3.4 The state/public broadcaster is accountable to the public through a board representative of society at large and selected in an independent, open and transparent manner. The board of the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation is made up of seven members, including a chairman. The board and chairman of the MBC are appointed solely by the Prime Minister, without any additional external consultation. Two of the board members are ministry officials and the remaining 5 board members should have experience in certain sectors such as education, culture, economics, labour, science or broadcasting. Practically it could be anyone. At the time of this report, the MBC’s chairperson was from the tourism sector. The Director General (DG) of the MBC is also appointed solely by the Prime Minister and so reports directly to him and not to the Board. The current DG served as the Director of Communications before being appointed to his current position. The process of selection creates friction between the DG and the chairman of the MBC board, as both appointees consider themselves equally privileged in terms of position, and directly accountable to the Prime Minister. This belief results in a constant tug of war as they vie for power. Panellists felt the PM strategically appointed people who would always have a conflict with each other, so that he would ultimately have complete control. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.3 (2008 = 1.9) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MAURITIUS 2010 41