGBTI people and fail to address stereotypes about LGBTI
people, they lack analysis, context, history or research and use moralising or
stereotypical language (Ndlovu & Nyamweda, 2015, pp.90-92).
The lead researchers on the Gender Links project Sikhonzile Ndlovu
and Tarisai Nyamweda concluded the exclusion shows how poor media
treatment can contribute to social disempowerment and can erase groups and
individuals from public consciousness. It keeps sexual minorities invisible
and without power. This is important because media give people implied
messages about what it means to be a culturally-valued group rather than a
socially-disenfranchised group. Reporting is distilled to the sex act and is
purely in sexual terms. They use the term “sexual preference” as if it is a
choice. The term “gay lifestyle” is used to stigmatise LGBTI people,
suggesting lives should only be viewed through a sexual lens. Homosexual
sex is portrayed as unnatural or unclean and LGBTI people do not deserve
human rights because of the type of sex they engage in (Ndlovu &
Nyamweda, 2015, pp.90-92).

119
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Media coverage of LGBTI in South Africa

There has been very little research into media coverage of LGBTI
people in southern Africa. However, one report called Out in the Media?
surveyed South Africa in 2006. It was published by Community Media for
Development for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa. The target
groups for this research were media practitioners, leaders of LGBTI
organisations, and individuals. Finally, an analysis of print media was
conducted (Walter, 2006, pp.6-18).
The research concluded there was limited coverage of the LGBTI
sector and just about the only time it was covered was at the time of gay pride
activities or around issues considered controversial, such as same-sex
marriage. Of the 57 newspaper items reviewed, just over a quarter of these
originated from South Africa, and only four more originated from the African
continent. This indicates that a great deal of coverage on LGBTI issues in the
country relates to stories, news, and experiences outside of Africa. The report
concluded this was significant as it meant that the South African LGBTI
sector largely did not see its own unique experiences, stories, and issues being
reflected in the media. It also re-enforced the mistaken belief that
homosexuality was “un-African” and a “Western thing”.
Coverage tended to be “sensational from negative angles” and was
often mainly about scandals and, negative stereotyping around sex, often
creating an impression that the LGBTI sector is outside of normal society.
The media tended to demonise homosexuality and very few reports were
celebratory in nature. There were many harmful stereotypes and individuals
were seen as deviant and immoral rather than normal people. The research
also found that in the stories that originated within South Africa, there was a
lack of sources from the LGBTI sector. Some journalists indicated during
interviews that they were constrained in their reporting because LGBTI
people did not want to be quoted. Articles, and particularly headlines, that
reflected prejudice against LGBTI people were found in both the reports from
South African and internationally.
As I show later coverage of LGBTI people in Botswana mirrors the
situation in South Africa in every respect.

Attitudes of journalists in Botswana towards homosexuality

120
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

There is no published research on the attitudes of journalists in

Botswana to homosexuality, but an unpublished undergraduate dissertation
gives us an insight. Yvonne Ditlhase questioned 20 journalists across state-
controlled and private media and included newspapers, radio and television
(Ditlhase, 2010, pp.12-13). Ditlhase found journalists have a “negative
attitude” towards homosexuals and listed some of the statements they made
in the course of her research:

• Homosexuality is a mental illness;

• It’s completely bad and I don’t think it originates from Africa;
• It is the worst of all sins;
• Homosexuality is wickedness and there’s nothing positive to write
about it;
• That’s gross indecency;
• It’s an illicit lust forbidden by God and taboo in our Setswana
culture. Why should I talk about it on my show? I’m a Motswana child;
• It’s the most unnatural way of life;
• Homosexuality degrades a person, so I don’t want to degrade myself
and my show;
• A man being attracted to another man shows his gross abnormalities;
• God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Humans believe
they are superior to animals like cats and dogs etc. Why do we have to go
below them through our behaviour like homosexuality? A homosexual, I
believe, is a person who belongs to another planet, not ours. Therefore, they
should be treated that way. To me, they are strange beings. Are they from
Mars? Or Jupiter?;
• Homosexuality is a curse;
• I think it is Satanic behaviour that is controlled by evil spirits;
• We respect our culture, therefore we can’t disrespect it by showing
people who are indecent;
• When a man mounts another man the throne of God literally shakes;
• That’s a perverse behaviour.

In her research, Ditlhase found only one positive attitude from the
journalists.

121
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

• If being [homosexual] is a choice, why would anyone choose to be

something that could cause them to be scorned by the society, rejected by
their families or being hate victims?

There were two ambivalent statements.

• On a personal level, I think there’s something with homosexuals, but

it is not my place to judge them and say they are made;
• We are all created with a free will, and everyone is accountable for
their actions. Homosexuals will not go away even if they are denied some
rights. So, I think we all should mind our p.s and q.s when it comes to personal
matters. Bottom line is that we every one of us is human before they are
anything else.

I would note that from the remarks made the main determinants of the
journalists’ attitudes are fundamentalist religious belief and culture. The
negativity is overwhelming and I get the impression that these journalists
have never been introduced to modern day scientific ideas about the “causes”
of homosexuality. There is no understanding that following Foreman’s
estimation anything up to 10 percent of their readers or audience might be
involved in same-sex activities (Foreman, 1999). Dilthase found that 15 of
the 20 journalists she interviewed said they had never worked with a
homosexual and would not work with them in future. They said homosexuals
should be barred from certain jobs such as the military “because they don’t
have the macho” (Dilthase, 2010, p.13).

Newspaper coverage of LGBTI in Botswana

In my searches I could only find one previous survey of the coverage

of LGBTI people in media in Botswana. J. Stiebert of the University of
Botswana surveyed coverage of “homosexuality” in the Botswana press in
the first five months of 2000 and found it had been discussed in a variety of
ways with a “wide spectrum of opinions” in several of the major publications
(Stiebert, 2002, pp.198-200). The Midweek Sun (8 March 2000), reported on
a panel discussion on homosexuality held at the University of Botswana.

122
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Some panellists described homosexuality as “unchristian, unsocial and

undignified” and alien to African societies and was invented in the west and
introduced to Africa. Others gave an opposing view and condemned the
persecution of minorities, including on the grounds of sexual orientation, on
the basis of an infringement of human rights.
The same newspaper contained a brief account of the life of “John” (a
pseudonym), a 26-year old homosexual man from Molepolole. The article
included what Stiebert described as “sexually explicit references” and quoted
John saying he was “gay not by choice, this is how I was born and this is how
I want to live.” Stiebert reported, “The article does not comment on either the
rights or wrongs of John’s conduct, but does refer to homosexuality as “his
condition”, which may be considered pejorative by implication (Stiebert,
2002, p.199).
The Midweek Sun (22 March 2000) published a letter by Rev. Rupert
Hambira, Synod Secretary of the United Congregational Church in Southern
Africa, replying to the paper’s article about John. Rev. Hambira called the
reporting “sensational”, as well as “offensive and irresponsible”. One reason
for his opinion was culturally specific, “In our culture, sexual activity is
always the domain of responsible adults. It is not something we display
openly because it is intimate, personal, and almost sacramental.” Another
reason is that the sexual relations described by John are of a kind that lacks
meaning, love and affection, which “those of us in the church would find ...
very difficult to even begin to listen to.…”
The Mmegi Monitor (9 March 2002) also published a response to the
University of Botswana’s panel discussion. The verdict of journalist Key
Dingake was that Botswana’s society was “extremely intolerant”, and that it
was “offensive to the democratic principle of tolerance” to discriminate on
the grounds of sexual orientation. He acknowledged that in Botswana
homosexuality was only just beginning to be discussed, and was possibly not
widely practised. Dingake went on to predict that public perception of the
status of homosexuality would and must change, because, “it is fruitless to
bury our heads in the sand and hope the issue will remain peripheral for good.
In time we will have to confront the issue head on. In time blind prejudice
that stigmatises homosexual relations will have to stand up to rational
scrutiny.”
The Botswana Gazette (10 May 2002) contained an “anonymous
confessional”, signed “Happy gay.” The 20-year-old male writer recalls his

123
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

effeminate tendencies from a young age and concludes, “I feel being in the
closet for my lifetime wouldn’t help.” He describes his relationship with
another male as, “[W]e treat each other like husband and wife” and, like John,
he says that he was “born like that.” He calls for tolerance where sexual
orientation is concerned.
A mood of tolerance was reflected, too, in the final article Stiebert
found. Mmegi/The Reporter (19-25 May 2000) reported that Ditshwanelo
(The Botswana Centre for Human Rights) received a Felipa de Souza Award
in New York, for its contribution to raising awareness of gay, lesbian and
bisexual issues in Botswana. In May 1998 Ditshwanelo held a workshop,
which led to the formation of LEGABIBO. A human rights charter was
produced and adopted later that same year. Ditshwanelo and LEGABIBO
continue to facilitate public awareness of gay human rights issues.

Recent coverage

Stiebert’s survey demonstrates the discussion on homosexuality is

framed by religious doctrine, supposed national culture and the notion that
homosexuality is a condition that might be unwelcomed by the person
inflicted. There are also some voices of tolerance from journalists. My own
survey that follows shows that nothing has changed in the past 17 years or so
since Stiebert’s research was undertaken. If anything the fundamentalist
Christians are today defining how the discussion on LGBTI should be
framed.
My own research came out of a pragmatic need in my teaching of
media representations at the University of Botswana. Since I could find no
already published research on how news media in Botswana report on LGBTI
people I had to undertake my own. My initial observation was that the
newspapers and broadcast media hardly ever mentioned LGBTI people and
therefore it would be difficult to find reports and articles. I therefore used
“purposive sampling.” This is where researchers draw on their knowledge of
the subject under study and make a judgement to select a sample, seeking
only what has relevance for the research (Wimmer & Dominick, 2014, p.96;
Du Plooy, 2001, p.114).
I decided to review newspapers only because it was easier to find
archives. Radio and television broadcasts come and go and are not stored in

124
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

libraries or online. In my case I knew that articles about LGBTI people

seldom appeared in newspapers so it was inappropriate to attempt a quantified
content analysis to ascertain how much coverage there was. That would work
with subjects such as politics, economics and sport where newspapers might
be expected to provide weekly coverage; you can then determine that a
certain percentage of total news coverage is devoted to politics, business or
whatever. A major point to make about LGBTI coverage is that it is very rare
indeed.
So, I took two approaches. First, I taught a course called Media and
Society for six years starting in 2011. Over those years I collected stories as
I found them in newspapers to use as examples. My second approach was a
little more systematic in that I used the search engines of the online
newspapers in Botswana and entered separately the terms, “lgbt”, “gay”,
“lesbian”, “bisexual”, “transsexual”, “intersex” and “homosexual” and
copied the articles I found for the years 2011 through to 2017. I took all
editorial types including news reports, feature articles, comment pieces and
readers’ letters to the editor.
Below I summarise the findings. I want to stress once more how rare
coverage of LGBTI is and that these findings represent most of what I found
over the six years searching. The first thing to report is that the overwhelming
number of articles are about male homosexuality. I found two stories about
lesbianism, two about transsexuals and none specifically about bisexuality,
and none about intersex persons. There were few voices of LGBTI people in
these articles, although there were voices from people representing LGBTI
interests, especially in relation to human rights issues.

Public affairs
This relates to areas where LGBTI issues entered the public domain.
During the research period there were two main events in this category. The
coverage and commentary on LGBTI matters in the newspapers spiked
during these periods. The first was in late 2013 and into 2014 when
newspapers reported a directive from the president addressed to various
stakeholders, including the police, to look out for suspected sex workers and
homosexuals who were foreigners with the intention of deporting them from
the country (See for example Weekend Post, 26 October 2013, p.1; Patriot
on Sunday, 3 November 2013, p.12; Weekend Post, 23 August 2014, p.1).

125
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The second involved the human-rights NGOs BONELA (Botswana

Network on Ethics, Law & HIV/AIDS) and LEGABIBO. In February 2012
LEGABIBO attempted to register as a society with the Botswana Registrar
of Societies. The application was rejected on the grounds that Botswana’s
Constitution did not recognize homosexuals and LEGABIBO’s objectives
were incompatible with the peace, welfare and good order of Botswana.
Activists filed an application with the High Court and in November 2014, the
court ruled LEGABIBO could be registered (See, for example, Weekend Post,
15 November 2014, p.1; Patriot on Sunday, 16 November 2014, p.4; Echo,
20 November 2014, p.10).
The Botswana Government announced in January 2015 that it would
appeal the High Court decision (See, for example, Weekend Post, 17 January
2015, p.9). The Court of Appeal heard the case and in March 2016 ruled in
favour of the High Court (See, for example, Mmegi, 17 March 2016, p.2;
Botswana Guardian, 18 March 2016, p.1).

Popular culture
There were no articles about LGBTI social activities, including venues
and clubs. There were articles about the film festivals organised by
LEGABIBO which featured documentaries and features from various
African countries (Midweek Sun, 4 March 2015, p.Vibe C). An article on the
same film festival in 2017 reported the lack of content from Botswana in the
film festival (Weekend Post, 4 March 2017, p.21). One article featured a local
film called The Story of Sebonta that was part of a student graduation film
festival. It was said to challenge homosexual stereotypes (Sunday Standard,
12 June 2016, p.33). Another article reported on the launch of a record label
in Botswana aimed at, “composing and producing music that will reduce and
possibly eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation” (Weekend
Post, 9 November 2014, p.35). One article (Weekend Post, 6 December 2014,
p.27), featured a local entertainer who wore make-up and had a “feminine
look” and declined to answer any questions about his sexuality. The
Botswana Gazette (14 May 2015) reported on a “Homosexual festival” billed
for Thapong Visual Arts centre in Gaborone that aimed, “to get the
heterosexual community to understand minority sexual issues”.

Scandal

126
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

There were a number of news reports that identified what the

newspaper identified as scandalous behaviour, such as:

HOMOSEXUAL RECRUITMENT CLAIMS ROCK CENTRE. A

centre for vulnerable and abused children, “has been suspected to have
embarked on a mission to orientate children under their care to a homosexual
lifestyle” (the Voice, 22 November 2013, p.1)

NO LESBIAN FOR A DAUGHTER. Angry dad wants Amantle [a

famous local athlete] to quit athletics and bear grandchildren (the Voice, 22
August 2014, p.1).

BUM DEAL Male nurse sodomises patient as a “cure” for erection

problem. (A charge of male rape was made) (the Voice, 19 April 2013, p.1).

CHILDREN DISCUSS HOMOSEXUALITY, SATANISM. “It’s

become so trendy to think that the way to appear cool and fashionable is by
being lesbian and gay” (The Midweek Sun, 26 November 2014. p.7).

Other stories included a report by the police on the rise in “gay rape”
cases that involved males but no evidence was given that those involved were
gay (Mmegi, 15 April 2012, p.9) and allegations that “a state personality”
featured in a homosexual video and intelligence officers were trying to find
it (Sunday Standard, 2 February 2014, p.3).

Gossip and rumour

The Voice newspaper occasionally reports on gossip that one celebrity
or another is suspected of being “gay” or has a gay following. It reproduced
a picture from Facebook in which a prominent football coach appeared to be
kissing another man (the Voice 13 September 2013) and it expressed surprise
when a male leader of the human rights group BONELA which advocates for
LGBTI equality announced he was to get married, “and it’s not to another
man” (the Voice online, 1 March 2013).

Personal testimony
A strong impression I got from reading the articles was that the
newspapers did not think that they had readers among LGBTI people.

127
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Articles tended to address a heterosexual readership and from time to time

newspapers attempted to educate its readers about what it might be like to be
homosexual. However, it should be noted that the Voice newspaper carries a
page of personal contact messages each week that regularly include some
under the heading “Bisexuals wanted” where some advertisers describe
themselves as “gay” and seek “gay” partners (See, for example, the Voice, 14
October 2016, p.4A).
Among the small number of articles in this category was a reader’s
letter to the editor from a heterosexual man who recounts that when he found
a childhood friend was homosexual he disowned him, only to later embrace
him. The writer’s conclusion was, “Homophobia is an evil” (the Botswana
Gazette, 30 May 2012, p.11).
An article in the Monitor headlined, MY GAY CONFESSIONS was
unsigned and purports to be part of a diary kept by “a homosexual youth” (the
Monitor, 4 May 2015, p.9). He says homosexuals face the same challenges
as a drug addict or murderer and recounts an incident at his church when a
pastor told a 15-year-old girl a “demon” had made her a lesbian. He
concludes, “Please understand me well; I am not saying being gay is right.”
The Botswana Gazette (5 November 2014, pp.23-24) had a story
headlined MUSINGS OF A CLOSET LESBIAN in which the writer who is
not identified says she hides her sexuality. She writes, “As per the status quo
in Botswana where the majority of people attach negativity to homosexuality,
the society’s views are such that I should not expect any praise for being
different. It is not an accepted difference.”
The Voice (21 November 2014, p.14A) in its weekly feature ASK
GABE where readers write in seeking advice on emotional matters featured
a letter from a 27-year-old male who was “confused” about his sexuality.
“My mother cries when she hears I am in a relationship with a man. She begs
me to find a ‘nice girl’ even though I have told her I’m happy with him.” In
a supportive response Gabe says, “As in most African countries coming out
as homosexual in Botswana is not easy.” She recommends he contact
LEGABIBO for additional help and support.

Transgender
During my research I only found two articles concerning transgender
people. Both were “public affairs” stories concerning LEGABIBO’s
advocacy in support of transgender rights in Botswana and appeared in the

128
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

same edition of the Sunday Standard (26 February 2017, p.1, p.21). The High
Court had agreed to decide if transgender people can identify as either male
or female in official documents such as drivers’ licences and national identity
cards.

Foreign
The most prevalent reporting of events outside Botswana during the
research period concerned happenings in Uganda where repressive legislation
against LGBTI people was passing through the country’s legislature. It fell
into three categories. The first was straightforward reporting from Uganda on
the progress of the legislation. For example, UGANDA ANTI-
HOMOSEXUALITY LAW CHALLENGED IN COURT (the Botswana
Guardian Northern Extra, 14 March 2014, p.III); GAY SEX WILL GIVE
YOU WORMS, SAYS UGANDA’S [President] MUSEVENI (the Botswana
Gazette, 28 February 2014, p.10).
The second was international reaction to events in Uganda. For
example, UGANDA SHRUGS OFF AID CUTS OVER ANTI-GAY LAW
(Mmegi, 28 February 2014, p.41). The Global Post in Botswana had two
reports in the same edition (26 February 2014)“[Desmond] TUTU CRIES
FOR UGANDA’S HOMOS ( p.8) and [President] MUSEVENI DEFIES
OBAMA (p.8).
The third category was reaction from within Botswana to events in
Uganda. Reporting was dominated by responses by the NGO BONELA,
calling for the Botswana Government to condemn Uganda. Media releases
from BONELA were reproduced without apparent editing (the Botswana
Guardian, 28 February 2014, p.15; the Botswana Gazette, 5 March 2014,
p.12). Other reports were substantially based on statements from BONELA
(the Weekend Post, 1 March 2014, p.8; the Botswana Gazette, 5 March 2014,
p.4).
One such report, BOTSWANA SHOULD WELCOME UGANDAN
HOMOSEXUAL REFUGEES – BONELA (the Botswana Gazette, 5 March
2014, p.4) resulted in publication of a reader’s letter to the editor in response
(the Botswana Gazette, 12 March 2017, p.12) in which homosexuals are
described as “perverts and Satanists” and makes the unfounded and
unscientific assertion that homosexuality does not exist among animals. I say
more about this kind of hate speech below.

129
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Beyond the Ugandan report there was little reporting of LGBTI news
from outside Botswana and what there was tended to be less than 20 lines
long. Among these stories was another example of hate speech when the
majority parliamentary leader in Nairobi, Kenya, said homosexuality was as
bad a problem as terrorism (Mmegi, 28 March 2014, p.43). Another was about
a court challenge in Durban, South Africa, from a gay man in a same-sex
marriage who was denied maternity leave (Mmegi, 21 November 2014, p.39).
One story that was given more space and a picture involved a family-
owned pizza parlour in Indiana, United States, that had “publicly vowed to
reject gay weddings” following the enactment of the state’s Religious
Freedom Restoration Act (the Voice, 3 April 2015, p.24). All comments in
the report were in favour of the pizza parlour owners and no LGBTI voices
were included.
Mmegi (18 November 2014, p.9) gave a full page (devoid of
advertising) to a report from the IRIN news agency on the “enormous human
rights gains” and “substantial setbacks” for LGBTI people across the world.

Mmegi special supplement

Mmegi published a special supplement report called OUT OF THE

CLOSET following the High Court victory of LEGABIBO (21 November
2014, pp.16-24). It consisted of:
Front page p16: DECRIMINALISATION: THE NEXT MOUNTAIN
TO CLIMB in which BONELA and LEGABIBO dominate and explain the
background to the court case.
Page 17. THE COST OF YIELDING TO HOMOSEXUAL
ACTIVISM (continues on p.18) by Log Raditlhokwa described as “a
Christian and a social commentator.” In it he says ,“We should expect that
the institutionalisation of homosexuality could lead to a sudden rise in the
magnitude of social ills such as rape, promiscuity, pimpery, drug abuse,
Satanism and more offensive graffiti.” He adds, “What if one day the witches
and wizards or Satanists flex their muscles and say they too want to register
their own associations?”
Page 18. There are three articles. i) KO MANTLWANENG I
WANTED TO PLAY DADDY BUT WITH ANOTHER DADDY which is
personal testimony about a 22-year-old coming out to his family in 2013. Ko
mantlwaneng seems to be a children’s game like mothers and fathers. The

130
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

law student is reported saying, “I have not really come across any form of
discrimination in my lifetime. I think the only thing is that when people look
at the way you are dressed and conclude that you must be gay, they start to
hurl insults and calling you names, but it is really minimal.”
ii) I ORDER AS FOLLOWS consists of a quote from the High Court
ruling made by High Court Judge Terrence Rannowane,
iii) The cost of yielding to homosexual activism continues from p.17
Page 19. Full page advert.
Page 20. Two stories i) GOD IS AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY. The
paper interviews “respected religious leaders who with one heart say there is
no room for homosexuals in society”. In fact only two “leaders” are
interviewed. The newspaper reported Pastor Edison Mooketsane of the
Church of God of Prophecy. “He said the existence of homosexuals marked
the end. He pointed out that dark forces drove this. He added the reason why
there are many social ills more especially amongst young people such as the
wild spread of Satanism more especially at schools starting from primary
schools to tertiary schools is one of the examples of the end.”
ii) ADAM AND EVE, NOT ADAM AND STEVE. This is an
interview with Kgosi Keineetse Sebele described as Block 8 Customary
Court President. He says homosexuality is an abomination.
Page 21. Full page advert.
Page 22. Street interviews. Four people are against the court verdict
and one for. The four against have their pictures published the one in favour
does not.
Page 23. Full page advert.
Page 24. BEARING THE BRUNT OF A SCOURGE Says a study
from 2013 (the year before this article appeared) indicates that of the various
social strata in Botswana the gay community is among the hardest hit by the
HIV/AIDS scourge. In the article it becomes clear that the report isn’t about
gays it is about men who have sex with men (not all men who have sex with
other men are gay). It quotes unnamed participants in the report. It is not clear
apart from one if these identify themselves as gay.
It should be noted that the majority of the special supplement was given
over to anti-homosexual sentiments with fundamentalist Christian doctrine to
the forefront. Only one gay person was identified in the entire supplement.

131
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Taken as a whole my findings on the media coverage in Botswana of

LGBTI people echoes the Out in the Media? report in 2006 South Africa
(Walter 2006). There was limited coverage of the LGBTI sector, what there
was ignored LGBTI voices, it posited LGBTI people as different from the
mainstream and problematic and it featured controversy and negativity.

Hate speech

I want to turn now to coverage of LGBTI people in the Botswana

newspapers that did not replicate the South African experience: hate speech.
First I will give an overview of what hate speech is and then identify its
prevalence within Botswana media.
There is no single definition of the term “hate speech” but it is
generally understood to mean speech or writing that singles out minorities for
abuse and harassment or attacks an individual or group on the basis of who
they are. This might include their nationality, race, religion, or other
difference (Day, 2006, p.294; Slagle, 2009, p.238; ACE, 2012, p.93;
Limpitlaw, 2012, p.74). Hate speech includes speech that targets people on
account of their sexual orientation and gender identity (Article 19, 2013,
p.14).
Standards on hate speech are determined by a balance of Articles 19
and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
which both guarantee freedom of expression and make restrictions for
respecting the rights of others. The ICCPR gives legal force to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (Article 19, 2013, pp.10-13). Specifically
Article 20 of the ICCPR states, “any advocacy of national, racial or religious
hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall
be prohibited by law” (ACE, 2012, pp.95-96).
International treaties provide a clear basis for criminalizing activities
of hatred and discrimination. Historically, international conventions against
hate or discriminatory speech have focussed on race, ethnicity and religion.
For example, Article 4(a) of the Convention on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination provides in its relevant part, “[S]tate parties condemn
all propaganda ... which ... [is] based on ideas or theories of superiority of
one race or group of one colour or ethnic origin, or which attempt to justify
or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form, and undertake to

132
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement

to ... such discrimination and to this end ... [s]hall declare an offence
punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or
hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or
incitement to such acts against any race or group of persons of another colour
or ethnic origin ...” (Limpitlaw, 2012, pp.73-74).
Recent developments at international and regional level support an
increasing trend among states to recognise homophobic and transphobic hate
speech as being as serious as that against racial, ethnic and religious groups
(Article 19, 2013, p.6). LGBTI are not included specifically in many
international protocols, but increasingly the need to protect LGBTI from hate
speech has been recognised. The UN Commissioner for Human Rights in a
report in November 2011 recommended states take positive measures to
combat discrimination and prejudice against LGBTI people in society. It also
recommended that states ensure the freedom of expression, association and
peaceful assembly rights of LGBTI people (Article 19, 2013, p.14).
Closer to Botswana, Article 2 of The African Charter on Human Rights
provides that all people shall be equal and enjoy the same respect and have
the same rights and declares, “Nothing shall justify the domination of a
people by another.” There has been no decision by the African Commission
to date regarding the interpretation of this article as a guarantee to protect
individuals on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity, but it
would be open to such an interpretation (Article 19, 2013, p.16).
In Botswana, Article 19 of the Press Council Code of Ethics refers to
“Hatred and Disadvantaged Groups”, saying:

“Media Institutions must not publish material that is intended or is likely to cause hostility
or hatred towards persons on the grounds of their race, ethnic origins, nationality, gender,
physical disabilities, religion or political affiliation. Media institutions must take utmost
care to avoid contributing to the spread of ethnic hatred or dehumanizing disadvantaged
groups when reporting events and statements of this nature. Dehumanizing and degrading
pictures about an individual may not be published without the individual’s consent” (Press
Council of Botswana, n.d.).

The code extends beyond race, ethnicity and religion to include gender,
physical disabilities and political affiliation, but excludes LGBTI people
specifically, but it does reference the need not to dehumanize disadvantaged
groups. It is not recorded why the drafters of this code did not include LGBTI

133
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

people. It invites speculation that they did consider the protection of LGBTI
people and consciously rejected it, or simply did not recognise the existence
of such people within Botswana.
The articles from the Botswana newspapers that I argue contain hate
speech are almost all opinion pieces or readers’ letters to the editor. Their
content do not reflect happenings in the news and I have to suppose that in
the case of the opinion articles newspaper editors actively solicited them for
publication. As for the readers’ letters, editors have discretion on what they
chose to publish. When noticing the amount of anti-LGBTI material
published the inescapable conclusion reached is that the newspapers
publishing such opinions support these views.
It is noticeable that leaders from an organisation calling itself the
Evangelist Fellowship of Botswana (EFB) which has the stated aim of
opposing LGBTI rights and human rights more generally is given
disproportionately more space in the newspapers than other voices on LGBTI
matters (see for example the Weekend Post 21 February 2015).
In the opinion pieces and letters, writers are allowed to make assertions
about LBGBI people without challenge, regardless of factual accuracy. Since
the newspapers publish so little about LGBTI people, these views become the
dominant message readers receive about these minority groups. It is notable
that all the articles and letters refer exclusively to gay men and as far as I can
tell were written by men. Often the opinion pieces and letters are lengthy,
running up to about 2,000 words, indicating that the newspaper editors
consider such views important and they wish their readers to receive them.
There can be little doubt of the newspapers’ support of such opinions
and by publishing them they potentially encourage the incitement of hatred
against LGBTI people. In this example of a 2,000-word opinion article, the
newspaper printed the following standfirst prominently under the headline
GOD WILL NOT ALLOW HOMOSEXUALITY AND PROSTITUTION
IN BOTSWANA. The idea was to use these words to entice readers to read
the entire article.

“In this bull against perversion, Pastor Emmanuel Owolabi argues that just as homosexuals
and prostitutes claim to have their kinky behaviour as their preferred way of life, other
anti-social and criminal groups such as thieves, robbers, drunkards, rapists, drug addicts
and murderers may rationalise their misconduct as their chosen ways of life and seek to
have legal protection” (Mmegi online, 18 November 2011).

134
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

In the course of the article, Owolabi writes homosexuals, “should be

in mental hospitals” and, “Homosexuals and prostitutes need to be sharply
rebuked and counselled. Many of them actually qualify to be sent to
psychiatric homes for proper treatment and rehabilitation.”
The same newspaper gave the same writer another opportunity to
disseminate hate speech. This time he attacked the human rights organisation
the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law & HIV/AIDS (BONELA).
Under the headline BONELA IS A CESSPOOL OF HELL the article’s
standfirst read as follows,

“In this hard-hitting riposte to BONELA, Pastor EMMANUEL OWOLABI notes that
some states in America last year passed a law that allowed soldiers to have maximum
sexual joy with horses, dogs and donkeys. Will such legislation of bestiality, he asks,
become BONELA’s next bus stop? Let us be mindful of the fact that although dogs are
sexually reckless, male dogs do not mate with each other, neither do female dogs” (Mmegi
online 23 August 2013).

This article is especially shocking, since no such laws were passed in

the United States and the journalists should have known this, leading to
speculation that the journalists’ wish to do maximum damage to LGBTI
people prevented them making such basic checks.
In the opinion articles and readers’ letters, gay men are always
portrayed negatively, for example as unnatural, diseased, deviant, linked to
crime, immoral, socially destabilising and ungodly (an abomination). In more
than one case the killing of homosexual men is advocated.
Below are some examples of hate speech from newspapers in
Botswana. I have grouped them under some common themes. They make
unpleasant reading. Reader discretion is advised.

Exterminate homosexuals
“Homosexuals should be terminated now, and if it were up to me there
should be a law to kill or hang all gays” (College student interviewed in a
street poll. The Voice, 29 March 2013).
“Moatlhodi, MP for Tonota North, said …. If he had the power he
would have all those who practice homosexuality killed” (News report the
Botswana Gazette, 9 February 2011).
“It is not a new thing to kill homosexuals and I am not saying it is right
to kill them, but rather [they] be re-integrated into morally upright society”

135
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

(Letter to the editor that ran for 1,700 words, Mmegi online, 26 February
2011).
“[After citing biblical references] … what that tells us is that
homosexuality is not only an abomination and a sin worthy of the death
penalty, but it is also potentially a divine judgement …” (opinion article,
Botswana Guardian, 21 November 2014).

Homosexuals are sub-human

“Like homosexuals, cannibals may also claim that they have been
robbed and marginalised for centuries by majority from preying on other
human beings since they have the right to choose what they eat and love
most” (Letter to the editor that ran for 1,700 words, Mmegi online, 26
February 2011).
“A person may be born with a greater susceptibility to homosexuality,
just as some people are born with a tendency to violence and other sins”
(opinion article, Botswana Guardian, 25 February 2011.)

Homosexuals are mentally unstable

“Homosexuals and prostitutes need to be sharply rebuked and
counselled. Many of them actually qualify to be sent to psychiatric homes for
proper treatment and rehabilitation” (opinion article that ran for 2,000 words,
Mmegi online, 18 November 2011).
“[It is] a wrong and harmful message to suggest that there is nothing
wrong with being gay” (Letter from leader of Evangelical Fellowship of
Botswana, Mmegi online, 2 February 2011).

Homosexuality is against God: an abomination

GOD IS AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY (headline on report
soliciting views of “respected religious leaders” (Mmegi, 21 November,
2014).
GOD DOES NOT CONDONE HOMOSEXUALITY (headline to a
reader’s letter, the Botswana Guardian, 7 October 2011).
GOD WILL NOT ALLOW HOMOSEXUALITY AND
PROSTITUTION IN BOTSWANA (headline to reader’s letter, Mmegi
online, 18 November 2011).
HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN (headline to opinion article, the
Botswana Guardian, 25 February 2011).

136
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN: FULL STOP (headline to an opinion

article, the Botswana Guardian, 21 November 2014).
“Homosexuality is evil. It is something that even God does not accept”
(26-year-old woman interviewed in street poll, the Voice, 29 March 2013).
“Homosexuality, fornication, adultery and incest are therefore
inappropriate expressions of our sexuality since they are not just unbiblical
but they are also not in consonance with our national culture and traditions
(Letter, Mmegi online, 2 February 2011).
“God says homosexuality is an ‘abomination’ that means that God
hates, abhors and thoroughly detests homosexual behaviour” (opinion
article, the Botswana Guardian, 25 February 2011).
“Same sex marriage, homosexuals, gays, lesbians, these are
abominations to God. That is why he had to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
because of these acts (reader’s letter, the Botswana Guardian, 7 October
2011).
“Satanism presents itself in different forms such as homosexuality,
prostitution, gambling, adultery, child slavery, human trafficking, mayhem,
pornography and many other immoral acts” (reader’s letter, Mmegi online,
26 February 2011).

Homosexuals are a threat to society

“This is why we have hunger and the climate has changed for the worst
with no rains falling. God is punishing us for such practices” (street vendor
interviewed in street poll, the Voice, 29 March 2013).
“What these men and women are doing is an abomination not just to
God but to the family” (reader’s letter, Botswana Gazette, 23 February
2011).
“Some of the evil effects on homosexuality on society include
destruction of the family, with the indirect implications of untrained and
homeless children, increased juvenile and adult delinquency, teenage
pregnancies and parenthood, rape, drug addiction and HIV/AIDS (opinion
article, Mmegi online, 18 November 2011).

Hate speech by prominent people

There are also cases where newspaper report the hate speech delivered
publicly by prominent people. The most recent was in September 2016 when
US Pastor Steven Anderson visited Botswana to set up a church. His virulent

137
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

homophobia was reported across the media in the county. Anderson stated
that homosexuals should be exterminated and rejoiced in the murder of up to
50 members of the LGBTI community in Orlando, Florida. Anderson was
deported from the country following a live radio interview in which he said
gays must be killed. Media in Botswana supported the decision and
condemned the pastor’s views (see for example, the Voice online, 23
September 2016; the Botswana Gazette online, 22 September 2016; the
Botswana Guardian online, 23 September 2016).
The second case involved Pono Moatlhodi the Deputy Speaker of the
Botswana National Assembly who in 2011 told a joint meeting of BONELA
and the Parliamentary AIDS Committee convened to discuss issuing
condoms in prison that “if he had the power he would have all those who
practice homosexuality killed” (the Botswana Gazette online, 9 February
2011).
In these two cases publishing hate speech is justified. There are two
main issues: i) media reporting advocacy of hatred by campaigning
politicians or others; ii) media directly advocating hatred themselves. The
media are generally absolved from reporting the remarks of politicians and
other prominent people but journalists have the responsibility to counter such
statements with countervailing facts or voices (ACE, 2012, p.95).
When media directly advocate hatred, especially in circumstances that
could constitute incitement they cannot be absolved from liability. The
attitude to the law and any regulating authorities will be different depending
on whether the media are actively advocating hatred or violence or they are
simply reporting the advocacy or hatred or violence by politicians or others
(ACE, 2012, p.96).
Journalists sometimes face the dilemma between reporting accurately
and declining to report on anything that will discriminate on racial, religious,
national, gender, or other grounds. The balancing act of reporting hate speech
and actions provides an opportunity for factual content of inflammatory
messages to be challenged, but it also gives voice to those who are the targets
of inflammatory messages, thereby nulling the dehumanising effects of hate
speech and actions (ACE, 2012, p.200).

Discussion

138
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Just like women, LGBTI people in Botswana have been “symbolically

annihilated” or rendered invisible by the media and representations have
tended to reinforce as much as challenge the prevailing heterosexual
hegemony that is to say, the belief that being heterosexual is the normal (and
only) way to be (Hodkinson, 2011, p.238). LGBTI people and their issues
appear so infrequently in newspapers that it seems that they are simply being
ignored. When they are included it is mostly to expose their supposedly
deviant behaviour and to objectify them as less than human. This makes the
reporting of LGBTI an area of political conflict since the news media in
Botswana endorse one kind of sexuality (the heterosexual) while stigmatising
others.
There might also be issues of newspaper agenda setting and marketing
here. People like to read spicy or titillating stories. Frank Pearce writing more
than a generation ago about the salacious reporting of male homosexuals in
newspapers in England made the point that readers (and maybe in Botswana
we can include also opinion writers) find reading such accounts pleasurable
and that is why they are published (Pearce, 1981, p.307). He said there are
many pleasurable feelings (of which sexual feelings are high on the list) that
many people are forbidden to experience, imagine, remember or dream about.

“These pleasurable sensations that we have denied but not annihilated may be lived
through again by means of the sensational newspapers. By reading newspapers we are able
to stumble across stories about the unthinkable-for-me, pleasurable deviant acts. We can
read the details, be disturbed by the salaciousness of what is written, and then condemn
what has taken place. We have therefore broken none of our convoluted rules, and yet
lived through the forbidden experiences and gained the additional pleasure of moral
indignation.” (Pearce, 1981, p.307).

However, news media may unwittingly fall into a trap. Gender Links
in its researches on SOGI reporting concluded that SADC has abundant state-
controlled media, organised by governments that have institutionalised
homophobia – homophobia extends itself into the media creating
homophobic newsrooms that strategically misrepresent or under-represent
SOGI (Ndlovu & Nyamweda, 2015, p.88). As Ditlhase, (2010, pp. 12-13)
demonstrated with her interviews with media workers this is without doubt
the case in Botswana.
Ndlovu & Nyamweda believe media in the SADC region fear reporting
favourably on SOGI because they fear losing advertising revenue. There is

139
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

also societal pressure and sources are unwilling to come forward (Ndlovu &
Nyamweda, 2015, p.92). But, because of their wide reach and agenda-setting
potential the media have the opportunity to change mindsets and perceptives.
Research in South Africa showed people believed the media played a
significant role in shaping people’s ideas and creating a diverse view of South
Africa (Walters, 2006, p.5). The research concluded there needs to be
consistent and accurate coverage on LGBTI issues, including information
about the reality people faced. No matter where governments stand on the
issue, it is critical that the media tackle these issues and from a human rights
perspective (Lowe Morna et al, 2010, p.105).

The way forward

So how might journalists in Botswana improve their coverage of

LGBTI people? The first imperative is to understand what sexuality and
gender identity is. They should understand the science and use that
understanding to interpret the world around them. The work of Bailey and his
colleagues (2016) discussed earlier in this chapter will assist. Journalists
should not take at face value opinion makers whose intention is to discredit
LGBTI people. The evangelical church has been at the forefront of this. They
might usefully question the motives of such writers. Journalists should
always question opinion makers and insist that the opinions are based on
established information and not on hearsay, rumour or prejudice.
Journalists should also insist that were an individual or a group of
individuals are adversely criticised that they have the opportunity to respond:
in the same article and not in some future edition.
Media houses would be advised to consider that there are many LGBTI
people in Botswana and therefore among their readers (or potential readers)
and they have the right to have their lives and views represented in the news
media just like anyone else. Journalists should be encouraged to seek out
members of the LGBTI group as news sources.
Guidelines on the fair reporting of homosexuality (and more recently
LGBTI) matters have existed for decades in countries that are more socially
advanced than Botswana. In 1985, in the United Kingdom, for example, the
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) recommended that its members
remember that gays and lesbians were equal members of society and read

140
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

newspapers, listened to radio and watched television. They do not want to be

described “in terms that belittle, trivialise or demean them” (National Union
of Journalists, 1985, p.2). The NUJ urged journalists not to encourage
discrimination or distortion, not to sensationalise their activities or put them
in a criminal light.”
The NUJ made a list of assumptions about gay men to avoid because
they were not true. They included: gay men are perverts and child molesters;
are dangerous around young people; make unfit parents; are sick; are figures
of fun; are a security risk. All of these assumptions appear in the examples
from Botswana newspapers that I gave earlier.
Finally, the NUJ introduced a clause in its ethical code of conduct, as
follows:

“Journalists shall only mention a person’s race, colour, creed, illegitimacy, marital status (or
lack of it), gender or sexual orientation if this information is strictly relevant. A journalist shall
neither originate not process material which encourages discrimination on any of the above-
mentioned grounds.” (NUJ, 1985, p.1).

References

ACE (2012) The ACE Encyclopaedia: Media and Elections. The Electoral
Knowledge Network. Available from: www.aceproject.org
Article 19 (2013), Responding to Hate Speech Against LGBTI People, a
Policy Brief. London: Article 19.
Bailey, J., Vasey, P., Diamond, L., Breedlove, S., Vilain, E and Epprecht, M.
(2016) ‘Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science’. Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, 17 (2):45-101.
Day, L. (2006) Ethics in Media Communications Cases and Controversies.
Boston: Wadsworth.
Ditlhase, Y. (2010) Attitudes of Journalists Towards Homosexuals, Bachelor
dissertation, University of Botswana.
Du Plooy, G. (2001) Communication Research Techniques, Methods and
Applications. Lansdowne: Juta.

141
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Ehlers, V., Zuyderduin, A. and Oosthuizen, M. (2001) ‘The Well-being of

Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals in Botswana’. Journal of Advanced Nursing,
35 (6):848–856.
Fombad, C. (2004) ‘The Constitutional Protection Against Discrimination in
Botswana’. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 53:139-170.
Government of Botswana (1964) Penal Code of Botswana (cap 08:01, Laws
of Botswana) (1964). Available from:
www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/bw/bw012en.pdf
Hodkinson, P. (2011) Media, Culture and Society, an Introduction. Los
Angeles: Sage.
Limpitlaw, J. (2012) Media Law Handbook for Southern Africa. Vol. 1.
Johannesburg: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
Lowe Morna, C., Mpofu,T. and Glenwright, D. (2010) Gender and Media
Progress Study, Southern Africa. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Lowe Morna, C., Dube, S., and Makamure, L. eds. (2016) SADC Gender
Protocol 2016 Barometer. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
McAllister, J. (2013) ‘Tswanarising Global Gayness: the ‘UnAfrican’
Argument, Western Gay Media Imagery, Local Responses and Gay Culture
in Botswana’. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 15 (sup. 1):88-101.
Msibi, T. (2014): ‘Is Current Theorising On Same-Sex Sexuality Relevant to
the African Context?’ Pambazuka News, 26 February. Available from:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201403041414.html?viewall=1
National Union of Journalists (1985) NUJ Guidelines for Reporting on
Homosexuality. London: NUJ Equality Council / NUJ Lesbian and Gay
Group.
Ndlovu, S. and Nyamweda, T. (2015) Whose News? Whose Views? Southern
Africa Gender and Media Progress Study. Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Nzioka, D. (2014) A Look at Africa’s Anti-gay Laws’. Pambazuka News, 26
February. Available from: https://www.pambazuka.org/governance/look-
africa%E2%80%99s-anti-gay-laws
Pearce, F. (1981) ‘The British Press and the “placing” of Male
Homosexuality.’ In: Cohen, S. and Young, Y. eds. Manufacture of News.

142
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Deviance, Social Problems and the Mass Media. Revised edition. London:
Constable.
Press Council of Botswana (n.d.) Code of Ethics. Available from:
www.unesco.org/fileadmin/.../HQ/CI/.../Botswana%20Press%20Council%2
0Code.doc
Quansah, E. (2004) ‘Same-sex Relationships in Botswana: Current
Perspectives and Future Prospects’. African Human Rights Law Journal, 4
(2):203-208.
Selemogwe, M. and White, D. (2013), ‘An Overview of Gay, Lesbian and
Bisexual Issues in Botswana’. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 17
(4):406-414.
Slagle, M. (2009): ‘An Ethical Exploration of Free Expression and the
Problem of Hate Speech’. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 24 (4):238-250.
Stiebert, J. (2002) ‘Homosexuality in Botswana and in the Hebrew Bible: An
Impression’. Verbum et Ecclesia, 23 (1):197-200.
Tesunbi, S. (2010) ‘An Exploratory Overview of African Media
Representation of Homosexuality: a lesson from Nollywood.’ International
Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, annual review, 5 (6):249-260.
Walter, D. 2006, Out in the Media? Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of
the Media Towards, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Issues
and Stories. Johannesburg: Community Media for Development / Gay &
Lesbian Archives of South Africa.
Wimmer, R. and Dominick, J. (2014) Mass Media Research, an Introduction.
Australia: Wadsworth, international edition.

Website
Ditshwanelo (2017) Botswana Centre for Human Rights. Available from:
http://www.ditshwanelo.org.bw/

143
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

7
Botswana Television

In theory, news on television can give space to people who do not have a
place to air their views. But for this to work the reports that appear on
television need to be of high quality, relevant and useful to the audience.
Television needs to allow the expression of a full range of opinions and
matters of public concern. In this chapter I explore the extent to which
Botswana Television (BTV) allows this to happen.
BTV is the main television channel in Botswana and is the only one
that broadcasts local news to the population of the country. It is owned and
controlled by the state (Balule, 2013, pp.86-87). The Botswana Government,
through a number of its departments and the Office of the President, has since
the station’s launch in the year 2000 identified a number of aims for the
station’s news programming. These include the necessity to inform people
about events within and outside the country, to interpret such events and
whenever possible suggest appropriate approaches to them and to do this by
providing balanced, credible and professionally-tailored programmes
containing fair and balanced reporting. It must do this while also promoting
the policies of the Botswana Government.
No substantial research has been undertaken into news programming
at BTV (but see Mosanako, 2004, 2014, 2016, for work on broadcasts on
development issues). In this chapter I begin to fill the gap in our knowledge.
I answer three broad questions: (i) what are the self-defined aims of BTV
News?; (ii) to what extent are these aims being met through the station’s news

144
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

bulletins?; and (iii) how well does BTV fit the model of public service
broadcasting?
To answer these questions I made a survey of material published by
BTV and Botswana Government departments to establish what its aims are.
Once the “model” for news programming was established I did a content
analysis of news bulletins to find out (i) the kind of items that were being
broadcast and (ii) the sources journalists used in their reports. I then used the
data I collected to determine whether BTV was achieving its aims and
concluded it was not.
This chapter is a revised version of a research paper I delivered at a
seminar at the University of Botswana (Rooney, 2014).

Botswana TV: its aims as seen by itself and the government

BTV and Radio Botswana (RB) 1 and 2 are run as government

departments, within the Office of the President, with staff hired by the
Directorate of Public Service Management, as is the case with all government
employees. Therefore, the state broadcaster is not accountable to the public.
This means, according to the African Media Barometer, that in effect BTV is
run as an organ of the government and there is no legislation to guarantee the
station’s editorial independence from political influence (African Media
Barometer, 2011, pp.43-44).
Before coming under the present Department of Broadcasting
Services, which is a division of the Office of the President, BTV was part of
the Department of Information and Broadcasting (DIB). The present-day
aims of the station date from the days of DIB. The DIB said the station
committed itself to provide at least 60 percent local content to meet the
diverse needs of Batswana (the people of Botswana). According to its guiding
principles, the station was upbeat and forward looking, and sought to align
its strategy with the national vision, Vision 2016 (see below). It recognized
that the majority of Batswana were young people, and that Botswana had
diverse cultural and language groups. It also recognized that Botswana was

145
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

part of an integrated global village and had to compete effectively (Dept. of

Information and Broadcasting website).
It also said that the role of the DIB was to use BTV to mobilize
Batswana towards national development, to inform them about events within
and outside the country, to interpret such events and whenever possible
suggest appropriate approaches to them. The department also educates and
entertains citizens in accordance with national development goals and
interests. DIB said it executed editorial policy in line with its role as a public
service media charged with the responsibility of promoting policies of the
government. “The department is hence, dedicated to the provision of
objective, balanced, credible and professionally-tailored programmes and
publications.” The “Standards and Values” of Botswana TV stated that
“Botswana TV aspires to produce work to the highest standards of
professionalism. Programmes must be impartial and informative” (BTV
Standards and Values website).
In a seeming contradiction to the DIB’s stated role to “mobilize
Batswana towards national development”, BTV itself regarded its
programming policy as “attempt[ing] to cover most genres, but the emphasis
at first must be on sports, news music and talk shows”. However, possibly
with the department’s mandate of “national development” in mind BTV
stated its task was, “to celebrate and develop the civic values that the nation
hold common, while reflecting and enjoying the diversity of culture within
Botswana”.
The commitment of BTV News in particular was stated as,

“To giving you fair, accurate and balanced reporting. In line with the country's Vision
2016, BTV News aims at ensuring that Batswana are properly informed, educated and
become innovative”. It stated, “There is no doubt in our minds that BTV News is perhaps
the most watched show in the station. So to those who wonder about editorial
independence and integrity we say, watch us and judge for yourself for indeed the proof
of the pudding is in the eating” (BTV News Striving for the Truth website).

A statement from the (unnamed) Director Department of Broadcasting

that formed the introductory page to the Botswana TV website appeared to
have been written at or about the time of the station’s launch in 2000. It said
the “most basic benefit” in introducing the nation’s own TV service was that

146
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

the, “people of Botswana had never really seen themselves in the manner they
perceive themselves” (BTV from the Director website).
From the information supplied on the various webpages I conclude that
according to BTV’s own interpretation of its aim, the following statements
represent the station’s commitments to news and current affairs
programming.

1. News and current affairs are to inform Batswana about events within
and outside the country, to interpret such events and whenever possible
suggest appropriate approaches to them.
2. BTV executes editorial policy in line with its role as a public service
media charged with the responsibility of promoting policies of the
government.
3. BTV is dedicated to the provision of objective, balanced, credible
and professionally-tailored programmes.
4. BTV programmes must be impartial and informative.
5. BTV News aims to broadcast “fair, accurate and balanced reporting.
In line with the country’s Vision 2016, BTV News aims at ensuring that
Batswana are properly informed, educated and become innovative”.

Vision 2016

In addition to BTV’s interpretation of its own aims, it is instructive to

also consider the aspirations of the people of Botswana in regard to what the
television station might deliver.
Vision 2016 is a document published as the result of deliberations of a
Presidential Task Force, which started its work in January 1997. The Task
Group conducted extensive consultation with a wide cross-section of
individuals and institutions in Botswana. The views and ideas in Vision 2016
are said to, “reflect as closely as possible the aspirations of Batswana about
their long term future” (Vision 2016 website, p.1).
Vision 2016 stated that regarding Botswana’s communication
capacity, particularly in the electronic media, radio and television, Batswana

147
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

will be informed about the rest of the world. Vision 2016 aspired that, “all
Batswana will have access to the media through national and local radio,
television and newspapers” (Vision 2016 website, p.7).
Vision 2016 predicted,
“The society of Botswana by the year 2016 will be free and democratic, a society where
information on the operations of Government, private sector and other organisations is
freely available to all citizens. There will be a culture of transparency and accountability.”
“The challenge is to ensure access of all families to information technology, television,
audio and print media, and to further develop an environment conducive to the free flow
of information among all of the communities of Botswana” (Vision 2016 website, pp. 17-
18).

The African Media Barometer

There is very little research available regarding audience attitudes to

BTV programming, but one easily-available source is the African Media
Barometer (African Media Barometer, 2009; 2011; 2014). AMB describes
itself as, “an in-depth and comprehensive description and measurement
system” (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.2). It is an analytical exercise to
measure the media situation in a given country. Every two to three years a
panel of 10-12 experts, consisting of at least five media practitioners and five
representatives from civil society, meets to assess the media situation in their
own country.
The AMB confirmed that BTV was a state run and state-controlled
broadcaster. AMB commented, “When the state directs its own organ to do
something, it is not seen as interference. The state is simply operating its own
machinery.” State House is known to give directives to the state broadcaster
about what topics to cover and not to cover (African Media Barometer, 2011,
pp.45-46).
The AMB reported it was “common knowledge” that “government can
stop or delay the news bulletin to serve its own interests”, although an
advertiser would not have this kind of control. AMB reported a perception
that “top people have to come and see any news before it goes on air to check

148
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

if it is politically correct. If it is not, the item is removed” (African Media

Barometer, 2014, p.48).
BTV is funded wholly by a budget drawn from taxpayers. Money made
by the broadcaster through advertising or sponsorship goes directly into state
coffers (see also Balule, 2013, p.91). Some AMB panellists believed the state
broadcaster does not serve the public interest and the way it was funded does
not protect it from arbitrary political interference (African Media Barometer,
2011, pp.45-46). The AMB reported that state television, BTV, continues to
push a very one-sided viewpoint (that of government/the ruling party) and it
has many repeat programmes and not much diversity. Panellists said BTV’s
programming is described by viewers as “boring” and “lacking in creativity”
(African Media Barometer, 2011, p.48).
Some 90 percent of BTV’s local offerings are “talking heads” as the
station rarely goes into the field to interview people. This could be attributed
to stifling of programme content in order to stick to what has been approved
and agreed upon prior to airing. Generally, there is little balance in news and
current affairs offered by the state radio and television services, as opposition
parties and viewpoints are not given the same platform as the ruling party,
which dominates the airwaves. There is also misleading information and
propaganda broadcast on BTV and RB1 and RB2.
BTV News was reportedly given an instruction from State House in
2010 to cover only the president and the vice president as, “they talk about
issues of national interest” (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.49).
“Sometimes state media journalists have good intentions, as it is traumatising
from the inside, but you can’t strike your stomach.” AMB reported this has
led to a general lack of confidence by Batswana in the state broadcaster,
resulting in a lot of people not watching or listening to these services.
The quota for different programming by BTV is reportedly 20 percent
local news, 30 percent local programming, 10 percent local interviews and
40 percent foreign programming. There is local content on the national
broadcaster, but this is not very diverse or creative, especially on BTV. The
state television service has a budget of P2million to procure local content, but
this is not sufficient and would only pay for two 24-minute programmes, and
not, for example, a 13-episode local series (African Media Barometer, 2011,
p.50; see also Ditlhokwa, 2014).

149
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

It is argued that BTV, “was always meant to be a political mouthpiece

of the ruling party, for its own political gain”, and that even if local producers
find their own funding, BTV is still reluctant to air the programmes (African
Media Barometer, 2011, p.50).

Content analysis of bulletins

To examine the contents of BTV News, I surveyed a total of 14

bulletins over a period starting 6 January 2013 and ending 15 March 2013
(see also, Rooney, 2014). “News occurrence” is not evenly spread across the
week. For example, law courts and government offices tend not to operate at
weekends and more sporting events take place on Saturday than any other
day of the week. Therefore, we might assume it is less likely that political
news will happen and be reported at the weekend when in turn there will be
greater opportunities to report sporting activities on Saturday and Sunday. To
try to minimise bias due to the uneven spread of news occurrences across the
week, the 14 days chosen consisted of two bulletins from each day of the
week. A purposive sample was used in selecting the dates: that is bulletins
were chosen at random until the required total was achieved.
Botswana TV News (English version) runs each day Monday to
Sunday and is aired at 20.00 hrs. It is scheduled to fit a 30 minute time slot,
but in practice during the survey period the programme ran for between 20
and 25 minutes. The remaining time in the 30-minute slot was taken up with
advertising and/or previews of forthcoming programmes.
The news bulletin had a set running order that never changed during
the research period. It ran as follows: welcome and news headlines read by
announcer; news reports from within Botswana; foreign news reports; stock
market and currency reports (Monday to Friday only); sports news; closing
headlines read by announcer.
The total number of reports broadcast in a bulletin varied between nine
and 13 and the number of news reports from within Botswana ran between
three and seven. In 10 of the 14 bulletins 50 percent or fewer of the items
broadcast were news reports from Botswana.

150
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Reports from within Botswana typically consisted of the studio

announcer reading an introduction to the report followed by a reporter (rarely
himself or herself seen on camera) presenting a voice-over report. There was
little attempt to present the report visually. A typical report would consist of
a summary of an organised event that took place (for example, a press
conference, a workshop, a commemorative event of some description).
Dominant in the report would be a speaker addressing a gathering through a
microphone. The camera would cut away to faces in the audience from time
to time. However, it was obvious that the cutaways were not
contemporaneous; that is the audience were not filmed reacting to the words
spoken to them, the shots appeared to be general footage of the audience that
was then cut into an edited report presumably in an to attempt to add some
life to the report.
Other reports that were not from an organised event would typically
consist of a person (usually a spokesperson for a government department or
an organisation of some kind) speaking to camera. Rarely were there reports
that had ordinary people (here defined as people who did not appear to be
speaking on behalf of an organisation) at their centre. During the research
period only eight reports (of a total of 72 from within Botswana) were of this
type.
In all occasions reporters were not shown asking questions. In the case
of the public events, the speaker’s words were shot during their speech to the
gathering. No one-on-one interview between journalist and subject was ever
conducted. This was true, even when technical problems (for example,
feedback in the amplifiers) distorted what the speaker was saying to their
audience. In this way, reporters never took the opportunity to ask
supplementary questions of the speaker or hold them to account on matters
that might have been controversial.
In the times when a person being reported was not at an organised event
but simply speaking to a camera no attempt was made to show the
involvement of the reporter. It is to be supposed that the subject was
responding to a question from the journalist before making their response.
However, there were no supplementary questions asked by the reporter and
reporter and subject did not engage in dialogue of any sort.

151
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Often, the subject (at organised events or in comments to the camera)

spoke in a language other than English. BTV News made minimal efforts to
translate this for an English-only speaking audience, making it difficult for
them to fully understand what was being said in the report. This could even
be the case when the person speaking was an official spokesperson for
government or a business entity and (one supposes) would have been able to
give their comments in English if requested by the reporter.
Foreign news consisted entirely of agency reports. BTV News does not
have its own correspondents outside the country. The studio announcer would
read brief reports based on agency reports and filmed inserts supplied by the
agency would be shown.
The Botswana Stock Market and currency report was read out by the
announcer. It consisted entirely of share prices supplied by Botswana Stock
Market and foreign currency prices supplied by the Bank of Botswana. No
analysis of the data was given (beyond saying the prices had moved up or
down and by how much). During the whole survey period these prices
consisted of the only news about business that was broadcast, apart from
where businesses were involved in donating to charity or some other “social
responsibility” activity.
Sports news consisted of two types: (i) reports on sporting events that
had taken place or were about to take place, and (ii) reports on the activities
of sporting organisations. Some of those sports reports originating from
within Botswana were indistinguishable from the general news from
Botswana. For example, during the survey period there were separate reports
about Botswana athletics, football, softball coaching and boxing that were
based on organised events such as press conferences and mainly consisted of
officials talking about some initiative they wished to be publicised.
It was rare to see any action footage of sporting events that had taken
place within Botswana. The exception to this was on one Saturday when
footage of that day’s soccer matches was shown. The only action footage
shown in the survey period came from foreign sporting events (for example,
the Dakar Rally and Australian Open Tennis).
The local news items on BTV News are dominated by official state
sources, such as the government. A total of 29.1 percent came directly from
government ministries and/or the President and Vice President of Botswana.

152
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

These included a statement (uncontested by the journalist) from the President

that poor public services would be a thing of the past and a report on a retreat
organised by the Department of Youth, Sport and Culture to discuss its
development plan.
A further 9.7 percent came from local government and political parties,
including a response to farmers complaining about a local council’s decision
banning them from growing cattle fodder. Of the three items about political
parties, two were from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), one of
which was a report on the BDP’s Women’s Wing’s dinner. Combined, these
politically-oriented items accounted for 38.8 percent of local news items.
No other source category came close to this. Items from parastatals (7
percent) and the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) contributed a further 9.8
percent of sources. The BDF reports concerned a local littler clean-up
campaign. The forces of law and order (police, prison service, law courts)
contributed 12.5 percent of sources. These included reports on heavy traffic
over the Christmas/New Year holiday period, road accidents and a prison
escape.
The above statistics suggest that journalists on BTV seem to over-rely
on official voices (politicians and other representatives of the state) for their
local news sources. There are other voices heard on BTV news, but like the
official state voices these also tend to represent power. For example,
“businesses” (such as diamond mining and tourism: two major drivers of the
Botswana economy representing “economic power”) accounted for 11.1
percent of sources. The main thrust of these items was that companies were
acting in socially-responsible ways to local communities, for example Majwe
Mining donating clothes to poor children.
“Ordinary” people are not entirely overlooked by BTV News, but in
the research period there were only eight local news items out of a total 72
(11.1 percent) that originated with them. The news items included people
complaining about one thing or another (e.g. farmers criticising local stores
for not buying their produce; parents worried that shops did not have enough
stocks of school uniforms ahead of the start of the school year; road traffic
fines). They also included two items that identified children who were
trapped by poverty: one included children who were unable to attend school
because they had responsibilities at home as “care givers”; the other was

153
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

about a child “trapped by poverty”: both appeared to be poorly concealed

appeals for charity.

Analysis of BTV News’ stated aims

The data collected in the content analysis allow us to test BTV’s stated
aims for its news programming. As discussed above, BTV News has five
main aims for news and current affairs programming. Below I test each of
BTV’s aims against the data gathered in the content analysis.

Aim 1: To inform Batswana about events within and outside the

country, to interpret such events and whenever possible suggest appropriate
approaches to them.
Comment: BTV has no journalists operating outside the country and
its foreign news is supplied entirely by international news agencies.
Therefore, BTV is unable to “interpret” these events, nor offer appropriate
approaches to them. Also, BTV is limited in its reporting from inside
Botswana. In 10 of the 14 bulletins 50 percent or fewer of the items broadcast
were news reports from Botswana. The local news that is reported privileges
the voices of those with political and economic power over the “ordinary”
people.
The sources of the majority of news reports in the bulletins seem to be
organized or staged events to which the media are invited (sometimes the
only purpose of the event is to impart information to the media). This raises
questions about the way the government dominates the news agenda and who
else within Botswana is allowed to communicate through the TV station. The
Government defines the news agenda as what Stuart Hall and his colleagues
(Hall et. al., 1980, p.58) call “primary definers” in that BTV journalists
faithfully reproduce what they say and thus reinforce their existing powerful
positions in society. No voices directly opposing the Government line are
heard and in this way the dominant ideology of the ruling elite is transmitted.

154
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Generally, reports on BTV News are presented at face value. Reporters

tend not to ask questions that require people in positions of power to justify
their statements or actions. Reporters tend to receive information from a
single source and re-present it unquestioningly in bulletins. In most of the
stories in the survey, the reporter made little attempt to gather additional
information, not even to get a balancing quote in the case of a story about a
matter of controversy. Nor do journalists tend to give background
information to the stories, even those running from day to day. They seem to
have no institutional memory and are unable to draw on information from
their own archives to put stories into context.
On a simple logistical level BTV does not inform Batswana about
events inside and outside the country because technically it is not capable of
reaching the whole population (African Media Barometer, 2011, p. 48).

Aim 2: The department also executes editorial policy in line with its
role as a public service media charged with the responsibility of promoting
policies of the government.
Comment: BTV promotes the policies of the government, but this is
done to the exclusion of almost all opposition voices. This is especially so on
matters of controversy. It is difficult for this research to properly analyse
BTV’s news agenda, because only those stories the station chooses to
broadcast are visible. Neither I nor the television viewer have any idea what
“news” BTV chose not to broadcast. There is evidence that BTV censors
news that is unfavourable to government. This started almost immediately the
station first aired in 2000.
As Charles Fombad had noted, government journalists are civil
servants and as such in general the Botswana Government believes that the
“official” media gives official information and civil servants who work for it
are controlled by civil service conventions. They are free to report what they
like as long as they toe the official line. Fombad reported that as early as
August 2000 (just after BTV launched) the BTV management were severely
criticised by government for reporting on the “forceful and sometimes
violent” eviction of squatters by the Ministry of Lands and Housing. This so
angered one Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President he went on
the private Yarona FM radio station to state that the function of BTV was to

155
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

broadcast news that promoted government policies and not air reports that
“encourage trouble and criticise the government” (Fombad, 2002, p.663).
That expectation continues to the present day. AMB has said, “State
house is known to give directives to the state broadcaster about what topics
to cover and not to cover,” and that “government can stop or delay the news
bulletin to serve its own interests” (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.45).
The African Media Barometer noted in 2009 that a directive from the Office
of the President to BTV and RB1 and RB2 news departments around the time
of the 2004 election was that the President and the Vice President must be
covered at all events. AMB concluded that the order was still being followed
(African Media Barometer. 2009, p.50).
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Botswana chapter, in
its annual review of media freedom in the country in 2011, came to a similar
conclusion. It described BTV reporting during a long-running strike by public
sector trade unions as “unashamed propaganda” for the government. “The
viewers [of BTV] were treated to one side of the story as government literally
dominated the airwaves and never broadcast the point of view of the unions”
(Ndhlovu, 2012, p.42; see also Balule, 2013, p.80). Ndhlovu reported, “It was
clear during the strike that whoever was in control believed the thousands of
Batswana workers who were on a legal strike did not deserve to be heard by
the rest of the citizens” (Ndhlovu, 2012, pp.43-44).
Freedom House has reported the “government occasionally censors or
otherwise restricts news sources or stories that it finds undesirable”. It gives
the example of coverage in 2010 of the split in the ruling BDP and the
resulting formation of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) party
that was “conspicuously absent from state-run radio and television
broadcasts, and journalists were discouraged from interviewing BMD
leaders” (Freedom House, 2013).
BTV’s role as “a public service media” is not clearly defined. This has
been interpreted (see Ndhlovu, 2012, p.43; Balule, 2013) to mean a “public
service broadcaster”. If this is the case BTV fails on a number of levels that
I will discuss below.

156
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Aim 3: The department is dedicated to the provision of objective,

balanced, credible and professionally-tailored programmes and publications.
Comment: BTV News bulletins are not objective or balanced and
therefore are not credible. Journalists overly-rely on people in power as
sources of information. The number of people appearing in most news items
is limited in number and views in opposition to government are not aired.
Journalists do not behave “professionally” as they do not hold people to
account. They do not question the people they report on, instead allowing
them to make claims unhindered. Even in matters of controversy, such as the
report from the President’s Office that poor public services would be a thing
of the past (broadcast 11 January 2013), there is no counterbalancing
argument.
Journalists at BTV News also fail the “professional” test by being
incapable of telling a story visually and using editing techniques that are
commonly used in television newsrooms across the world. The lack of
capacity of some media practitioners in Botswana is recognised by journalists
themselves, who see them operating as public relations people for the
powerful, (Ntibinyane, 2014) or ignoring facts in favour of their own
prejudiced news angles (Molefhe, 2008).

Aim 4: Programmes must be impartial and informative.

Comment: This aim seems to repeat that covered in aim 3 (above). The
choice of news items to broadcast and the restricted voices that are allowed
to speak demonstrate that the news is not impartial. What “information” that
is broadcast is directed towards news and views that the Botswana
Government wishes to be broadcast, rather than impartial information that
might help viewers better understand the state of their country.
There is much evidence that the ruling party, which since
Independence in 1966 has always been the BDP, receive the majority of
airtime devoted to political matters. In 2011 the Industrial Court heard how
government attempted to redeploy a chief broadcasting officer at Radio
Botswana 1 and BTV because he resisted “the politicisation of the national
broadcaster”. The court was told the officer had allegedly fallen out with his
supervisors for giving coverage to the BMD, the party that had been

157
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

established the previous year after serious in-fighting with the BDP. The
officer alleged that the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public
Administration had given instructions that the national broadcaster should not
give coverage to the BMD (Balule, 2013, p.80).
One of the traits of journalism in Botswana (print included) is its
unwillingness to produce stories that contain a balance of views within them.
Instead, journalists opt for revisiting stories over a period of time, introducing
new elements and different views in each new episode. In this way committed
viewers or readers might be able to piece together the disparate elements of
the story into a comprehensible whole. But, each new episode tends to include
only one source, thus there is no balance of views or attempt at interrogation
of the powerful. This demonstrates a lack of capacity among Botswana’s
journalists to perform one of their vital roles within a democracy which is to
examine what government is and is not doing and to provide the public with
information, comment, analysis, criticism and alternative views.

Aim 5: To give “fair, accurate and balanced reporting. In line with the
country’s Vision 2016, BTV News aims at ensuring that Batswana are
properly informed, educated and become innovative”.
Comment: This aim has similar characteristics to aim three and four
(above). It is correct that Vision 2016 aspires to see Botswana as “a culture
of transparency and accountability” (Vision 2016 website, p.7), but the
evidence from the bulletins suggests that neither of these exist.
BTV and its government controllers do not explain what they mean
when they want to see Batswana “become innovative”. I might speculate that
this is somehow related to giving viewers news and information that they
could use in some unspecified way in their daily lives to improve their own
situations. However, it would be impossible to identify an item in any of the
news bulletins examined in this research that could be said to meet this need.

BTV and public service broadcasting

BTV does not make the explicit claim to be a “public service
broadcaster”, but many of its stated aspirations at least imply that this might
be its intention (Balule, 2013). Therefore, it is useful here, to explore the

158
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

model of public service broadcasting and to demonstrate that it does not exist
in Botswana.
Sometimes among broadcasters there can be confusion about what are
the differences between a “public broadcasting service” and a “public service
broadcaster”. In simple terms a “public broadcasting service” is a service that
is broadcast to the public. This can include radio and television that is state-
controlled, commercial broadcasting, church broadcasting, national stations,
local stations and community stations. It is a generic term and includes all
forms of broadcasting that reaches an audience. Even very small stations such
as the stations that broadcast exclusively to one chain of shops, which play
music and commercials advising customers of the bargains of the day (such
as you hear in some supermarkets) could be called a public broadcasting
service (Rooney, 2013).
Meanwhile, “public service broadcasting” is a very specific form of
public broadcasting service. It aims to inform, educate and entertain in a way
in which the commercial or state sector left unregulated would not do.
Generally, it is understood that public service broadcasters air a wide range
of programmes in a variety of tastes and interests. They speak to everyone as
a citizen and everyone has an opportunity to access the airways and
participate in public life (Balule, 2013, p.81). Public service broadcasters can
be private stations or run by the state but in all cases should be free of
government interference or commercial pressures (UNESCO, n.d).
Public service programming aims vary from country to country but
there is a core of common features that are universally valid. It is broadcasting
made for the public, financed by the public and controlled by the public.
Generally, the “public” is the entire population of the country and ideally
means every household in the service area should be in a position to receive
the programme service. Programming should be in the fields of information,
entertainment and education for people of all ages and social groups. It plays
an active role in presenting and promoting national culture and can contribute
to strengthening notions of identity and community and establish adequate
interaction between citizens and their immediate wider communities
(Rumphorst, 2003, pp.73-74; Yaakob, 2003, p.96).
Today there is a wide global consensus that political systems should
exist to provide opportunities for all the people to influence government and

159
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

practice (Department for International Development, 2001) and that public

service programming fulfils some of the criteria necessary for democratic
participation. To engage effectively there is an assumption that access to
information is the first requirement for an engaged, participative democracy
(Roth, 2001, p.13). An active citizenry will help prevent governmental
excesses and breed trust in the democratic system (Tetty, 2003, p.28). There
are specific public interest political goals which the media can be used to
serve, including the following: informing the public, public enlightenment,
social criticism and exposing government arbitrariness, national integration
and political education. But, the more the media serve the narrow self-interest
the less able they are to serve the other group of public interests (Ojo, 2003,
pp.829-830).
Broadcasting has a role as a partner in development as it can help to
mobilise people who are directly affected by a community condition (that is,
the victims, the unaffiliated, the unrecognised, and the non-participating) into
groups and organisations to enable them to take action on the social problems
and issues that concern them. For community development to take place, the
people must first be conscious of and open to changes for development (Dy,
2004).
People have a right to express their needs and concerns, in
development programmes and across society and government. At an
operational level, fulfilling people’s rights to speak about problems with
service delivery will improve service provision. More fundamentally,
communication can help create open and responsive government (Burke,
1999). Public service broadcasters should be neutral towards all parties,
providing facts, education and entertainment to the people, and not serve as
the mouthpiece of those in power (Samuon, 2003, p.106).
BTV meets none of the conditions to be a public service broadcaster.
It does not air a range of programmes in a variety of tastes and interests. It
does not treat the citizens of Botswana as equals, affording access to the
airwaves to all. Instead, it privileges the Botswana Government and those in
powerful positions in society. BTV does not attempt to achieve public interest
political goals which would include informing and enlightening the public.
Nor does it allow space for social criticism or to expose the arbitrariness of
government.

160
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Conclusion

My research concludes that on the evidence of what BTV News

broadcasts in its daily bulletins it is not fulfilling the aims it has been set by
itself and the government which include the necessity to inform people about
events within and outside the country, to interpret such events and whenever
possible suggest appropriate approaches to them and to do this by providing
balanced, credible and professionally-tailored programmes containing fair
and balanced reporting.
It also concludes that BTV News does not fit the model of a public
service broadcasting provider.
There remains an unanswered question. Why did BTV News set these
aims in the first place? We might speculate that in Botswana it is not in the
interests of the ruling party (the BDP since the country gained its
independence from Britain in 1966) to allow the airwaves to be used by those
who might wish to criticise it. With no real alternative local television station
in Botswana, the government holds the monopoly for television news and
probably has no real desire to see the airwaves democratised.
There is no strong advocacy within Botswana for large scale change in
its broadcasting landscape and despite the existence of “press freedom”
advocates such as the Press Council of Botswana and the Media Institute of
Southern Africa the government is under no pressure to make changes in this
regard.

References

African Media Barometer (2009) Botswana, Windhoek: Friedrich-Ebert-

Stiftung .
African Media Barometer (2011) Botswana, Windhoek: Friedrich-Ebert-
Stiftung .

161
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

African Media Barometer (2014) Botswana, Windhoek: Friedrich-Ebert-

Stiftung .
Balule, B. (2013) ‘Public Service Broadcasters or Government Mouthpieces
– An Appraisal of Public Service Broadcasting in Botswana’, Scripted 10(1)
[Internet], 77-92. Available from: http://www.script-ed.org/wp-
content/uploads/2013/04/balule.pdf
Burke, A. (1999) Communications and Development: a Practical Guide,
London: Department for International Development.
Department for International Development (2001) Making Government Work
for Poor People: Building State Capability. Strategies for achieving the
international development targets. London: DFID.
Ditlhokwa, B. (2014) ‘The Dilemma of Local Content: the Case of Botswana
Television (BTV).’ In: Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers.
Gaborone: University of Botswana, Department of Media Studies.
Dy, M. (2004) ‘Impact of New & Old Media on Development in Asia’, 13th
AMIC Annual Conference, 1-3 July, Bangkok, Thailand.
Fombad, C. (2002) ‘The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Public
Service Media in Southern Africa: a Botswana Perspective’, The Modern
Law Review, 65 (5): 649-675.
Freedom House (2013) Freedom of the Press 2012 Botswana. New York:
Freedom House. Available from:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-
press/2013/botswana#.UwMaPYXzpTE
Hall, S., Chritcher, C., Jefferson, T., Clarke, J. and Roberts, B. (1978)
Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order, London:
Macmillan.
Molefhe, R. (2008) ‘Challenges of Botswana Journalism’, Mmegi online, 18
July. Available from:
http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=24&dir=2008/July/Friday18
Mosanako, S. (2004) Television and National Identity: A Case of Botswana
Television. Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Westminster.
Mosanako, S. (2014) Television in Botswana: Development and Policy
Perspectives. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Queensland.

162
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Mosanako, S. (2016) ‘The State of Coverage of Development Issues on

National Television in Botswana’. Botswana Notes and Records, 48: 315-
327.
Ndhlovu, T. (2012) ‘National Overview, Botswana’. In: MISA ed. So This
Democracy? Windhoek: Media Institute of Southern Africa.
Ntibinyane, N. (2014) BTV Interview With Khama Was a PR Exercise,
Midweek Sun, 22 January, p.4.
Ojo, E. (2003) ‘The Mass Media and the Challenges of Sustainable
Democratic Values in Nigeria: Possibilities and Limitations’. Media, Culture
& Society, 25 (6):821-840.
Rooney, R. (2006) ‘Revitializing Radio With Community Emphasis’, In:
Banejee I. and Seneviratne K, eds., Public Service Broadcasting in the Age
of Globalization, Singapore: Asian Media Information and Communication
Centre / Nanyang Technological University.
Rooney, R. (2013) ‘Swaziland: Broadcasting is not for the People’. Swazi
Media Commentary Occasional Paper, No 2. Available from:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/123306571/Swaziland-Broadcasting-Not-For-
The-People
Rooney, R. (2014) BTV Fails The People: an Analysis of Botswana
Television News, Available from:
https://www.scribd.com/document/213311408/BTV-Fails-the-People-an-
Analysis-of-Botswana-Television-News
Roth, C. (2001) The Media in Governance: a Guide to Assistance.
Developing Free and Effective Media to Serve the Interests of the Poor.
London: Department for International Development.
Rumphorst, W. (2003) ‘What is Public Service Broadcasting?’ In: Eashwar,
S. ed. Responses to Globalization and the Digital Divide in the Asia Pacific.
Kuala Lumpur: Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting.
Samuon, D. (2003) ‘Public Service Broadcasting Partners for Development’.
In: Eashwar, S. ed. Responses to Globalization and the Digital Divide in the
Asia Pacific. Kuala Lumpur: Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting.
Tetty, W. (2003) ‘The Media and Democratization in Africa: Contributions,
Constraints and Concerns of the Private Press’. Media, Culture & Society, 23
(1):5–31.

163
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

UNESCO (n.d.) Public Service Broadcasting. Available from:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/media-
development/public-service-broadcasting/
Yaakob, K. (2003)’ PSB in the Asia-Pacific.’ In: S. Eashwar, ed. Responses
to Globalization and the Digital Divide in the Asia Pacific. Kuala Lumpur:
Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting,

Websites

BTV From the Director. Available from:

http://www.btv.gov.bw/from_the_director.html

BTV News Striving for the Truth. Available from:

http://www.btv.gov.bw/news.html

BTV Standards and Values. Available from:

http://www.btv.gov.bw/guiding_principles.html

Government of Botswana, Dept. of Information and Broadcasting. Available

from:
http://www.dib.gov.bw/

Vision 2016. Available from:

http://www.vision2016.co.bw/vision-publications.php?flag=news

164
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

8
Election coverage

News media play a vital role in liberal democracies by giving citizens

information and space to discuss matters of controversy and importance and
help them to reach rational decisions. This is important at all times and never
more so than at election time. People rarely have the opportunity through time
constraints in their lives or the availability of events to meet election
candidates at first hand and to question them on their policies. The news
media mediates this relationship for them and stand in the place of the public
and questions politicians on their behalf. That is the basic theory; however it
is debateable that this happens in practice anywhere in the world and not at
all in Botswana.
In Botswana where the state dominates broadcasting and print media
people’s access to state media is not equal; during normal times or at
elections. The theory goes that each contestant should have equal opportunity
to present their arguments to the voters and to repudiate the arguments of
their opponents . News media provide a channel of information between the
contestants and the public and most importantly, publicly-owned media is
supposed to be neutral between contestants. State media are obliged to uphold
these standards since they belong to all citizens, and using state media to
promote a certain political party or certain candidates is an illegitimate
manipulation of the public and an abuse of public resources (Mogalakwe,
2015, pp.114-116).

165
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in its

Guidelines on Media Coverage of Elections is concise in its understanding of
the role of the media.

“The media are required to provide relevant information, analyse it and additionally offer
substantive opinions to the public, while also serving as a platform for debate and
discussion. Furthermore, the media shall fulfil their watchdog role by promoting
transparency and thus preventing electoral fraud.

“The media have a duty to provide election coverage that gives the voter comprehensive,
accurate and reliable information on all aspects of the electoral process. This information
will also help to ensure that the voters know and understand their democratic rights and
exercise them free from fear, intimidation or coercion” (SADC, 2012, p.2).

In this chapter I review how public and private media have covered
elections in Botswana since 1999. I begin with a brief overview of the
political system in the country both pre-and post-Independence. To the fore
of the discussion is the place of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), the
one party that has been constantly elected to form a government since
Independence in 1966. The role the news media (especially state-controlled)
is examined. I have drawn on a number of reports made contemporaneously
by election observers and I then offer my own “snap shot” of Botswana
Television coverage of the 2014 election. It is impossible not to conclude that
the ruling BDP receives more coverage than its rivals.
I finish by reviewing the SADC election guidelines as a way of looking
forward and encouraging fairer coverage in Botswana at election time.

Political system before Independence

When present day Botswana became a British protectorate in 1885; the

country was inhabited by several ethnic groups, each with its own traditional
political system. In Gloria Somolekae’s account of these times the various
Tswana groups were each headed by a chief whose position was hereditary
and ran along the male line. Chiefs exercised extensive authority over their
subjects and power was fused in the chief’s office, but the chief ruled in
consultation with advisors. Decisions affecting the tribe were made at a
village assembly called the kgotla, which was a type of traditional parliament.

166
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Participation at the kgotla was limited to elderly males from the tribe.
Women, the youth, and people from the dominated tribes such as the Basarwa
were not allowed to participate (Somolekae, 1998, pp.4-5).
British Protectorate brought with it significant changes to the
traditional system of government. For example, the British made some
attempts to give the kgotla more power vis-à-vis the chief by using it to
appoint chiefs and to constrain and depose ineffective ones. Chiefs were also
striped of some of their powers. For example, by 1910 chiefs could no longer
try murder cases, or grant mining concessions (Somolekae, 1998, p.6).
After Independence, the new BDP government did not abolish
chieftainship as an institution as was the case in some other African countries.
Through the Chieftainship Act of 1965 and the subsequent Act of 1987, the
state further stripped the powers of chiefs, some being given to the newly-
created land boards, district councils and customary courts. This stripping of
powers of chiefs meant over time they were gradually reduced to civil
servants and their powers formally regulated. However, the government was
aware that chiefs still wielded a lot of authority within their communities. The
government accommodated the institution of chieftaincy by creating a House
of Chiefs, which is purely advisory and has no legislative powers
(Somolekae, 1998, p.6; Molomo, 2004, p.58).
Today, the kgotla is still in almost all villages in Botswana and its
traditional role of providing a forum for consultation has continued. Those
who were traditionally excluded from participating in kgotla deliberations
such as members of enslaved tribes, women, and the youth are now allowed
to participate. Both elected officials and civil servants use the kgotla from
time to time to solicit views of the communities (Somolekae, 1998, p.6).

Present system of government

In 1965, Botswana adopted a republican constitution which operates a

one house Westminster-style parliamentary system based on a single member
district or the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, similar to that
existing in the British parliament. It comprises 57 elected members and four
members specially elected by parliament, the speaker, the attorney general
and the president (Molomo, 2005, p.30).

167
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The FPTP system means that a candidate needs a simple majority of

votes in a constituency to win a seat. Academics agree FPTP favours large,
ruling and dominant parties and distorts representation in that losing parties,
irrespective of their share of the popular vote, are technically shut out of
government, with their participation limited to the few representatives who
won seats (Botlhomilwe & Sebudubudu, 2011, p.100)
The FPTP system has ensured that Botswana operates a predominant
one party system, in which the BDP has won all elections by decisive
majorities.

Table 1 Performance of BDP at each election since Independence was granted

Date of % of seats % of popular vote
election won by BDP won by BDP
1965 90.0 80.4
1969 77.4 68.4
1974 84.4 76.6
1979 90.6 75.2
1984 82.0 67.9
1989 91.0 64.7
1994 67.5 54.5
1999 82.5 57.1
2004 77.2 51.7
2009 78.9 53.3
2014 64.9 46.5
Source: Adapted by author from Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa
EISA

Table 1 shows a gradual decline in the popular vote won by the BDP
between the first election in 1965 and the most recent in 2014. In every case
the percentage of seats won has always outstripped the percentage of votes
cast. In the most recent 2014 general elections, the BDP won only 47 percent
of the popular vote, down from 53 percent in 2009.Yet because of Botswana’s
FPTP electoral system, the ruling party gained 37 seats, which translates into
65 percent of the seats in the 57-seat Parliament. The BDP also dominated
the selection of the specially-elected four additional members of parliament,
including two who had actually lost the elections, as well as 119 councillors
to boost its majority at both national and local government levels
(Mogalakwe, 2015, pp.106-107).
The FPTP system tends to exclude smaller parties from fair
representation and tends to exclude women and minorities from the

168
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

legislature. Historically, opposition parties have polled poorly against the

BDP, but their share of the vote has been increasing. Botswana is a
predominant one party system since only one political party, the BDP, has
won all elections (Molomo, 2005, p.31; Poteete, 2012, p.82).
Despite the dominance of the BDP, elections in Botswana have been
relatively free. The electoral management body, the Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC), although having some deficiencies such as its perceived
lack of independence from the executive, has been relatively successful in
executing its mandate of election management (Botlhomilwe & Sebudubudu,
2011, p.100).
Since Botswana attained formal independence from Britain in 1966, it
has distinguished itself from many post-independent African states by
embracing the liberal democratic tradition. Citizens have the right to choose
their leaders every five years as provided in the country’s constitution. Unlike
many African countries, it has never experienced a military coup, dictatorship
or been forced into a one-party system of governance (Botlhomilwe &
Sebudubudu, 2011, p.96).
Voters in Botswana make their choices at elections for a variety of
reasons such as party affiliation, on personal loyalties and tribal affiliation.
However, a great deal of academic literature reviewing election years 1989,
1994 and 1999 suggests that people voted largely with economic
considerations in mind (Botlhomilwe & Sebudubudu, 2011, p.97).
The majority of those eligible to vote in Botswana do not attend
political rallies or kgotla meetings addressed by councillors of members of
parliament; although the turnout at rallies is low Zibane Maundeni (n.d. p.17)
reports they remain a crucial forum through which political parties pass
information to the electorate.

Review of media coverage at election time

In this section I look at media coverage in elections since 1999 using

both academic research and reports from civil society organisations and
international bodies which observed the fairness of the election process and
were published at the time.

1999

169
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

In a democratic state, it is generally accepted that media performance

in the coverage of politics can be assessed in at least two ways: i) by their
impartiality in presenting political information, and ii) by the volume of
policy-relevant information they disseminate to voters. Impartiality involves
balanced reporting with competing voices heard and media pluralism
(Fombad, 2002, p.664). Although media houses are entitled to support
political parties of their choice, news coverage should be non-partisan.
In 1965, during Botswana’s Independence election, government-
owned media refrained from mobilising support for any particular party, this
was because the departing colonial authorities were still in control and
organised the election. Since then there have been regular complaints of pro-
government bias in government-controlled media during elections by
opposition parties. Chares Fombad notes that, for example, in 1999 the
Electoral Commission Forum of SADC countries (ECF) in its final report on
the election found several ways in which opposition parties alleged the ruling
BDP party had received better and more extensive coverage. The report noted
that news of both the ruling and opposition parties was systematically
included in radio news bulletins (there was no television in Botswana at the
time), but the BDP received more coverage. The ECF reported that instead of
broadcasting segments of speeches with the actual statements read by
contesting parties’ spokespersons, journalists at Radio Botswana read the
words themselves, thereby preventing parties from directly addressing
listeners. Some opposition parties alleged this was censorship. It was also
alleged that the ruling party received extra coverage through “non-political”
events such as kgotla meetings and reports on the inauguration of roads and
other public facilities (Fombad, 2002, p.666).
Amy Poteete (2012, p.92) argues that voters can only rally behind an
opposition party if they can assess which of them has the best chance of
beating the BDP. A lack of information about the various candidates and
parties is a general and quite significant problem at election time. There are
no country-wide opinion polls, so people assess the relative standing of
parties or individual candidates through direct exposure to campaign
activities, such as posters, rallies, house-to-house canvassing, and media
reports. Limited resources put the opposition parties at a disadvantage in
terms of getting their message out. There is no public campaign financing,
and many private individuals and businesses worry that donating to the

170
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

opposition may threaten their access to future government tenders and

contracts.
Opposition parties have always had fewer funds to fight elections than
the ruling BDP and this makes media coverage all the more important.
Assessing the 2009 election, Poteete found the private media did report on a
variety of constituencies across the country during the campaign, but private
newspapers and radio stations are concentrated in Gaborone, their reporting
on constituencies outside greater Gaborone is irregular, and newspaper
circulation to rural areas is limited and delayed. Because of this much of the
population still relies upon the state-controlled media. The BDP gets more
coverage in part because the state media focuses on government
announcements and activities. Poteete also identified evidence of intentional
bias. The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) charged that state-controlled
Botswana Television (BTV) covered nearly all BDP launchings while
broadcasting hardly any BCP launchings. They noted that reports on BDP
activities were also longer and appeared more often during prime viewing
hours. The Botswana National Front (BNF) made similar complaints.
Although access to state media is a perennial problem for the
opposition, some politicians felt that the degree of bias was especially severe
in 2009. Poteete concludes that problematic access to information contributed
to the BDP’s success both directly, through the positive bias in the state
media, and indirectly, by making it more difficult for opposition voters to
avoid vote-splitting (Poteete, 2012, p.92).

2004
EISA (the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa) in
a report on the conduct of the 2004 election noted the “widespread perception
from opposition parties that the ruling BDP, because of its incumbency,
enjoyed a great deal of coverage in state-owned media” (EISA, 2005, p.17).
EISA reported that in response, the BDP pointed to protocol which requires
that official activities of the President, his deputy and members of the Cabinet
be covered by the state media.
EISA concluded that freedom of expression is protected in the
Constitution and that Botswana enjoys a relatively free public media. It
reported that the Botswana Press Agency (BOPA), owned and operated by
the government, provided most of the information found in the media through
the Daily News newspaper (distributed free-of-charge nationwide), Botswana

171
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Television (BTV), and two FM radio stations, Radio Botswana 1 and Radio
Botswana 2.
EISA reported,

“News coverage in the state-owned media supported government policies and actions. The
Daily News also published general coverage of current events and issues and included a
second front page in Setswana, the most commonly spoken language. The independent
press is small but vigorous and has a long tradition of outspoken discourse. Reporters
aggressively cover the political arena and frequently criticise the government and the
president without fear of closure. However, the circulation of privately owned print media
continues to be limited primarily to the main cities and towns” (EISA, 2005, p.17).

David Sebudubudu & Bertha Osei-Hwedie in their analysis of media

coverage of the 2004 election found that the private media covered opposition
campaigns and was instrumental in exposing scandals committed by BDP
officials. The government threatened to withdraw advertising from or to sue
private media houses that carried harsh stories about the government and the
party. Opposition parties criticised some private media houses for employing
editors and reporters alleged to have commercial links to the ruling party and
being biased against opposition parties in their coverage. In response to
opposition criticism and accusation of monopoly by the BDP, the government
allowed the state media to cover both the ruling and opposition parties. Radio
discussions took place involving candidates of all political parties and BTV
broadcast rallies of both the ruling and opposition parties and aired views of
representatives of most political parties. The Daily News also covered
opposition parties’ activities, but the BDP remained the most covered party
and male candidates the most publicised (Sebudubudu & Osei-Hwedie, 2005,
pp.23-24).
Regarding the role of the mass news media in delivering news about
the election, Maundeni reports that an opinion poll conducted by DRP in 2004
found 50 percent of respondents/voters listened to radio; 32.1 percent
watched television and 22.6 percent read newspapers which highlighted the
dominant role radio played. The poll also recorded that 37.6 percent never
got news about the election from television; 29.6 percent never got it from
newspapers and 12.6 never from radio. The poll suggested that 28.8 percent
of respondents got information about the election from political rallies or
freedom squares; 18.4 percent from friends and 13.2 percent from family
members (Maundeni, n.d. p.17).

172
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Maundeni reports the DRP poll suggests the percentage of

respondents/voters receiving political news from particular newspapers as
follows. It should be noted the title with the largest reach is the state-
controlled Daily News which is distributed free of charge:

Daily News 46.9 percent

Mmegi 33.2 percent
Botswana Guardian 22.0 percent
Voice 16.8 percent
Monitor 16.7 percent
Botswana Gazette 13.1 percent
Midweek Sun 7.4 percent
Mokosi 6.0 percent
Mirror 2.8 percent (Maundeni, n.d, p.17).

When asked which was the best newspaper for reporting political
events during the election, respondents/voters suggested the following:

Daily News 29.1 percent

Mmegi 28.0 percent
Botswana Guardian 16.8 percent
Monitor 10.4 percent
Voice 7.8 percent
Botswana Gazette 6.8 percent
Mokosi 4.9 percent
Midweek Sun 4.4 percent
Mirror 1.6 percent
Sunday Tribune 0.7 percent (Maundeni, n.d, p.18).

Maundeni reports that at the start of the campaign in July 2004, civil
society groups and political leaders thought the Minister of
Telecommunications, Science and Technology restricted state-controlled
media from covering political news, particularly about the major opposition
parties. However, in August 2004 Radio Botswana introduced a successful
programme of debates featuring parliamentary candidates from all parties
(Maundeni, n.d, p.18).
Using a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana media
monitoring study covering September to November 2004 as a source,
Maundeni reports that state media covered more election campaign stories
than the private media and that state media provided balanced and fair

173
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

coverage of all contesting parties and that “all contesting parties were given
almost equal chance of coverage in the public media” (Maundeni, n.d, p.19).
MISA found that the ruling party received the largest share of media
coverage from both the state and private print media and suggested this was
because the BDP had a larger share of candidates contesting the elections,
thereby giving it a larger probability of receiving more coverage. MISA also
suggested other reasons might be that the ruling party faced challenges and
criticism from all opposition parties and worked hard in defending itself and
this increased its coverage (Maundeni, n.d, p.19).
Maundeni further reports that MISA found a “considerable gender
gap” in media coverage. Males dominated the election news coverage and
females were mainly represented in issues of controversy or in their
relationship to their male counterparts or partners. MISA also suggests the
gender discrepancy is explained by the fact there were few women candidates
standing in the election and some parties did not have any (Maundeni, n.d,
p.19).
Maundeni reports a separate Institute for Democratic Alternatives in
South Africa study of media coverage of the 2004 election that found the
capacities of media houses were low and that the private media did not have
the expertise to give depths of analysis on election issues. MISA partly
blamed media owners for not recruiting journalists of the right calibre and
paying poor salaries (Maundeni, n.d, p.19).

2009
The 2009 election was the first in which a “Code of Conduct for
Broadcasters during Elections”, devised by the Botswana Communications
Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) was in force (EISA, 2010, p.23; Mogalakwe,
2015, p.114). The code aimed to give general guidelines to all broadcasting
service licensees on party political broadcasts during the electoral process.
Sections 5, 6 and 7 of this code specifically deal with party political
broadcasts, prohibition of party political adverts and equitable treatment of
political parties by broadcasters. The code states:

“If during an election period the programming of any broadcaster extends to the elections,
political parties and issues relevant thereto, the broadcaster shall provide reasonable
opportunities for the discussion of conflicting views and shall treat all political parties
equitably. Equity shall be based on the number of running candidates for a particular
party” (EISA, 2010, p.24).

174
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Monageng Mogalakwe reports the Code of Conduct has not gone down
well with the ruling party and government. All who work for state-controlled
media are civil servants governed by the Public Service Act and the General
Orders and are expected to be loyal to the government of the day and are
inclined to always present government activities and, by extension, the
activities of the ruling party in a positive light. In the run up to general
elections, both the president and the deputy president are usually given
extensive coverage and lead news headlines almost every day. The
explanation given by the state-owned media managers is that these two are
on official tours, and not on the ruling party campaign trail; as a result, their
party political messages are presented as official government messages
(Mogalakwe, 2015, p.114).
The debate about the conflation of the ruling party political broadcasts
and official government broadcasts is ongoing in Botswana. During the 2009
election campaign period opposition parties accused the state broadcaster of
censorship and being used by the ruling BDP for its party political agenda.
EISA (2010, p.24) reported, “The National Broadcasting Board of Botswana
(NBB) determined that both Radio Botswana and Botswana Television were
indeed used by the ruling party for its own internal political agenda.”
Following the suspension of the secretary general of the BDP due to
his fallout with the President, the ruling party issued a statement which it
instructed the national broadcaster to read on air. In this statement, President
Ian Khama sought to clarify to the people the suspension of the secretary
general of the party and other matters around the issue. The BDP and
President’s view was that whatever happens in the BDP was of national
importance; hence they requested the national broadcaster to air it.
In its report on the matter, the NBB stated that the Radio Botswana and
BTV broadcasts in question “amounted to a party political broadcast”. It
ordered the national broadcaster to offer other political parties the opportunity
to air their own party political broadcasts. Despite these findings by the NBB,
the state radio and television covered all the BDP candidates and the party’s
events while not according the same opportunity to the opposition (EISA,
2010, p.25; Mogalakwe, 2015, p.115).
EISA reported,

175
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

“Opposition parties were not covered until very late in the electoral process and, even then,
their messages were censored to the extent that the voters could not get much information
from what was aired. Only the leaders of parties (ruling and opposition) were fully covered
by the public broadcaster, mainly during the campaigning period. However, as could be
expected, the BDP president and head of state President Ian Khama was given more
coverage due to incumbency” (EISA, 2010, p.25).

After the 2009 elections the Botswana public media houses were
moved from the Ministry of Communications and placed directly under the
Office of the President. In 2012 the Broadcasting Act, which gave the NBB
power to license broadcasters in the country, was repealed and replaced by
the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority Act. Section 31(2)
states that the state broadcasters shall not require a license to operate,
effectively placing these media outside the jurisdiction of the BOCRA and its
Code of Conduct. Mogalakwe believes the implications were to reduce state
media to the broadcasting wing of the ruling party (Mogalakwe, 2015, p.116).
EISA in its review of media coverage of the 2009 election found the
newspapers, including the state-run Daily News, were more accessible to all
parties. However, newspapers were not able to cover news from all the areas,
as most of them are based in Gaborone and Francistown. Emang Basadi, a
women’s organisation that was formed in 1986 against the background of the
UN Conference on Women in Nairobi, monitored the media and issues from
a gender perspective, and concluded that media coverage was biased against
women candidates in the run-up to elections (EISA, 2010, p.25).

2014
A draft code for the conduct of broadcasters during elections from
BOCRA was being worked on but was not completed in time for the poll.
The Code only applies to private broadcasters and does not impact on state-
controlled Botswana TV or Radios Botswana 1 and 2.

The key provisions of the code are:

• News coverage of elections shall be left to the discretion of the news
editors. Proper balance and fairness shall be applied to all current affairs
programmes that deal with elections. Broadcasting stations should satisfy
themselves that parties, candidates and election issues are treated with due
impartiality.

176
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

• No broadcaster shall permit party-political broadcasts under any

circumstances except during an election period. Private broadcasters who
choose to broadcast a party-political broadcast, for a particular party or
candidate, shall afford all other political parties/candidates a similar
opportunity.
• All broadcasters shall not broadcast any party political
advertisement or party political notices under any circumstances.
• During an election period the broadcaster shall provide reasonable
opportunities for the discussion of conflicting views and shall treat all
political parties equitably. Equity should be based on the number of running
candidates for a particular party.
• Broadcasters shall ensure that they are balanced and impartial in
their election reporting and that no political party or candidate shall be
discriminated against in editorial programming or the granting of access to
electronic media coverage.
• In the event of any unfair criticism against a political party/candidate
being levelled the broadcaster concerned shall afford such party/candidate a
reasonable opportunity to reply to the criticism.
• No broadcaster shall be allowed to endorse a political
party/candidate.
• Candidates shall not be presenters of any programme on radio or
television.
• Broadcastings shall ensure that leaders of all contesting political
parties are given equal treatment in performance of their duties as
representatives of their parties during coverage.
• Extra care should be exercised to ensure that a range of views is
heard on phone-in programmes, an appropriate mix should be sought, and
relevant views should not be suppressed.
• Broadcasters are required to have in place appropriate policies and
procedures for handling contributions via online social media (BOCRA,
2014).

Following the election, the Commonwealth Expert Team (CET)

reported that “by and large” the media “seemed to cover all aspects of the
campaign and elections”. It found it “commendable” that for the first time
public debates were facilitated on both radio and television and that the
interviews with candidates were conducted by private radio stations

177
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

nationwide. However, it was noted that media coverage of campaigns and

broader political issues, especially in the print media, “tended to be
sensationalised, often with unsubstantiated claims and assertions in
reporting”. The CET found state media were seen to be generally pro-ruling
party, with very limited coverage of opposition party or independent
candidates’ campaigns (Commonwealth Expert Team, 2014, p.5).
The Media Institute of Southern Africa Botswana (MISA) also voiced
concerns about the uneven reportage toward the ruling party of state media,
especially

“taking into consideration that public service media, which are funded through public
resources, have a particular mandate in ensuring fair and thorough coverage of elections
through equitable distribution of airtime to political parties and candidates”. (MISA,
2014).

MISA recommended that through the authority of BOCRA Act there should
be provision for the equitable distribution of air time to political parties and
candidates during the election campaign period
Private media were viewed as highly critical of government and more
favourable towards opposition parties and independent candidates “in both
the nature and tone of their coverage” (Commonwealth Expert Team, 2014,
pp.5-6). Scores of journalists from the private media openly campaigned or
supported political party formations and/or individuals trying to influence
public opinion. Over the years there has been a gradual introduction of what
is called “interventionist journalism” in Botswana (Lute & Kgakge, 2014).
For the first time, the 2014 election had radio debates constituency by
constituency not only on Radio Botswana, the state radio station, but on
private radio stations specifically Gabz FM, which were sponsored by
(among others) the United States and British embassies. However, the ruling
party the BDP chose not to take part, allowing critics to charge it feared
debating with opposition parties (Dingake, 2014).
MISA Botswana commended media “for an exceptional effort to
facilitate voter education and expand the reach of its reporting”. Remote
constituencies were covered during the election, and further effort was made
to give voice to citizens whose opinions were rarely included in national
policy making processes. “This created balance and diversity in coverage,
some of the tenants of good election reporting” (MISA, 2014).

178
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

State media have national coverage, while private media tend to

concentrate in urban areas. The CET noted, “It was further reported that this
resulted in the opposition having broader support in urban areas, while the
ruling party had greater support in rural area The CET recommended, “All
state media should grant balanced coverage to all political parties and
independent candidates” (Commonwealth Expert Team, 2014, p.6).
Bontle Masilo and Batlang Seabo (2015) suggest that extensive use of
Facebook in the 2014 election added a new dimension to electoral campaigns
in Botswana. They say it widened democratic space and expanded political
communication avenues and “to some extent” addressed the problem of
unfair access to the media. Unlike traditional media, social media sites are
insulated from excessive editorial interference and state censorship (Masilo
& Seabo, 2015, p.111).
Masilo and Seabo argue that Facebook “contributed profoundly to
mobilising the youth in the 2014 general elections”, but that it augmented or
supplemented rather than replaced traditional media. They say the use of
social media in the 2014 campaign by youth was unprecedented, encouraged
in part by the “young and vibrant” leaders of the opposition political parties.
Facebook was used by opposition parties to create excitement and mobilise
supporters quickly in a way that could not have been achieved with
newspapers and billboards and this was evidenced by large turnouts of young
people at campaign rallies (Masilo & Seabo, 2015 pp.117-120).
The ruling BDP also used Facebook and President Ian Khama also had
his own page (although he did not personally administer it) that, Masilo and
Seabo contest, “created an illusion of engagement and participation”. They
saw the creation of the BDP and President pages as an acknowledgement of
the inadequacy of traditional media to reach young people (Masilo & Seabo,
2015, p.122).
Traditional media also had Facebook pages creating “a partial fusion
between the new media and traditional media”. Gabz FM’s Facebook page
supported its broadcast debates among candidates and allowed listeners
opportunities to give instant feedback that allowed candidates to reflect on
and possibly improve their campaigns by focussing on issues listeners raised.
This leads Masilo and Seabo to conclude, probably correctly, that this
merging of mainstream media and new media has profoundly improved
access to political information in Botswana. State media did not embrace
social media as willingly as private media; neither Radio Botswana nor

179
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Botswana TV had official Facebook pages, leaving Masilo and Seabo to

speculate that this was because the listenership of these stations consists
mainly of older voters (Masilo & Seabo, 2015, pp.123-124).

Survey of BTV election coverage 2014

I conducted my own short survey of the Botswana TV News bulletins

in the days leading to the 2014 election to test whether the ruling BDP
received more time than rival parties. I chose the bulletin broadcast in English
transmitted at 20.00 hrs. I studied Saturday 18 October 2014 to Thursday 23
October 2014 inclusive; the election was on 24 October 2014. I counted all
reports that concerned the election.

Table 2 Number of reports in each bulletin for each party

Date Botswana Umbrella for Botswana Congress
Democratic Party Democratic Change Party
Sat 18 October 2 1 0
Sun 19 October 2 2 1
Mon 20 October 1 1 0
Tue 21 October 0 0 0
Wed 22 October 2 1 1
Thu 23 October 2 0 1
Totals 9 5 3
Source: Author

Table 3 Number of minutes and seconds given to each political party

Date BDP UDC BCP
Sat 18 October 5.03 2.23 0
Sun 19 October 5.30 4.24 2.18
Mon 20 October 2.44 2.02 0
Tue 21 October 0 0 0
Wed 22 October 5.00 2.13 1.42
Thu 23 October 4.32 0 1.58
Totals 18.49 11.02 5.58
Source: Author

The BDP had more reports and more air time than the other two parties
combined. It should be noted that the bulletin of Tuesday 21 October 2014

180
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

contained election news but this was not related to the political parties. The
coverage concerned the arrival of election monitors from abroad.
There were news reports involving prominent government politicians
that were not specifically about the election and were not included in the data.
On Sunday 19 October, BTV devoted 2 minutes 15 seconds to a report of the
President at an event in the nation’s capital Gaborone in which he donated
blankets and food to the poor. On Thursday 23 October, 1 minute 26 seconds
was given over to another report of the President distributing blankets.
Neither event was billed as a BDP event. In the Sunday 19 October bulletin
there was a 3 minutes 5 seconds report on a retirement dinner for the vice-
president.
It was noticeable that the election never featured as the first item on
the bulletin The news reporting of the ruling BDP concentrated mainly the
President rather than local candidates. All the reporting for all parties was
based on staged events, such as rallies or media conferences. No journalist
questioned the candidates at any stage.

The way forward

The media in Botswana have a mixed record when I comes to giving

fair and equitable coverage to political parties. This is particularly marked at
election time. The need for voters to be properly informed has been made
many times and the SADC has produced a series of ethical guidelines for
reporting at election times. State and private media alike in Botswana would
be able to deliver a better service to their audiences if they adopted the
guidelines.
The code says that journalists and editors should act with integrity and
should neither ask for, nor accept bribes of any kind, be they financial or
other, or give special favour to any politicians or party.
It says,
“Given the critical importance of media in covering the elections, the
media must at all times observe the core values and principles of journalism
which include:

a) Fairness and Accuracy

181
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

During election periods media must recognise that government

officials are in a position to use their incumbency to advance their electoral
prospects and should regard with particular caution any statement or action
by an official of an incumbent party. In particular, media should ensure that
they do not afford the policies of incumbent parties greater legitimacy than
they would afford those policies or actions if the party were not in
government.
News reports must be factual, accurate, well-sourced and based on
sound evidence. News should be comprehensive, fair and balanced ensuring
that all candidates, parties and election issues are given equitable and gender
sensitive coverage.

b) Opinion and Analysis

Editorial opinion must be clearly distinct from fact or news. A diversity

of opinions representing the broadest possible range of views and ideas
especially those of contesting candidates and political parties should be
allowed across all media platforms.
Media which choose to endorse candidates or parties must ensure the
endorsement is clearly presented as opinion and is not part of its news reports.
Analysis should provide insights based on research and diversity of
expert opinions which enable voters to get a deeper understanding of
processes, issues and candidates.
Debate and discussion platforms, which include representatives of all
shades of political opinion, experts and civil society representatives should
be organised. As far as possible, and especially in the electronic media,
candidates (including presidential or prime ministerial candidates) should be
given an opportunity to debate with each other in moderated programmes.

c) Use of Language

Media must, without censoring or undermining freedom of expression

of anyone, avoid and preclude the use of language which constitutes hate
speech, incites violence or promotes stereotypes.

d) Right of reply

182
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

A fair opportunity to reply to inaccuracies and allegations contained in

a report that has been broadcast or published should be given to aggrieved
individuals or organisations. The right of reply must be given in a timely
manner and in a similar programme; with respect to the print media in space
of appropriate prominence.

e) Diversity and Confidentiality of Sources

The media have an obligation to reflect the diversity and plurality of

voices in society in its coverage including those of marginalised groups.
Reporting should be gender-balanced and sensitive, treating men and
women equally as news sources and subjects.
Confidentiality of sources must be protected by the media (whereby
the journalist knows the identity of the source even when not revealing it).
Whenever possible the media should refrain from using anonymous sources
(whereby the journalist does not know the identity of the source). The
principle of multiple sources to verify information and facts applies.
The media should recognise their obligation to the electorate to provide
a full and accurate record of events and developments. It is critically
important that media proactively seek information from political parties and
not wait for information to be delivered to them. Failure to do so will give
parties with greater resources inequitable amounts of news coverage.

f) Media Public Accountability

In ensuring their responsibility to the voters and exercising their right

to freedom of expression, journalists shall respect the rights, integrity and
reputation of others in terms of these guidelines as well as codes of conduct
established by self-regulatory bodies

References

Botlhomilwe, M. and Sebudubudu, D. (2011) Elections in Botswana: A

Ritual Enterprise? Open Area Studies Journal, 4:96-103.

183
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Botswana. BOCRA (2014) Draft Code of Conduct for Broadcasting Service

Licensees During Elections. Gaborone: Botswana Communications
Regulatory Authority.
Commonwealth Expert Team ( 2014) Botswana General Elections 24
October 2014. Report of the Commonwealth Expert Team. London: The
Commonwealth Secretariat.
Dingake, M. (2014) ‘The significance of radio debates in the 2014 elections
campaign’. Mmegi online, 7 October Available from:
http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=46490
EISA. (2005). Election Observer Mission Report No. 16 Botswana,
Parliamentary and Local Government Elections 30 October 2004.
Johannesburg: EISA.
EISA, (2010) Botswana Parliamentary and Local Government Elections 16
October 2009, Technical Assessment Team Report. Johannesburg: EISA.
Fombad, C. (2002) ‘The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Public
Service Media in Southern Africa, a Botswana Perspective’. The Modern Law
Review, 65 (5):649-675.
Lute, A. and Kgakge, T. (2014) The Botswana Press Conundrums During the
Election. Available from: http://www.journalism.co.za/blog/botswana-press-
conundrums-election/
Masilo, B. and Seabo, B (2015) ‘Facebook: Revolutionising electoral
campaign in Botswana?’ Journal of African Elections:110-129.
Maundeni, Z. (n.d.) Voter education and some electoral issues in Botswana:
2004-2014 compared.[Internet] Available from:
http://electionsbotswana.org/article/voter%20apathy2%20and%20voter%20
education%20in%20Botswana.pdf
Media Institute of Southern Africa (2014), Statement from the MISA
Election Observer Mission in Botswana, 26 October 2014. Gaborone: MISA
Available from: http://misa.org/media-centre/press-releases/statement-from-
the-misa-election-observer-mission-in-botswana/
Mogalakwe, M. (2015) ‘An Assessment of Botswana’s Electoral
Management Body to Deliver Fair Elections’. Journal of Contemporary
African Studies, 33 (1):105-120.

184
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Molomo, M. (2004) ‘The Need for Electoral Reform in Botswana’. African

Journal of Conflict Resolution, 4 (2):55-77.
Molomo, M. (2005) ‘Electoral Systems and Democracy in Botswana’. In:
Maundeni, Z. ed. Forty Years of Democracy in Botswana 1965-2005.
Gaborone: Mmegi Publishing House.
Poteete, A. (2012) ‘Electoral Competition, Factionalism and Persistent Party
Dominance in Botswana’. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 50:75-
102.
SADC. (2012) Guidelines on Media Coverage of Elections in the SADC
Region. Johannesburg: Southern African Development Community.
Sebudubudu, D. and Osei-Hwedie, B. (2005) Democratic Consolidation in
SADC. Botswana’s 2004 Elections. Johannesburg: EISA.
Somolekae, G. (1998) Democracy, Civil Society and Governance. Africa, The
Case of Botswana. Gaborone: Republic of Botswana.

185
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

9
Sports pages

There is no academic research readily available that explores the role of

sports reporting in Botswana news media. This chapter is a small step towards
rectifying that. There is no doubt that globally sport, especially the live
coverage of events, scores the highest ratings on television. Over the years
globally sports reporting in daily newspapers has coexisted with and
complemented that on television (Horkey & Nieland, 2013, p.11). This
chapter explores the content of sports pages in private newspapers in
Botswana. It is an attempt to compare their coverage with newspapers around
the world. To do this it uses a model developed by the International Sports
Press Survey that explored the quantity and quality of sports reporting in a
number of countries worldwide (Horkey & Nieland, 2013).
The chapter begins by exploring the nature of sport and its importance
in Botswana before identifying the importance of sports coverage to news
media outside the country. Since no research on the topic of sports media in
Botswana exists, I decided to use the experiences elsewhere as a template. I
undertook a “snap shot” survey of sports pages in Botswana newspapers over
one month to discover exactly what they contained. This is far from a perfect
research sample, so the results obtained should be seen only as a pilot study.
The results suggest that the content of sports pages Botswana do not
mirror those in other countries; since they report less on matches and events
and more on the politics and business of sport.

186
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

It would be helpful to begin by identifying what we mean by “sport”

and distinguishing it from a “game”. Sport is physical play where bodies or
parts of bodies are in motion (or in the case of sports such as archery or
shooting are trained to minimalize motion.) Sports are regulated physical
contests which aim to produce a clear winner. All sports are games, but not
all games are sport. So, for example, chess and Scrabble are not sports
because any physical activity undertaken by players is irrelevant to the
outcome (Rowe, 1995, p.103; Rowe, 1999, p.11).
Organised sport began in the West around the late 18th century and was
transported across the globe. Earlier in the 17th and 18th century folk games
were played by groups of people for amusement at religious festivals, often
under the patronage of the aristocracy. For example, as England became more
industrialised and people moved from rural areas to towns the rules of these
games started to be codified. Newspapers and later radio and television
helped public exhibition of organised, competitive, professional sport
become mass entertainment (Rowe, 1995, p.104; Boyle & Haynes, 2000, p.
24).
People from African countries, including Botswana, played traditional
games prior to any contact with the Western world. Physical culture still
forms an integral part of African traditional activities depicted in traditional
games, rituals, and dances. Traditional games and physical activity played a
pivotal role in socialising the young. Girls were introduced to womanhood
through domestic play, whilst boys were taught herding cattle and hunting
through traditional games. Games were also used to teach boys and girls
societal norms, challenges in the community, and sustainable management of
resources (Tshube & Hanrahan, 2016, p.128).
Organised sport reportedly plays a relatively small part in Botswana’s
culture, since in a fragile economy to succeed at sport would require resources
to be taken from other sectors of the economy. The development of sport in
Africa has been plagued by a number of problems. In the first place, extreme
poverty is the most serious obstacle to the development of sport, as funds are
needed to alleviate more immediate social problems (Chappell, 2004).
However, the Botswana Government has made a commitment to sport
and the increased number of athletes representing Botswana at major
international competitions is evidence of this. The Government increased the

187
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

funding in preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games to nine million pula
(about US$800,000), a 50 percent increase compared to the 2012 London
Olympic Games (Tshube & Hanrahan, 2016, p.128). Botswana won its first
Olympic medal at the 2012 Games and the country also recorded significant
strides in other major international competitions, such as the Commonwealth
Games, the All Africa Games, and the Diamond League (athletics) (Tshube
& Hanrahan, 2016, p.128).
In 2007, the government established the Ministry of Youth, Sports and
Culture as the government arm charged with the responsibility of promoting
youth, sports, and culture (Tshube & Hanrahan, 2016, p.126). The funding of
sport in Botswana is heavily dependent on the annual government grants for
construction of sport facilities and the implementation of sport programmes.
Approximately, 90 percent of elite athletes in the country were introduced to
sport through school sport programmes.
The introduction of physical education and sports programmes in
secondary schools led to a significant increase in participation in sports across
schools in Botswana (Shehu, 2009). All students in primary schools take
physical education at some point in their primary school years, which was not
the case in the early 1990s.
Football is the most popular sport in Botswana, with qualification for
the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations being the biggest achievement to date. The
Botswana Football Association organizes national football leagues and the
national team which include the BeMobile Premier League, Botswana First
Division North and Botswana First Division South.

Sport and the media

Across the world, the media has transformed sport from an amateur
pursuit into a hyper-commercialized industry, while sport has delivered
massive audiences and advertising revenues to the media. The coverage of
sport on television in particular has created a product to be consumed by
audiences, sold by clubs and leagues, bought and sold by media organizations
and manipulated by advertisers. The relationship between the media and sport

188
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

industries has become so entwined it is difficult to see where one ends and
the other begins (Nicolson, 2007, p.10; Marwat et. al.,2014, p.157).
Globalization, technological change and commercialization are the
most important drivers of sport media. Without advances in technology and
increases in access to information, globalization would not have occurred to
the extent that it has. The commercial imperative behind the sport media
relationship has driven sports and media organizations to find and then reach
new markets, often on the other side of the world. Sports like cricket and
rugby union created “World Cups” to determine a world champion in the
sport every four years, despite the fact that only a handful of nations are
proficient at an international level. World championships such as these are
the direct result of the global appeal of sport, as well as the increasing
amounts of revenue available to sports through broadcast rights (Nicolson,
2007, p.14).

Sports pages in newspapers

This chapter is about sport coverage in newspapers in Botswana, but it

should be acknowledged that news about sport is also available to audiences
in Botswana by radio, television and the Internet. I could find no published
research about how journalists specialising in sport in the country or across
Africa approach their jobs. We can however usefully examine the experience
in Western countries and explore how this might translate to the local context.
Sport has always been important to the media in the West and since the
th
19 century it has been used by newspapers both to publicise events and to
attract readers (Blain & Boyle, 1998, p.367).
However, news organisations and journalists place sport low in a
hierarchy of importance given over to different fields of print journalism.
Often the sports department is derided by journalists as the “toy department”
because it is not considered serious when compared with coverage of politics,
business and so on (Boyle & Haynes, 2000, p. 170; Rowe, 1992, p.98.). But,
at the same time the sports pages enjoy high status among readers and many
media owners believe extensive coverage of sport is crucial in delivering

189
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

readers to advertisers and increasing circulation (Boyle & Haynes, 2000, p.

170).
David Rowe, a professor who has made a career researching and
critiquing sports and popular culture, identified four modes of sports writing
in the 1990s that still have relevance today: hard news, soft news, orthodox
rhetoric and reflexive analysis. He was observing reporting published mainly
in England (Rowe, 1992, pp.99-108). Hard news consisted of reports of
sporting events of immediate importance accompanied by banner headlines
and striking photographs. They supply results and match statistics, describe
individual performances, evaluate the game overall and adjudge the event’s
significance. Other hard news might include reports about transfers and
player injuries. Soft news unlike hard news is less news and more
entertainment. It might be devoted to gossip about stars or their profiles or
their opinions. Orthodox rhetoric seeks to assert the distinctive subjectivity
of the writer and might be in the form of a signed column written by the
journalist. Often (but by no means always) they might focus on conflict and
controversy. Reflexive analysis, Rowe suggests, only exists in small
proportions in sports journalism and consists of subjective writing that might
originate from the writer’s own experience, perhaps as a current or former
sportsperson, or from their empathy with the fans who are also the
newspaper’s readers.

ISPS survey

The International Sports Press Survey (ISPS) survey of 2011 set out to
demonstrate how sports news was constructed and presented in newspapers
across the world (Horky & Nieland, 2013, pp.22-41). A total of 18,340
articles were assessed during 14 days between April and July 2011.
Newspapers from 22 countries were surveyed, but the nations were skewed
towards Europe and South Africa was the only country from the continent of
Africa included.
Thomas Horky and Jorg-Uwe Nieland report that 91 percent of sports
news appeared in sections designated to sport (the “sports pages”), but there

190
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

are some items that appear outside these sections, for example in business or
general news sections. About two-thirds of all items were illustrated; 49
percent had at least one photograph; and 4 percent had four or more
photographs (Horky & Nieland, 2013, p.24).
The most commonly reported sport was soccer (football) which
accounted for 41 percent of items. The next best were tennis (8 percent),
rugby (5 percent), cricket (also 5 percent) and ice hockey (also 5 percent).
Close to 80 percent of all items were about professional sport.
The most common type of items were results / match reports / reports
of performance at events and previews of competitions which combined
accounted for 78 percent of all items across the world. Unsurprisingly given
this coverage, the main actor / person in focus in the items were the athlete
(sportsperson) or coach / manager and these accounted for 66 percent of all
items. In third place, a very long way behind the other two, with 4 percent
came sports organisations with 4 percent (Horky & Nieland, 2013, pp.30-31).
In items involving athletes (meaning sportspeople of all descriptions)
only 11 percent concerned females and of items published with named
authors only 8 per cent were written by women, leading Horky and Nieland
to conclude, “We have to confirm that print media worldwide do indeed focus
on the high-performance, professional sports, involving male athletes.” They
also concluded, “Male sportspersons stand at the centre of reporting
originating almost exclusively from male journalists” (Horky & Nieland,
2013, p.32).
The number of sources used in each item was also surveyed. The
number and the nature of sources used is generally a significant index for the
quality of journalism. The sources counted included people interviewed by
the journalist who researched the article as well as quotes taken from other
media. A total of 26 percent of items had no source, 41 percent had one and
19 percent had two. Of these 33 percent of sources were athletes
(sportspeople) and 17 percent, coaches or managers. Club spokespeople or
representatives of sporting organisations accounted for a further 9 percent.
These statistics led the researchers to conclude journalistic quality was
“negative” (Horky & Nieland, 2013, p.25; pp.35-37). Horky and Nieland
speculated that rapidly-produced sports reporting that concentrated on events
could only use a few sources because time for research was short. They found

191
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

in the first instance it was the direct actors involved (athletes, coaches, club
representatives) who were used as sources and they made up 80 percent of
sources in articles that had one or more sources and with a small number of
sources articles lacked exhaustive and comprehensive research.

The South Africa experience

Anita Fredericks and Marion Keim who researched the section on

South Africa for the ISPS survey reported that sport played a very big part in
newspapers and more than 25 percent of space was devoted to the topic. They
surveyed three newspapers: the Argus, the Times and the Sun, although they
made the point that the Sun is a tabloid and in South Africa many people do
not consider such publications to be newspapers (Fredericks & Keim, 2013,
p.194). They counted 531 items in the three newspapers with an average of
13 items on sport published on weekdays and 20 at weekends. They were
almost exclusively published in designated sports sections and only six sports
stories made it to the front pages during the period of the survey. Sports items
rarely had more than one photograph.
The most common sport covered was soccer which accounted for 52
percent of all items, followed by rugby with 17 percent and cricket with 6
percent. The survey was undertaken during the soccer and rugby seasons.
There were some differences between titles, with the Sun devoting 84 percent
of its sports coverage to soccer (Fredericks & Keim, 2013, p.196). Of the
sports items published, 38 percent were about performance (e.g. match
reports), 27 percent results and 22 percent previews. The three categories
together account for 87 percent of all sports items.
The researchers found there was a strong tendency (57 percent) to print
a report from a single source. A total of 33 percent of items had two sources
(Fredericks & Keim, 2013, p.195). The main actors in the stories were
athletes (sportspeople) 42 percent and coach / manager 24 percent. The only
other significant actor was other media at 11 percent, leading the researchers
to conclude the printed media values the opinion of the athlete and coach /

192
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

manager as the default line with little or no consideration of the opinion of

others (Fredericks & Keim, 2013, p.201).
Only 11 percent of athletes reported on were women. Only 4 percent
of items published with the name of the reporter attached were from women,
leading the researchers to conclude gender inequality is from both the
standpoint of the newspaper and the teams being reported (Fredericks &
Keim, 2013, p.202).

Botswana

I undertook a snapshot survey of private newspapers in Botswana to

compare their coverage with the results from the International Sports Press
Survey. The three newspapers I chose represented the spectrum of
newspapers available in Botswana. They were the Weekend Post from the
serious end of the market; the Voice from the tabloid end and the Botswana
Guardian from the market between the two. Both the Botswana Guardian are
tabloid in size and the Weekender is a ‘Berliner’ which is larger than a tabloid
and smaller than a broadsheet.
Four consecutive editions in October and November 2016 were
chosen. All three titles are weekly newspapers. The sample was intended as
a “snap-shot” of the situation and should be considered no more than a pilot
study. Sport is seasonal and a more detailed survey would need to include
newspapers from across the year. As far as possible the survey tried to use
the same categories as the ISPS.
Unlike in South Africa where Fredericks and Klein reported 25 percent
of space is devoted to the topic, sports reporting does not seem to be one of
the most important priorities for newspapers in Botswana. In all three
newspapers sport receives less space than finance/business or leisure. As
Table 1 shows, the percentage of pages given to sport in the Botswana
Guardian is 9 percent; the Voice is 8 percent and the Weekend Post is 7
percent. The Botswana Guardian devoted twice as many pages to business
and nearly twice as many to leisure than sport. The Weekend Post gave two-
and-a-half times more pages to business than sport. Only the Voice had a near

193
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

comparison in pages between all three categories. All three titles had sport at
the back of the paper which is common in newspapers throughout the world.
This makes the sport section easy for readers to find and for those who
prioritise the reading of sport over other news categories are able to go
directly to their favourite topic without having to disturb the other pages in
the newspaper.

Table 1. Number of sports pages compared to selected other editorial categories over
four editions
Category Total pages Sport Finance / Leisure
business
Botswana 188 17 34 32
Guardian
Voice 210 17 21 24
Weekend Post 112 8 21 12
Source: Author

There were a total of 68 sports stories across the three titles over the
four weeks of the survey. The number of items per title ranged from 21 in the
Voice to 25 in the Botswana Guardian. All three titles used pictures
extensively. There were a total of 89 pictures (averaging 1.3 per story). As
with sports items, there was no significant difference between the titles in the
number of pictures used. Most titles had at last one “action” photograph each
week depicting a happening at a match or other sporting event, but there was
also a significant use of static pictures, such as portrait photographs of
individuals featured in the news.
To give a flavour of sports coverage here is what the main sport page
(the back page) of each title contained in the first week of the survey (week
ending 15 October 2016).
The Botswana Guardian: There were two items and two pictures. The
main story was about Nico United Football Club and how it was expected to
survive the closure of the BCL nickel mine which was the main employer in
the area and the club’s sponsor. The second item was a preview of the
forthcoming BTC (Botswana Telecommunications Corporation) marathon
that had attracted P630,000 in sponsorship. The story was based on a media
conference. The pictures were (i) Nico United players in kit standing around,

194
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

presumably during a training session; and (ii) a head-and-shoulders portrait

shot of the chair of the marathon organising committee.
The Voice: The main page was dominated by a photograph of runners
at the BeMobile Marathon in Francistown. It accompanied the only report on
the page which was a preview of the forthcoming marathon. The only other
item on the page was a “taster” headline and an photograph advertising a
story inside the paper about two local riders who were to take part in the last
round of a regional motocross competition.
The Weekend Post: There were three stories plus two “taster” headlines
advertising stories inside the newspaper and five pictures. The main item was
a report that the Botswana Football Association (BFA) chief executive officer
might lose his job following changes to the BFA executive. The second most
prominent item was about the arrest of a senior officer at the Botswana
Athletics Association (BAA) over allegations of “office abuse” and fraud.
The third item related to the soccer Premier League chief executive officer
who was engaged in a court dispute with the BFA. The two tasters related to
a controversial sponsorship deal relating to a prominent football club and a
preview of a softball league. Four of the five pictures were portraits of people
involved in stories and the fifth was a file picture of a prominent local athlete.

Table 2 . Number of stories and number of pictures

Title No. of sports items No. of pictures
Botswana Guardian 25 27
Voice 21 30
Weekend Post 22 32
TOTAL 68 89
Source: Author

A significant objective of the survey was to compare the sports pages

of newspapers in Botswana with those featured in the International Sports
Press Survey 2011. To that end the sports items were counted under the
following headings: finance, performance, politics and previews of
forthcoming events.
Table 3 demonstrates there was a significant difference between the
Weekend Post and the other two titles. For the Voice and the Botswana

195
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Guardian previews were the most counted category. In the Voice previews
accounted for 57 percent of all sports items; and for the Guardian, 36 percent.
Previews only accounted for 14 percent of sports items in the Weekend Post.
Items relating to performance were important to the Botswana
Guardian (16 percent), but less so for the Voice (10 percent) and the Weekend
Post (9 percent).
More than half of all sports items (55 percent) in the Weekend Post
were about politics, compared to 16 percent for the Botswana Guardian and
10 percent for the Voice. This emphasis on politics and sports in the Weekend
Post might not be surprising since the newspaper as a whole concentrates on
publishing news, features and comment about public and political issues.
Along with the Sunday Standard the Weekend Post is by far the most
“serious” of the newspapers in Botswana. During the period of the survey,
the Weekend Post reported extensively on elections at the BFA that resulted
in changes of top personnel; allegations of corruption at the BAA and a
number of legal issues involving individual football clubs.

Table 3. Number of items in each category over four editions (rounded percentages of
totals given in brackets)
Category Guardian Voice Weekend Post Combined
total
Finance 2 (8) 3 (14) 4 (18) 9
Performance 7 (28) 2 (10) 2 (9) 11
Politics 4 (16) 2 (10) 12 (55) 18
Preview 9 (36) 12 (57) 3 (14) 24
Other 3 (12) 2 (10) 1 (5) 6
TOTAL 25 21 22 68
Source: Author

Football was overwhelmingly the most covered sport in both the Weekend
Post (77 percent of all sports items) and the Voice (57 percent). Table 4 shows It
accounted for 32 percent of sports items in the Botswana Guardian. Athletics was
the only other sport with any significant showing in all three titles: the Botswana
Guardian (24 percent), the Voice (14 percent) and the Weekend Post (9 percent).
The only other sport with any coverage of note was motorsport which accounted
for 16 percent of sports items in the Botswana Guardian and 10 percent in the

196
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Voice. There were zero items on motorsport in the Weekend Post. All other sports
had statistically insignificant coverage.
When titles were combined 54 percent of all sports items were devoted to
football; 16 percent to athletics and 9 percent to motorsport.

Table 4. Sports covered presented in ranking order of combined total. Rounded

percentages are in brackets
Category Guardian Voice Weekend Post Combined
total
Football 8 (32) 12 (57) 17 (77) 37 (54)
Athletics 6 (24) 3 (14) 2 (9) 11 (16)
Motorsport 4 (16) 2 (10) 0 (0) 6 (9)
Body building 1 (0) 2 (10) 0 (0) 3 (4)
Chess 1 (0) 0 (0) 1 (0) 2 (3)
Softball 0 1 (0) 1 (0) 2 (3)
Swimming 1 (0) 1 (0) 0 (0) 2 (3)
Volleyball 2 (1) 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (3)
Karate 1 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1)
More than one 1 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1)
sport
Netball 0 0 (0) 1 (0) 1 (1)
TOTAL 25 21 22 68
Source: Author

The number of sources used was limited in all three titles, but the Botswana
Guardian fared a little better than the other two titles. Nearly a third of items in
the Weekend Post (seven from 22) had no named source. Generally, sports items
in the other two titles had between one and two sources. The Botswana Guardian
used more sources per item than the other two titles; on four occasions using four
sources per item.
Representatives of the sporting organisations/clubs were the overwhelming
source of information across all three titles. Out of 47 sources used in the
Botswana Guardian 39 were representatives; out of 31 sources used by the Voice,
26 were representatives and of 31 sources used by the Weekend Post, 24 were
representatives. The Weekend Post stood out from the other two titles in its use
of anonymous and written sources with a combined total of 11. The Botswana
Guardian used four anonymous sources.

197
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Table 5. Number of sources used in sports items.

Title No 1 source 2 sources 3 sources 4 Total no
sources sources of stories
Botswana 1 13 3 4 4 25
Guardian
Voice 2 7 12 0 0 21
Weekend Post 7 4 6 5 0 22
TOTAL 10 24 21 9 4 68
Source: Author

Women

The number of stories involving women in the Botswana Guardian

was three (from a total of 25); in the Voice there were none (from 21 stories)
and in the Weekend Post, one (from 22 stories).
A total of women appeared as sources two times in the Botswana
Guardian; four in the Voice and three in the Weekend Post. In the case of the
Voice of the four sources, one was a local mayor and one was the UK Prime
Minister.

Discussion

The results of the small survey of the sports pages in Botswana

newspapers suggests coverage does not imitate that of other countries. First,
they do not conform to Rowe’s four modes of sports writing (Rowe, 1999,
pp.99-108). There is little “hard news”, defined as the reporting of events and
the presentation of results and so on. There is, however, news about
forthcoming events. There is also (especially in the Weekend Post) stories
covering the politics and business of sport. “Soft news”, defined as gossip
about stars and their opinions, is present in the sports pages in Botswana and
are usually linked to forthcoming events or are profiles of successful athletes.
There is no “orthodox rhetoric” and no columns in which sportswriters give

198
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

their own opinions. Nor, is their “reflexive analysis” where the writer
(possibly a former sportsperson) shares personal experience.
The sports pages in Botswana differ from the ISPS “norms” in a
number of ways. Most starkly, sports coverage in newspapers does not seem
to be as important in Botswana as in other countries. For example, 25 percent
of space in newspapers in South Africa is reportedly devoted to sport, while
in the Botswana survey it never rises above 9 percent.
Globally, the most common type of sports item reported were results,
match reports, reports of performance at events and previews of events. This
was not the case in Botswana where results, match reports and reports of
performance are almost entirely absent. There is, however, significant
coverage of sports politics and business (especially in the Weekend Post).
Botswana does conform to the global pattern in that football is the most
covered sport.
Botswana, as with other countries, almost entirely ignores women’s
sports and women as sources of information in stories. There is also a shared
tendency to use a small number of sources (often only one, and sometimes
none at all).
In academic literature and research into sport and media it is generally
believed that sports coverage helps builds readerships and audiences, even
though editors might not see it as being “important” as politics or business in
the journalism mix. It is unclear, because research has not been undertaken,
whether this applies in Botswana. If the relatively small number of pages
devoted to sport is an indication, editors may already have concluded that it
does not.

References

Boyle, R. and Haynes, R. (2000) Power Play. Sport, the Media and Popular
Culture. Harlow: Longman.
Blain, N. & Boyle, R. (1998) ‘Sport as Real Life, Media Sport and Culture’.
In Briggs, A. and Cobley, P. eds. Media: an Introduction. Harlow: Longman.

199
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Chappell, R. (2004) ‘Sports Development in Botswana’. The Sport Journal 7

(2) [Internet]. Available from: http://thesportjournal.org/article/sports-
development-in-botswana-africa-2/
Fredericks, A. and Keim, M. (2013) ‘South Africa’. In Horky, T. and Nieland,
J. eds. International Sports Press Survey 2011, Sport and Communication,
(5):187-205. Norderstedt: Book on Demand.
Horky, T. and Nieland, J. (2013) ‘Comparing Sports Reporting from Around
the World, Numbers and Facts on Sports in Daily Newspapers’. In Horky, T.
and Nieland, J. eds. International Sports Press Survey 2011, Sport and
Communication, (5):22-41. Norderstedt: Book on Demand.
Nicolson, M (2007) Sport and the Media Managing the Nexus. Oxford:
Elsevier.
Rowe, D (1992) ‘Modes of Sports Writing’. In Dahlgren, P. and Sparks, C.
eds. Journalism and Popular Culture. London: Sage.
Rowe, D. (1995) Popular Cultures Rock Music, Sport and the Politics of
Pleasure. London: Sage, London.
Rowe, D. (1999) Sport, Culture and the Media. Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Tshube, T. and Hanrahan, S. (2016) ‘Sport psychology in Botswana: A prime
breeding ground’. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,
14 (2):126-134.

200
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

10
Contribution to governance

The news media are generally recognised as main supports of a liberal

democratic society, but there is also always a degree of tension between
governments and media, even in democracies with a long tradition of media
freedom. On the one hand the government is responsible for regulating the
media, and needs to use the media to communicate with the public. On the
other hand, the media have a prime responsibility to examine what
government is and is not doing, and to provide the public with information,
comment, analysis, criticism and alternative views (Balule, 2016, p.84; Roth,
2010, p.10). Tension tends to be greater in developing countries and nations
that are transitioning from non-democratic to democratic status, often
because of a lack of understanding; for example the government may have no
culture of talking to the media. The resulting mistrust can lead governments
to over-regulate, and to force-feed the media with propaganda which then has
to appear as “news” (Roth, 2010, p.10).
In this chapter I look at the contribution news media make to good
governance in Botswana by undertaking an audit. I do this using a model that
has been developed by Colin Roth (2001) and published by the United
Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID).
I begin by discussing the role of media in a liberal democracy and how
in a perfect model they help to contribute to good governance. I do this in the
context of a developing country such as Botswana that aims to be an inclusive
society. I then look in detail at the questions Roth asks and use them as a

201
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

template to audit the situation in Botswana. The questions involve plurality

of media ownership, the representativeness of media and accessibility to
different sections of society (including poor and vulnerable groups) and the
capacities of journalists to do their jobs and where there might be areas for
development.

Defining “good governance”

A liberal democracy is a government by debate and discussion of the

people with many voices heard, rather than rule by arbitrary will or dictate of
an individual or few individuals with dissent suppressed. It is generally
acknowledged that the three essential requisites of democracy are a well-
informed citizenry, freedom to participation in the decision-making process
and accountability to the citizens by those who on their behalf exercise power.
There is a low degree of political control over the media and a high tolerance
among the political elite for the unwelcome and critical things journalist
might say (Opuamie-Ngoa, 2010; McNair, 1998, pp.84-85, Sparks, 1995,
pp.45-47). Brian McNair goes further and says liberal democracy demands
journalistic criticism of elites as a condition of its legitimacy as it safeguards
a move toward authoritarianism rule and acts as a watchdog over the abuse
of political power, although the extent to which this actually happens in a
liberal pluralist society is open to question (McNair, 1998, p.84).
We need to make a distinction here about the definition of
“governance”. It goes further than “government” to include other actors in
the public realm, such as legal institutions, civil society groups, economic
institutions, pressure groups and the news media. However, the state plays
the dominant role in any society and “good governance” requires the state to
give up its central role in regulation and accept a new form of interaction
between social, economic and political arenas. Governance also requires the
separation of the executive, legislative and judiciary and participation,
transparency, accountability, the rule of law, efficiency, equity and consensus
along with political, trade union and media pluralism (Kodi, 2005, p.24).

202
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Where good governance is in place there are opportunities for all the
people, including the poor and disadvantaged, to influence government
policy. For citizens to be able to participate fully and effectively in decisions
concerning their welfare they must be informed and organised and this means
they must have free access to basic education with freedom of association and
expression so they make responsible, informed choices rather than acting out
of ignorance or misinformation. Good governance requires the rule of law,
with a just legal framework, impartially applied and it also presupposes the
protection of human rights (USAID, 1999, p.3; Department for International
Development, 2001; James, 2005, p.11; Kodi, 2005, p.24).
Today, there is a wide consensus across the world that political systems
should exist to provide opportunities for all the people to influence
government and practice and that free and independent media reinforce or
foster this kind of democracy A well-governed society stimulates the kind of
economic, social political and legal environment that allows media to operate
freely and enables other institutions to function to full capacity (Ojo, 2005,
p.19; Department for International Development, 2001; Price & Krug 2002,
p.3).
Independent media enable people to participate in the governance
process by providing them with access to adequate and credible information
about government activities and providing space to discuss and input into
decision making. They also hold the powerful to account. This “public
sphere” role is dependent on a free market of ideas that allows anyone to
publish an opinion and ensures all points are aired (Habermas, 1989; Jones &
Holmes, 2011, p.182).
For the media to properly fulfil this role they have to be sufficiently
independent from the state. This freedom allows news media to examine what
government is and is not doing, by reporting the news, interpreting the news,
influencing citizens’ opinions, setting the agenda for government action, and
socializing citizens about politics and encouraging a political culture to
evolve. It is understood that in a democratic society the media should serve a
wide variety of conflicting views which are often in competition with one
another, therefore media need to be independent and pluralistic. That is,
independent from governmental, political or economic control and there
should be no media monopolies of any kind with the greatest possible number
of newspapers, periodicals and broadcasting stations reflecting the widest

203
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

possible range of opinions within a community (Roth, 2001, p.10; Ojo, 2005,
pp.19-20; Khan, 2005, p.5).
These ideas have been developed from Jurgen Habermas’s model of
the public sphere and have been refined in the light of experience. In modern
societies news and other types of information are treated as commodities to
be bought and sold. Therefore, not everyone has the same opportunities to
access the media. There are high costs involved in starting a newspaper or
broadcasting station that put the opportunity to do so beyond the reach of
most people. News outlets in the private sector are mostly owned by rich
individuals or companies. These media owners have their own agendas and
ideas on how society should be organised and their newspapers and
broadcasting stations reflect these ideas, thereby restricting the opportunities
for genuinely free and open debate. As a result, media generally support elite
people and groups in society and the general public are excluded. In this way,
open debate on matters (especially those where there are disagreements
between different sections of society) is restricted. Also, since news media
are trying to attract large audiences and readers, the information they provide
is often simplified or made personal or offered without a context (Curran,
2002, p.226).
In developing countries, perhaps more so than elsewhere, the idea that
the news media represent a “Fourth Estate” is prevalent. As Colin Sparks
points out the origins of this term are unclear but are thought to date to a time
in England when the three estates in parliament were the Crown (the
monarch), the Lords (hereditary peers who owed their positions to the Crown)
and the Commons which was made up of elected members. The majority of
people were not entitled to vote so the press was said to represent the
disenfranchised (Sparks, 1995, p.50). Today, in democracies all adults have
the vote and the press has a different role. When people speak of the “Fourth
Estate” role of the press, they probably mean it acts as a “watchdog” in which
news media bring to the attention of the public any abuses of power elite
groups might make. In the idealised model of the public sphere, media
practitioners are representatives of the people against powerful interests, but
they are not elected. It is argued that nonetheless on behalf of citizens, they
seek out and publish information needed to make important political or other
judgements (Ojo, 2005, p.19; James, 2005, p.11).

204
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

In developing countries there are concerns about to what extent (if at

all) news media should support governments in their attempts at “nation
building”, that is at improving the quality of peoples’ lives. Should the media
just mirror society or should they help shape it? A form of reporting known
as “development journalism” calls for a partnership between the government
and the media where journalists not only report on the progress of
development projects, but also take leaders to task if they do not live up to
their promises. The media also mobilise people to be proactive, particularly
on matters relating to health, education, gender and so on (Kasoma, 2009).
In developing countries where there are high levels of illiteracy and
widespread ignorance among a majority of the population, the argument goes,
media must not only mirror society as this simply shows people their own
poverty, illiteracy and apparent hopelessness. In such circumstances the
media should enlighten them about politics, economic and social issues and
encourage them into participation in the governance process, while also
subjecting government policies, programmes and activities to scrutiny and
expose corruption, bad conduct and incompetence (Ojo, 2005, p.20).
The media can play a positive role in democracy only if they are
allowed to do so and this is best achieved when governments commit
themselves to supporting free and independent media. However, many
political leaders cannot accept this as they believe the demand for openness
and the free-flow of information between government and the governed is in
some way an insult on their integrity. If governments commit to openness
they also have to end state monopolies in newspapers and broadcasting and
ensure a pluralist media landscape (Ojo, 2005, p.20). Media independence
can be guaranteed if media houses are financially viable, free from
intervention of media owners and the state, and operate in a competitive
environment and be accessible to as wide a segment of society as possible
(Coronel, 2002, p.2; Ojo, 2005, p.19).
Over at least the past twenty years or so there has been growing
intervention from established democratic countries (most notably, but not
exclusively, the United States and in Europe) to encourage developing
countries and transitional democracies to adopt the developed countries’
long-established media models (See for example, Feustal, n.d.; James, 2005;
Coronel 2002; Roth, 2001; Tetty, 2003; Rooney, 2007). They begin with the
assumption that in engaged, participative democracies citizens must have

205
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

access to information. Active citizens will help prevent governmental

excesses and breed trust in the democratic system, thereby enabling the
private media to perform their functions. In this democratic participatory
model, the media should provide voice to those marginalized because of
poverty, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnic or religious affiliation. This is
to ensure their views and concerns become part of public debate. It is also
possible that this might contribute to the easing of social conflicts and to
promoting reconciliation among divergent social groups.
The basic intentions of the interventionists are to encourage and assist
media houses and governments in developing countries to increase media
freedom and effectiveness and to help improve the quality of governance.
They take their starting point to be assessing the status of the media in
relationship to government and the public. It is understood that support for
the media would be most effective if developed as part of broader support for
accountability in the country, including institutions such as parliament itself,
anti-corruption bureaux, ombudsmen who investigate and expose
wrongdoing in the state and advocacy NGOs that represent the views of poor
people, publicise oppressive behaviour and campaign for freedom of
expression (Roth, 2001, p.8).

Media and governance in Botswana

The remainder of this chapter is a survey of the situation in Botswana.

It uses a document The Media in Governance: a Guide to Assistance.
Developing Free and Effective Media to Serve the Interests of the Poor,
produced by the United Kingdom Department for International Development
as a template to undertake an audit of media in the country (Roth 2001).
Colin Roth offers a number of questions that media houses and
governments might ask themselves. I have adapted some of those questions
to guide me in conducting a survey (Roth, 2001, pp.7-8).

206
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

1. How pluralistic is media ownership, and how independent are the

media from government and corporations?
2. How representative are the media of different opinions and how
accessible are they to different sections of society, including poor and
vulnerable groups and political parties?
3. What are the capacities of journalists to do their jobs and where
might there be areas of development?

What follows is an attempt to answer those three questions.

1. How pluralistic is media ownership, and how independent are

the media from government and corporations?
Internationally, there is much consensus through United Nations,.
European and African human rights conventions that media pluralism is an
integral part of freedom of expression. The state can promote media pluralism
through legislation and regulation and it can decide not to unduly interfere
(Balule, 2016, p.89).
The media landscape in Botswana is dominated by government-
controlled media in both print and broadcasting, but there are significant
numbers of private media, especially in the print sector, with a large degree
of diversity and independence (Fombad, 2011, p.18; Rooney, 2012). There
are six radio stations broadcasting in Botswana: the government-owned
Radio Botswana 1 and 2 and the private and commercial stations Duma FM,
Gabz FM, Yarona FM and Voice of America. Most of the private radio
stations broadcast countrywide (African Media Barometer, 2011, p25; IREX,
2010). There are two local television stations, the state-owned Botswana
Television (BTV) and the private e-Botswana, a collaboration with South
Africa’s etv containing a small portion of local news, music and other
content.
Government owns the biggest media companies and has the widest
distribution in the country, thus is most accessible to people in Botswana
(African Media Barometer 2011, p,26; African Media Barometer, 2014,
pp.28-29). Broadcasting around the country is dominated by state-owned
television and radio stations, and the Daily News, a free publication which is

207
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

widely distributed to most areas in the country. In rural areas, this is often the
only print media product available, although it is sometimes up to a week
late. The government also owns the Botswana Press Agency (BOPA).
Newspapers come and go in Botswana but there are at least 11
privately-owned titles, but the government-controlled Daily News distorts the
newspaper market. It comes under the Office of the President along with state
broadcasting outlets Radio Botswana and Botswana TV. Government media
employees are public servants employed under the Public Service Act, so
they cannot publish information without the permission of the permanent
secretary or the ministry (African Media Barometer 2011, p.18; Fombad
2002; Rooney, 2012).
The government has put considerable resources into the Daily News,
thus competing unfairly with, crowding out and stifling the independent press
(Mogalakwe & Sebudubudu, 2006). The biggest competitive advantage that
the Daily News has is that it does not have normal production overheads,
since all these are taken care of from government funds. It also receives
hidden government subsidies because it is delivered on government land and
air transport as a matter of policy. Unlike private newspapers, the Daily News
is delivered free-of-charge to most areas of Botswana and in rural areas it is
often the only print media available. This helps to make it the most widely
read newspaper in Botswana (African Media Barometer, 2009, p.27;
Mogalakwe & Sebudubudu, 2006).
Specifically, the Daily News competes for advertising and undercuts
the rates offered by private media companies. Advertisers prefer the Daily
News because they want high circulation to reach the maximum number of
people. Government is in the unique position of being a major media player
and also the largest advertiser in the country, followed by parastatals,
followed by big business (African Media Barometer, 2009, p.33; Mogalakwe
& Sebudubudu, 2006). Sometimes private newspapers have just three main
advertisers – the country’s three mobile phone companies, B Mobile, Orange
and Mascom (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.36). Cover prices of
newspapers are kept low because readers cannot afford to pay much and
therefore, newspapers are reliant on advertising for their business survival
which puts the private press in a perilous financial situation (African Media
Barometer, 2011, p.7).

208
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Private commercial radio stations are also disadvantaged by the

government which has its own commercial station Radio Botswana 2 (RB2)
that competes for advertising. Owen Rampha, when station manager for the
private station Yarona FM, lamented that the government’s commercial
broadcasting arm was the cheapest in terms of advertising rates. It could
afford to do this because it did not have to meet commercial costs of
production such as licence fees and transmitter maintenance. It could also
broadcast its own information commercials to a wider audience than
commercial stations thereby reducing the necessity to air them on the private
stations (Sunday Standard online, 5 March 2012). Rampha noted that
franchise stores in Botswana preferred to use RB2 because it was cheaper and
had a wider reach than private competitors.
Government is the largest employer, business entity and advertiser in
Botswana and is not averse to using this to give media it controls commercial
advantages and in so doing distort the newspaper market. Government can
and does pull advertising from newspapers it deems to be too critical of its
policies and it can coerce companies in the private sector which want to keep
in its favour not to advertise (Good 2008, p.61; African Media Barometer,
2009, p.38; Mogalakwe & Sebudubudu, 2006).
Botswana has in the recent past enjoyed a robust economy and
advertising was available to support the private press allowing new
publications to establish themselves if they were able to find a niche market
attractive to advertisers (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.41). However, by
2017 Botswana’s economy faced challenges and advertising revenue reduced
leaving media houses to seek alternative revenue channels (Mosanako, 2016,
p.32).
There is no regulation of media ownership and in the private media
there is some concentration. One group Mmegi Investment Holdings (MIH)
is close to a dominant position owning four newspapers that between them
account for 35 percent of the total circulation figures for local private
newspapers. It also has interests in newspaper distribution and radio (Balule,
2016, pp.95-96).
The editorial independence of the majority of news media houses in
Botswana is not adequately protected, since in some outlets there is no

209
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

separation between ownership and editorial (Balule, 2014). At others, owners

exercise direct supervision over editorial.
Badala Balule, who researches media in Botswana mainly from the
legal and regulatory standpoint, observes that the editorial independence of
editors from publishers is regulated through self-regulatory mechanisms and
there appears to be a general consensus that editors ought to have the power
to decide on editorial matters free from interference from owners. In a few
media houses this is formalised through editorial charters or policies (Balule,
2016, p.93). However, independence in most newsrooms is governed by what
Balule calls a “gentlemen’s agreement” based on the understanding that
editors ought to enjoy editorial freedom. In some cases, owners are also the
editors, or editorial is directly supervised by the board of directors. The
majority of owners of private media do not meddle in editorial affairs. Editors
are generally considered professional, and thus the extent of the owners’
pressure on them is minimal. However, the smaller the newsroom, the greater
the level of interference (African Media Barometer, 2011, pp.57-58).
There are a number of local magazines, including the environmentally
focussed Wena, Hotel and Tourism, the youth publication Lapologa, a
farmers’ magazine, and the contemporary state-published magazine,
Kutlwano, Wealth, Flair, Architect Design, Peolwane (Air Botswana’s in-
flight magazine) and the general-interest Mahube. Many Botswana
magazines are published infrequently (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.24;
African Media Barometer, 2014, p.29; Mosha, 2014).

Government interference
Freedom of expression is guaranteed in the constitution and supported
by other pieces of legislation and although it is not specifically stated it is
assumed this includes freedom of the media (Balule 2016, p85; Baule 2013;
Louw, 2004, p.17). Freedom of expression can be limited through broad
provisions related to defence, public safety, public order, public morality,
public health, other people’s rights, as well. as protecting the freedom of civil
servants to perform their duties, among others (African Media Barometer,
2011, p.10; African Media Barometer, 2014, p.12). There is no law in
Botswana guaranteeing access to public information, although freedom to

210
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

receive information is constitutionally guaranteed (African Media Barometer,

2011, p.19).
There are estimated to be 15 laws in Botswana that “negatively impact”
on the media (Louw, 2004, pp.25-31). Some laws specifically prohibit access
to state-held information, such as the Public Service Act, National Security
Act, and the Corruption and Economic Crime Act. There are punitive
defamation laws in existence, which encourage self-censorship, and the
Sunday Standard, for one, has been hard hit by such lawsuits in the past
(African Media Barometer, 2011, p.57). There is no freedom of information
legislation.
It is widely recognised that the Daily News and the state-owned
broadcasting outlets mandates are to promote government policy and they
favour the coverage of the ruling party the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)
over opposition parties (Fombad, 2002, pp.655-658; Fombad 2011; Freedom
House, 2011; Mogalakwe & Sebudubudu, 2006). The government directly
interferes in the editorial content of the Daily News, and engages in
“unbalanced or propagandist reporting” (African Media Barometer, 2011,
p.29). For example, in 2011 an article about the Botswana Government
giving P1 million to Japan following its devastating tsunami in March 2011
was withdrawn from the Daily News by “higher authorities” as it was felt this
would not be welcomed during the then on-going public workers’ strike
(African Media Barometer, 2011, p.29).
There are many reports of government interference at the state-
controlled BTV. In the African Media Barometer (AMB) report of 2014,
panellists told that “top people” (believed to mean from the Office of the
President) can and do check news items before they go on air and, “the
Permanent Secretary calls the shots” (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.48).
AMB also reported that there was an incident when the President of Botswana
(in his role as leader of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party) was allowed
to read out a statement on state media regarding a court ruling. A member of
the opposition asked for permission to read out a statement from his own
party on the same court ruling but was denied, even though there was a
provision in regulations allowing all political parties equal coverage and air
time (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.48).

211
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

The existence of self-censorship among journalists at BTV often

means politicians do not have to give direct instructions regarding news
content. There is a desire among media practitioners at the station to impress
politicians and this results in what Spencer Mogapi, a senior journalist in the
private media in Botswana, called, “grotesquely lopsided overage disparities
between the ruling party on the one hand and opposition parties on the other”.
It was, he said, “patently biased against those holding views different from
the ruling party” (Mogapi, Sunday Standard, 1 February 2015),
Journalists are said to fear the Directorate of Intelligence and Security
(DISS) that became operational in 2010, because its mandate in defending
state security is unclear. People fear the DISS spies on ordinary citizens
(African Media Barometer, 2014, p.14). In 2014, private media in Botswana
reported that employees of government media lived in fear that the DISS was
monitoring their activities (Mmeso, 14 September 2014).
The Media Practitioners Act (MPA), passed in December 2008, but not
yet operational, contains threatening clauses, including imprisonment that
could be taken against journalists who, it is argued by media practitioners, do
not toe the government line (African Media Barometer, 2011, pp.12-14;
African Media Barometer, 2014, p.16).

2. How representative are the media of different opinions and how

accessible are they to different sections of society, including poor and
vulnerable groups and political parties?

Private newspapers are centred on Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, and

distribution to other parts of the country is problematic. Access to print media
in rural areas is a challenge in a country with a population of about 2.2 million
people living in 600,370 sq. km., a country the size of France. As a
consequence, Botswana media share the same basic characteristics with those
of many other African states, including skewed, urban-based centralisation
of infrastructure, resources and audiences. Community media in Botswana is
a particularly weak area (Kabeta & Ndlovu 2009; African Media Barometer,
2011, p.25; Rooney, 2012). Costs of distribution across the entire country are
high and private newspaper companies either distribute the papers themselves

212
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

or use a variety of means such as subscriptions, courier and public transport,

which are not very efficient (Fombad 2011; African Media Barometer, 2009,
p.27).
Private media need to make a profit to stay in business and advertising
is the lifeblood of the media house. However, an over-reliance on advertising
has resulted in less diversity of media content because the media houses are
under pressure to deliver content that would attract affluent audiences to
advertisers. Advertisers are not interested in people who do not have money
to buy goods and services they wish to sell. Therefore, the private media in
Botswana mainly caters for the needs of middle or upper income urban
audiences, neglecting the needs of the poor, mostly rural audiences (Balule,
2016, p.99).
Another fact that reduces the people of Botswana’s accessibility to the
print media is that it is almost entirely published in English, although some
newspapers, such as the Daily News and Mmegi, have Setswana pages in each
edition (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.25; Molosiwa, n.d., p.10). There
are about 26 other languages spoken in Botswana, including 13 Khoisan
languages. The AMB reported, “Until parliament recognises the importance
of the different dialects in Botswana, there will be an imbalance in its
representation in the media.” Newspapers are also relatively expensive
costing on average more than a loaf of bread (African Media Barometer,
2011, p25).
Newspapers in Botswana cater for a wide range of readership needs,
from the overtly serious to the decidedly non-serious (Rooney, 2012). The
Botswana press follows the same patterns as newspapers in other countries
with large press markets by differentiating the market according to the
demographics of the general population. So, the “serious” newspapers appeal
to people with high levels of formal education and articles can exceed 1,000
words, and use specialised language. Articles are often written by experts in
their fields to address other experts; especially in education, business and
politics. In the context of the Botswana press, the Sunday Standard, and the
Weekend Post make up the serious market.
At the other end of the continuum is the “non-serious” or tabloid
market. Here, “tabloid” refers to more than just the size of the newspaper
page. Tabloid newspapers tend to pay little attention to politics and

213
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

economics and matters of public interest, concentrating instead on the

dramatic and sensational. They tend to give prominence to the coverage of
violence, crime and scandal. News is in a condensed form and photographs
are prominent (Rooney, 1998; Lowe Morna & Ndlovu, 2008, pp.11-12). In
Botswana, three titles, the Voice, the Midweek Sun and the Echo, constitute
the most tabloid or non-serious of the market.
The other titles – all tabloid in size – could be plotted on the continuum
somewhere between the serious and the tabloid; mostly they share the
attributes of both the serious and tabloid press in that they desire to be
accessible but they contain more serious material than the tabloids, but less
than the overtly serious newspapers.
In Botswana, readers of the mid-market newspapers would be expected
to have moderately high levels of educational attainment to read and
understand the articles, but they would probably not need to have been
educated to tertiary level.
The Monitor and the Telegraph would be on the continuum closer to
the tabloid, non-serious end. The Patriot on Sunday, although a broadsheet
in size, would be in the mid-market, but closer to the “serious” end than other
titles. Titles that would be in this mid-market but veering towards the serious
end include the Botswana Guardian, the Botswana Gazette and Mmegi.

Content analysis
To examine what editorial material newspapers produce, how they
achieve this, and how this might contribute to good governance, I conducted
a content analysis of nine of the privately-owned newspapers in Botswana
and examined all the editorial material in them. For the purpose of the
research this meant all material that was not advertising. This included news
stories, feature articles and photographs, and also material that may not have
any news value at all (e.g. cartoons and horoscopes).
The nine newspapers chosen were, the Echo, the Botswana Gazette,
the Botswana Guardian, the Midweek Sun, Mmegi, the Monitor, the Sunday
Standard, the Voice and the Weekend Post.
Five copies of each newspaper were selected at random from the fourth
quarter of 2011. The types of editorial were grouped together into categories

214
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

a process simplified because the newspapers give labels to every editorial

page (e.g. news, business, entertainment, sport, etc.). Where a page had
editorial, it was counted as a whole page irrespective of the amount of
advertising that appeared on it. There were neither national events nor major
incidents that might have attracted disproportionate coverage in the
newspapers to distort the findings.
The number of pages published by newspapers varied considerably.
Among the newspapers that were tabloid in size (the actual tabloids and all
the mid-market titles), the Echo had by far the fewest pages during the
research period (148). The Botswana Gazette had most (260) followed
closely by the Botswana Guardian (256) and the Voice (252). The Sunday
Standard published a total of 208 broadsheet pages, which in terms of space
equated to approximately 416 tabloid-sized pages, making it by far the
newspaper title with most space. The Weekend Post, which is a “Berliner”
size (larger than a tabloid, but smaller than a broadsheet) had 144 pages,
approximating to 180 tabloid-sized pages.
Since advertising revenue is the lifeblood of the privately-owned press
we can assume that all newspapers were attempting to maximise the amount
of paid advertising they received and therefore the number of pages they were
able to produce depended on the volume of advertising they received. The
number of pages a newspaper was able to produce varied considerably from
week to week. The Monitor ranged from 28 pages to 48 pages; the Botswana
Gazette from 40 to 60 pages and the Botswana Guardian from 36 to 68 pages.
In one edition, the Botswana Gazette had eight full pages of public notice
advertising from Barclays Bank regarding dormant accounts. The Echo and
the Weekend Post were most consistent, in both cases publishing editions
with either 28 or 32 pages. The number of pages was particularly varied with
Mmegi newspaper which published daily Tuesday to Friday inclusive. In the
research sample, the Tuesday edition had only 16 pages, but the Friday
edition had 84 pages. With Mmegi there seemed to be a clear correlation
between the number of pages produced and the amount of advertising
achieved.
The amount of advertising published varied between titles. Two mid-
market titles had the highest percentages (the Botswana Gazette, 33.8
percent) and the Botswana Guardian (32.0 percent). Other titles had between
20.1 percent (the Weekend Post) and Mmegi (26.5 percent). The Monitor

215
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

(16.3 percent) and the Echo (16.9 percent) had significantly less advertising
as a proportion of total space than its rivals.
Some newspapers made clear efforts to attract advertising by
publishing editorial supplements or “lift-outs” on certain themes, such as
personal finance. For example, the Botswana Guardian had a special feature
on Palapye supported by advertising from businesses in the town. The
Botswana Gazette had a supplement celebrating the anniversary of Gaborone,
which consisted of six pages, of which five were full-page adverts. In some
cases it was difficult to distinguish advertising from editorial matter in the
Botswana Guardian. The confusing advertisements tended to consist of
pictures and a significant number of words, making it difficult to see the
difference between the paid-for advertising and the independently-produced
journalism. Other newspapers avoided this confusion by labelling any
potentially misleading material as “advertisement”.
Although there was a wide range of types of newspaper available
(serious, mid-market, non-serious), all the titles shared certain characteristics.
All newspapers had editorial sections given over to business and finance (in
the case of the tabloids this tended to concentrate more on personal finance).
The Echo had most (20.9 percent), followed by the Sunday Standard (19.7
percent). The tabloids, the Voice (11.9 percent) and the Midweek Sun (6.1
percent) also had significant amounts of space devoted to business and
finance. All newspapers devoted space to the coverage of sport – ranging
from the highest, 16.3 percent (the Sunday Standard), to the lowest 7.0
percent (the Botswana Guardian).
Articles, clearly identified as opinion pieces, are common to all the
newspapers, with the serious Weekend Post leading the way with 23 percent
of space devoted to clearly identified opinion pieces and news features that
were analytical and in some cases polemical, but not labelled as such. The
next highest was the mid-market the Botswana Gazette (12.3 percent),
followed by the serious the Sunday Standard at 10.6 percent. The tabloids
the Midweek Sun (7.3 percent) and the Voice (4.0 percent) had opinion
articles that tended to be less overtly about public interest matters and more
about advice on personal and private matters readers may have raised with
the newspaper.

216
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Editorial matter on leisure and entertainment was important to all types

of newspaper ranging from the highest (the tabloid, the Midweek Sun at 15.2
percent) and the lowest (the serious, Weekend Post at 5.6 percent). Specially
marked supplements on “entertainment” or “leisure” were feature in most of
the newspapers, regardless of whether they were serious, mid-market, or
tabloid.
Hardly any news from outside Botswana appeared in any of the
newspapers – serious or non-serious. What foreign news there was tended to
be from elsewhere in the continent of Africa. The Botswana newspapers do
not have their own foreign correspondents and rely on material from news
agencies or international news organisations, such as the BBC.
Although the type of editorial content was similar regardless of
newspaper title or the level of seriousness sought, there were some
distinctions between them. For example, in the final week of the survey, the
Voice devoted a page to what it labelled “good news”, although what made
“good news” was left vague by the newspaper. The Voice intended to make
this a regular feature in the newspaper. The same newspaper also ran a “pin-
up” picture of a scantily-clothed young woman in each edition. During the
sample period, Mmegi had a four-page supplement of “youth” issues, which
had one full page advert. Mmegi also had a four-page lift-out called Naledi,
published in the indigenous language, Setswana.
The Monitor had more coverage from areas outside the nation’s capital
Gaborone. The Monitor had one eight-page supplement on agriculture and
another four-page supplement on mining. The Echo devoted one page a week
to “student news”. The Midweek Sun had motoring supplements in two of its
editions. The Weekend Post had a regular section on religion consisting of
two columns: one given over to Christianity and the other to Islam

Sources
I also examined the content of news stories and in particular the sources
of information used and what this told us about the relationship between
journalism, the audience, and governance and whether everyone had equal
access to the news media.

217
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

There is a wide debate about the way news media exercise political and
ideological power and how powerful groups in society seek to define and
manage the flow of information. Stuart Hall and his colleagues in their thesis
on “primary definers” argue that people in powerful and privileged positions
are able to over-access the media and set news agendas. They do this because
journalists rely too heavily on organised interest groups and “experts” for
information (Hall et al, 1978, pp. 58-59). Hall and his colleagues argue that
the media become primary definers of the news because the media tend to
reproduce faithfully what they say and thus support the existing structure of
power in a society. It is likely that those in powerful positions in society who
offer opinions about controversial topics will have their definitions accepted.
The argument is that the primary definers set the agenda and those with
alternative views and arguments have to insert themselves into its definition
of what is at issue. Once established this definition is difficult to alter
fundamentally.
This analysis has its critics. Philip Schlesinger and Howard Tumbler
accept that there are powerful sources that can sometimes organise news
agendas to their own advantage, but for them the emphasis is on the word
“sometimes” (Schlesinger & Tumbler, 1994, pp.17-21). Journalists could
choose to accept the sources, but they could also decide to find alternative
sources. But, as Herbert J. Gans has observed, journalists are restrained by
deadlines and often feel obliged to rely on sources that are able to fit in with
the daily requirements of busy news organizations (Gans, 1979, p.121).
My research intended to discover whether Botswana journalists were
relying heavily on single sources and if so, who they were. It also wanted to
discover who else was allowed to be heard in newspapers. The content
analysis examined the main source in the lead news items on each of the main
news pages (front, three, five and seven). Some of these pages had no
editorial matter as they consisted of full page advertisements.
The sources of the majority of news reports in the newspapers were
organized events, such as parliamentary sittings and staged events (public
conferences and conventions), to which the media were invited; plus press
statements. There were very few stories about ordinary people. The result for
the Voice newspaper was distorted because its main item on page three in
each edition was a pin-up picture – accounting for 24.2 percent of total
editorial space in the survey.

218
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Editorial items originated mostly from the political arena (defined as

government, parliament, political parties and individual politicians) in most
newspapers. By far the highest proportion of sources from this category was
the Botswana Gazette (45.9 percent), but Mmegi also had more than one third
its sources (34.3 percent) here. Others with more than a quarter of all sources
in this category were the Botswana Guardian (32.2 percent), the Echo (28.3
percent) and the Weekend Post (27.7 percent). The Sunday Standard (24.4
percent) and the Midweek Sun (23.3 percent) came close to having one quarter
of all sources from the political arena. The notable exception was the Voice
which only had 9.1 percent of editorial space given to this category.
After politics, business provided the only significant number of
sources. The Echo led the way with 34.3 percent of all sources, followed by
the Botswana Guardian (29.0 percent) and Mmegi (20 percent). The
Botswana Gazette (2.7 percent) and the Sunday Standard (3.8 percent), relied
least on business for sources.
The content analysis demonstrated that sources from other than the
political arena or business were found mostly among law courts, emergency
services, and the police.
Separate content analysis of eight media houses (five print, two radio,
one television) undertaken by Gender Links in 2015 found economic stories
constitute 26 percent of all topics covered, followed by sports (15 percent),
crime and violence (15 percent), politics (15 percent) and social news (15
percent) (Gender Links, 2016).
There was little evidence of much pro-active work being undertaken
by reporters in finding news. The exception to this might be in the category
“locally-based” sources, which covered a variety of stories which appear to
have come from local sources rather than having been fed to reporters by the
police or emergency services. Such stories included the funeral of a 14-year-
old girl who killed herself, HIV leaflets confiscated by security forces (both
the Botswana Gazette); farmers protesting against foot-and-mouth
restrictions (Mmegi and the Echo); retired sex worker talks about her life,
beauty contest (both Voice); mother wants revenge for her son’s killing,
pensioner builds house, disadvantaged family get new home, reminiscences
of a former death-row inmate (all the Midweek Sun).

219
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Other commentators and researchers have noted that newspapers in

Botswana concentrate news selection on official speeches, the comings and
goings, and the images of top national political leaders, particularly the
president. Coverage in state media, particularly, is structured to ensure a top-
down communications flow from government to governed. This means the
media are perpetuating social divisions in the country by not including the
voices of people across all social strata (Fombad 2002, p.662; African Media
Barometer, 2009, p.36; Zaffiro 1993, pp.87-102).
The Gender and Media Progress Study in Botswana found
spokespersons make up 43 percent of sources and government officials, 18
percent. With main persons affected (14 percent), popular opinion (14
percent), personal experience (4 percent) and eyewitnesses (3 percent),
voices of “ordinary people” do not feature much in the news (Gender Links,
2016).
The private media tend to support opposition political parties and are
mostly event driven, but even the private media tend to give most space to
leaders’ voices with the voices of ordinary Botswana hardly being
represented. Newspapers are “personality driven” and high-profile
personalities or events get more coverage. Stories about development issues
are covered well by the government media, but not by the private media, often
(it is supposed) because these journalists lack information about government
activities and do not know what the state’s intentions are (African Media
Barometer 2009; African Media Barometer, 2011).
Some newspapers, most notably the Sunday Standard and Mmegi,
were pro-active and undertake investigations, but mostly newspapers
preferred simpler and safer forms of journalism like reporting on ministerial
speeches (African Media Barometer, 2009, p.58; African Media Barometer,
2011, p. 54).
In 2015 an organisation called INK Centre for Investigative Journalism
created an independent non-profit newsroom in Gaborone to produce
investigative journalism in the public interest (INK website). The Centre
supports and imparts basic investigative reporting skills to young reporters in
newsrooms that have significant budget constraints and are struggling to
maintain investigative journalism desks. It has a newsroom of five working
journalists and interns. INK maintains,

220
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

“Investigative journalism is at risk. Noticeably, the sheer quality of serious news stories
has quite frankly diminished and has come to be regarded by some in newsrooms as time-
consuming and expensive, high risk, high maintenance and highly litigious
impracticalities” (INK website).

INK says Botswana faces a situation where sources of opinion are

proliferating but sources of facts on which those opinions are based are
shrinking. The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) is a
major funder but in 2016 INK was accused by newspapers in Botswana of
being in the pay of the CIA through OSISA (Mosanako, 2016, p.37).
Most newspapers (public and private) in Botswana are criticised for
being elitist and not fairly reflecting all the voices in society because they
only publish in the English language (African Media Barometer, 2009, p.8;
Sechele 2006, p.30; African Media Barometer, 2011, p. 31) even when
Setawana, is spoken as a home language by 77.3 per cent of the population.
The Daily News and Mmegi do, however, carry Setswana inserts.
Research conducted by Gender Links (2015) discussed the need for
news reporters to give a balanced view in stories by presenting diverse voices;
to do this successfully there needs to be multiple sources. In a survey of the
Botswana news media, it found that 49 percent of stores had multiple sources,
against 51 percent for a single source. However, only 28 percent of all sources
were women against 72 percent of men (Ndlovu & Nyamweda, 2015, p.31).
The Gender and Media Progress Study (Gender Links, 2016) concluded
where there was only one source, in a male-dominated society this was likely
to be a man.

3. What are the capacities of journalists to do their jobs and where

might there be areas for development?

The content analyses identified that a disproportionate number of

articles originate from government or from staged events and that the voices
of ordinary Botswana are under-represented in the newspapers. The content
analyses suggest that journalists often over-rely on powerful sources for
information and this demonstrates that they often lack the capacities required

221
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

in performing their duties properly, particularly when it came to collecting

information to enable them to fully explain to their readers what is going on.
There is a question about the way the political class dominate as
newspaper sources. One reason for this is that media houses in Botswana are
generally under-resourced, and privately owned newspapers in particular
cannot afford to have large staffs or freelancers throughout the country. They
therefore rely on contributors who know that journalists need a constant
supply of material to meet their deadlines and therefore go about supplying
it. Political parties in Botswana are especially aware of these needs.
There is no empirical research in Botswana into the professional
practices of journalists; but the three AMB workshops held between 2009 and
2014 collected media practitioners’ perceptions of the media situation in
Botswana (African Media Barometer, 2009; African Media Barometer, 2011;
African Media Barometer, 2014). A separate workshop organised in 2012 to
determine a Media Sustainability Index for Botswana covered similar ground
(Moloko, 2012).
The findings of the workshops were consistent when identifying
perceived obstacles encountered by journalists; suggesting that the situation
was not changing over time. The participants reported experienced
professionals left journalism to enter public relations and communications.
Some felt they were not growing professionally, while others left for financial
reasons. Newsrooms were getting younger and so were the editors, resulting
in a lack of experience and depth that came through in the editorial content
of newspapers (African Media Barometer, 2014, p.52; Moloko, 2012, p.23).
Other reasons cited for journalists’ under-performance included the
scarcity of resources and deliberate attempts by government officials to
withhold information; a lack of sufficient knowledge and capacity on the part
of journalists and a disinclination to hold people in authority or elders to
account. The lack of resources in media houses means that most content is
urban-based with rural areas in effect side-lined by the newspapers, which
recognise that increasing the circulation of their newspapers where
populations are so low is uneconomic, and as a result certain cultures such as
the Basarwa (San) are barely covered at all. The state-owned Daily News does
better in rural areas because it can rely on the resources of the state news

222
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

agency (BOPA), which has staff around the country, but they are not
necessarily qualified journalists.
Workshop participants also recognised that journalists hardly question
those who hold positions of authority (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.55).
They said reporting was generally fair and was not considered to be “gutter
journalism” although accuracy, fairness and balance were sometimes found
to be lacking. Generally, Botswana journalists are not corrupt and “have a
very high standard of moral integrity” (African Media Barometer, 2011, p.59;
Moloko, 2012, p.22). They reported improvements were unlikely to be made
until employment opportunities in media improved. Staff numbers are
generally low and there is a high turnover and a lack of trained personnel with
few opportunities for skills upgrading, but some organisations, for example
MISA and Gender Links, run short courses and workshops, and the
University of Botswana offers a bachelor degree in Media Studies (African
Media Barometer, 2009, p.66).
The Botswana Press Council, a self-regulatory body established in
2004, handles complaints from the public about the media (Rooney, 2015).
There is a counter, statutory body called the Media Council, established by
the Media Practitioners Act (MPA), although this is not yet operational as the
law has yet to be implemented. The Press Council has a Code of Ethics that
guides journalists in good practice.
Away from the workshop, there are also concerns that journalists in
both private print and radio suffer from political partisanship and news
reports and programmes deliver opinion biased in favour of one party or
another without substantiating evidence and without knowledge (Molefe,
Mmegi, 11 May 2012).

Summary

I did not set out in this chapter to produce a report card similar to those
given to school students at the end of the year, but if I had done my conclusion
would be: must try harder. There are relatively large private newspaper and
radio sectors but the markets are dominated by state-controlled media. They

223
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

have the largest circulations (the Daily News is distributed free of charge) and
audiences and because they are government-funded they do not have to
conform to usual business practices. They undercut advertising rates and with
relatively large readerships and listeners they are more attractive to
advertisers. This makes it difficult for private media to attract income, so they
are under resourced and under staffed and cannot compete against state media
for content.
There is too much interference by government in the content of state
media. In addition, there are at least 15 laws in Botswana that have the
potential to restrict media freedom; the most draconian of these is the Media
Practitioners Act.
Private newspapers in Botswana are targeted to different segments of
the market; catering to readers requiring serious reporting on public affairs to
those seeking sensation and gossip. However, all newspapers favour
reporting on elite and powerful groups and there are very few stories about
“ordinary” people and those that there are tend towards the sensational. There
is not much evidence of journalists being “pro-active” and seeking out those
with alternative views.
These are major deficiencies and solutions are hard to come by. It is
difficult to see change on the horizon as the present political system favours
the government and there is no call from within its ranks to set the state-
controlled media free (it is not in their interests). Until this happens and the
Media Practitioners Act is repealed and freedom of expression legislation
introduced there will be negligible chance of improvement.

References

African Media Barometer (2009) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of

Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
African Media Barometer (2011) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of
Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
African Media Barometer (2014) Botswana, Windhoek: Media Institute of
Southern Africa / Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

224
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Balule, B. (2013) ‘Diversity and Pluralism Compromised: From the

Botswana Broadcasting Act 1998 to the Communications Regulatory
Authority Act 2012’. Statute Law Review, 34:189-206.
Balule, B. (2014) The Cartel Phenomenon. How Media Ownership Impacts
Diversity and Quality of Content: the Case of Botswana. Available from:
http://www.fesmedia-
africa.org/uploads/media/The_Cartel_Phenomenon_by_Dr_Tachilisa_B._B
alule_.pdf
Balule, B. (2016) ‘Promoting and Safeguarding Media Pluralism in
Botswana: an Assessment of Legal Risks’. Commonwealth Law Bulletin, 42
(1):84-104.
Coronel, S. (2002) The Role of Media in Deepening Democracy. Available
from:
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN010194
.pdf
Curran, J. (2002). Media Power. London: Routledge.
Fombad, C. 2002, ‘The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Public
Service Media Southern Africa: a Botswana Perspective’. Modern Law
Review, 65 (5):649-675.
Fombad, C. (2011) Media Law in Botswana. London: Kluwer Law
International.
Gans, H. (1979). Deciding What's News; A Study of CBS Evening News, NBC
Nightly News, Newsweek, and Time. New York: Pantheon.
Gender Links (2016) Southern Africa Gender and Media Progress Study
(Botswana). Johannesburg: Gender Links.
Good, K. (2008) Diamonds, Dispossession and Democracy in Botswana.
Oxford: James Currey.
Hall, S., Chritcher, C., Jefferson, T., Clarke, J. and Roberts, B. (1978),
Policing The Crisis, Mugging, the State, and the Law. London: Macmillan.
Habermas J. 1989. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere.
Cambridge: Polity.

225
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

INK Centre for Investigative Journalism (n.d.) About Us. INKjournalism.

Available from: http://inkjournalism.org/about-us/
James, B. 2005, ‘The Right to Inform and be Informed’. In: James, B. ed.
Media and Good Governance. Paris: UNESCO.
Jones, P. and Holmes, D. (2011) Key Concepts in Media and Communication.
Los Angeles: Sage.
Kabeta, J. and Ndlovu, T. (2009) Botswana Media Sustainability Index.
Washington: IREX. Available from:
http://www.irex.org/resource/botswana-media-sustainability-index-msi
Khan, A. (2005) ‘Preface’. In: James, B. ed. Media and Good Governance.
Paris: UNESCO.
Kasoma, T. (2009) ‘Development Reporting as a Crumbling Tower? Impact
of Brown Envelope Journalism on Journalistic Practice in Zambia and
Ghana’. Global Media Journal African Edition, 3 (1). [Internet]. Available
from: http://globalmedia.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/17
Kodi, M. (2005) ‘Defining Governance’. In: James, B. ed. Media and Good
Governance. Paris: UNESCO.
Louw, R. ed. (2004) Undue Restriction, Laws Impacting on Media Freedom
in the SADC. Windhoek: MISA.
Lowe Morna, C and Ndlovu, S. (2008) ‘Overview’. In: Lowe Morna, C. and
Ndlovu, S. eds. Gender and Tabloids in Southern Africa. Johannesburg:
Gender Links.
McNair, B. (1996) News and Journalism in the UK. 2nd ed. London:
Routledge.
McNair, B. (1998) The Sociology of Journalism. London: Arnold.
Mmeso, P. (2014) DIS Takes Over Mass Media. Patriot on Sunday, 14
September, p.4.
Mogapi, S. (2015) The BTV Credibility Crisis. Sunday Standard, 1 February,
p.9.
Mogalakwe, M. and Sebudubudu, D. (2006) ‘State Media Relations’. Journal
of African Elections, 5 (2):216-220.

226
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Molefe, R. (2012) The State of Botswana Journalism. Mmegi, 11 May.

Molosiwa, A. (n.d.) Language and Literacy Issues in Botswana. Michigan
State University Cultural Practices of Literacy Study Working Paper 4.
Available from:
http://cpls.educ.ubc.ca/content/pdfs/4MolosiwaBotswana.pdf
Mosanako, S. (2016) ‘Botswana National Overview’. In: So This is
Democracy? Windhoek: Media Institute of Southern Africa.
Mosha, M. (2014) ‘The Local Print Magazine Industry in Botswana’. In:
Rooney, R. ed. The Botswana Media Studies Papers. Gaborone: University
of Botswana, Department of Media Studies.
Ojo, E. (2005), ‘Should Media Mirror Society or Shape It?’ In: James, B. ed.
Media and Good Governance. Paris: UNESCO.
Opuamie-Ngoa, S. (2010) ‘Functional Democracy and Mass Media: a
Critique’. Global Media Journal African Edition, 4 (2). [Internet]. Available
from: http://globalmedia.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1
Price, M. and Krug, P. (2002) The Enabling Environment for Free and
Independent Media. Washington: USAID.
Rooney, R. (1998) ‘Dynamics of the British Tabloid Press’. Javnost The
Public, 5 (3):95-107.
Rooney, R. (2007) ‘The Swazi Press and its Contribution to Good
Governance’. Global Media Journal African Edition. 1. [Internet]. Available
from: http://globalmedia.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/47
Rooney, R. (2012) ‘Characteristics of the Botswana Press’. Global Media
Journal African Edition, 6 (1) [Internet]. Available from:
http://globalmedia.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/80
Rooney, R. (2015) Would You Believe it? Accuracy as an Ethical Concern
in the Botswana Private Press. Available from:
https://www.scribd.com/document/287448717/Accuracy-as-an-Ethical-
Concern-in-the-Botswana-Private-Press-Rooney
Roth, C. (2001) The Media in Governance: a Guide to Assistance.
Developing Free and Effective Media to Serve the Interests of the Poor.
London: Department for International Development.

227
 NEWS IN BOTSWANA

Schlesinger, P. and Tumbler, H. (1994). Reporting Crime, The Media Politics

of Criminal Justice. Oxford: Clarendon.
Sparks, C. (1995) The Media as a Power for Democracy. Javnost The Public,
2 (1):45-59.
Tetty, W. (2003) ‘The Media and Democratization in Africa: Contributions,
Constraints and Concerns of the Private Press’. Media, Culture & Society, 23
(1): 5-31.
USAID (1999) The Role of Media in Democracy: a Strategic Approach.
Washington: Center for Democracy and Governance.
Zaffiro, J. 1993, ‘Mass Media, Politics and Society in Botswana: The 1990s
and Beyond’, Africa Today,40 (1):7-25.

NEWS IN BOTSWANA
Themes in Contemporary Journalism
By Richard Rooney

Published by: SMC Online Publishers

Thank you for reading this book. Contact the author at

NewsInBotswana@gmail.com

228