SECTOR 2 Most other newspapers are reducing their print run as printing and distribution costs increase. The Voice, for example, was printing 38,000 copies a week last year. During 2009, its print run was cut to 30,000. Only one private newspaper, the Botswana Gazette, is known to have increased its print run in the last two years to diversify the newspaper’s revenue source and be less reliant on advertising revenue. This was in the light of the uncertainties related to the passing of the “While many Media Practitioners Bill, while staff at the newspaper had heard that government departments had been instructed to outsiders see advertise in the state-owned media rather than in the private Botswana as a rich, press in accordance with ‘cost recovery’ policies. The print run of the Botswana Gazette was 16,205 between October middle-income and December 2007. This increased to 19,855 between April country, it must and June 2008 and rose further to 20,436 between October be noted that the and December 2008. country’s economic power is held by the government.” Five years ago, the Daily News began to sell advertising space at cheaper rates than those offered in the private press. As a result, private publishers lost out on advertising income, much of which went instead to the government-funded newspaper, which has the widest circulation and distribution of any newspaper in the country. In addition, while government does place advertisements in the private media, the majority of their ‘adspend’ goes to the Daily News. These factors have impacted on private newspapers’ ability to increase their circulation. A panellist queried what donor organisations, such as Southern African Media Development Fund (SAMDEF), were doing to support private media in Botswana. After Botswana was declared a middle-income country in 1994 by the international community, there was an exodus of foreign organisations providing donor funding. “While many outsiders see Botswana as a rich, middle-income country, it must be noted that the country’s economic power is held by the government.” There are no government incentives to support the private media. A private newspaper’s attempt to be part of the government newspaper’s distribution network was rejected by the Daily News. The Botswana media environment is hampered by the lack of current marketing information, related to readership, viewership, demographics and so on. As a result, the impact of ‘adspend’, for example, is not known, and using such research to gain new advertisers and expand circulation has not been possible. 30 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2009