MAURITIUS 4.7 Owners of private media do not interfere with editorial independence. ANALYSIS: The shareholders, represented on the Board of Directors of a newspaper or newspaper group, determine the broad guidelines for the political and social stance of their publication(s). If business or political interests of a shareholder or the newspaper are involved or likely to suffer, the owner will interfere with editorial decisions by asking to see a story beforehand, by stopping its publication or by warning the editor “not to do it again”. SCORES: Individual scores: 3,2,2,4,2,2,3,1,2,3 Average score: 2.4 4.8 Salary levels and general working conditions for journalists and other media practitioners are adequate to discourage corruption. ANALYSIS: According to the National Remuneration Board the salary of a journalist should start at Rs 7000 (200 US dollars). The majority of journalists receive a little more than that, but this is still not a living wage: The Central Statistics Office in Mauritius states that the minimum amount for a Mauritian couple to live on is Rs 15,135 per month (432 US dollars). - Senior journalists earn between Rs 10.000 and Rs 50.000, depending on their “market value”. No cases of serious bribery or corruption involving journalists are known. It would be almost impossible in a small country like Mauritius to try to engage in corrupting journalists without running the 32 African Media Barometer - Mauritius 2008