In all there are six dailies in Mauritius - L’Express, Le Matinal, Le Défi Quotidien and Le Socialiste which are predominantly French with a few pieces in English. The Independent is the only paper published entirely in English. Le Mauricien – another French daily - goes out onto the streets every afternoon. Business Magazine, Scope Capital and Mauritius Times are weekly magazines that hit the streets every Wednesday. News on Sunday, Impact and The Observer appear on Fridays. There are 8 weekend papers namely - Le Défi Plus, Samedi Plus, Le Journal du Samedi, Week-end, 5 Plus Dimanche, Le Dimanche, STAR and l’Express Dimanche. British American Investment - a new player in the country’s media market - has bought three existing titles: Le Dimanche, STAR and Impact News, through its sister company Yukondale Company Limited. Impact News, formerly a tabloid targeting the Muslim community, has been revamped as Impact Magazine, with the corporate sector as its main readership. In July 2009, Yukondale launched an entirely English online daily, and is planning to launch a new French language daily too. Radio is the most popular media product in Mauritius, followed closely by specific television programmes. Expansion in the media sector has provided journalists the opportunity to improve their bargaining power and their positions within organisations. Salaries have risen and working conditions at some of the media are getting even better. Financial remuneration in the media industry is largely dependent on profile, branding and the negotiation skills of journalists. Mauritius went through a decade during which it operated on a patronage system. All sectors thrived on this mode of operation, where people were promoted or got jobs based on who they were linked to. Although this started changing about two years ago, it is common for Mauritians to ingratiate themselves with people in authority in the hope that they will benefit in some way. Loyalty to the ruling party and those in power is still rewarded with a good job or government contracts. Freedom of expression has always been guaranteed under Section 12 of the Constitution of Mauritius. Within the same section, limitations are possible in the “interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health.” All of these are rather broad terms that are open for interpretation. Mauritians tend to be rather subdued for a variety of reasons. Public sector workers were instructed through a memo generated in the Prime Minister’s office to refrain from speaking to the media or the public without official authorisation. 6 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MAURITIUS 2010