sponsored by IBIS (Danish NGO); and (iii) those financed by the government through the Instituto da Comunicação Social (ICS). In the case of ICS stations, district administrators chair the radio management committee, which means they have the power to interfere and that ICS community radios are increasingly becoming a third tier of state media. There appears to be a coordinated strategy to transform them into a government media political tool. The IBIS-backed stations, broadcasting mostly in some of the country’s northern districts, suffered pressure to take some of their programmes off air during the election campaign in 2004 because of content that was deemed to be “unsuitable” for the moment. UNESCO supports the bulk of community radio stations under its media project. At the height of the election campaign, some stations tried to be more independent and report on what happened in their communities, but they were threatened with cuts to funding. The UNESCO media project is nearing its end, and there is general pessimism that most of the community radio stations covered by the project will founder, as they are not sustainable. Finally, support for community radios depends mostly on the authorities. The Catholic Radio used to receive support but as soon as they started addressing certain issues considered “delicate” they suffered the consequences: they had initially received approval to import equipment with tax exemption, but this was later reversed. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 2.6 1, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2 1.7 The editorial independence of print media published by a public authority is protected adequately against undue political interference. ANALYSIS: There is no protection of editorial independence. The state-owned newspaper Notícias hardly gives space to voices speaking out against the establishment. Notícias has adopted the opportunist habit of writing editorials on the opposition whenever it blunders. Although it claims otherwise, Notícias is a state-owned paper, and this could explain its behaviour. Its shareholder structure is as follows: the Central Bank holds 42% of Notícias shares; 42% is held by the Ministry of Information, which no longer exists (in its place the government created Gabinfo), and the remaining shares are held by the State insurance company, EMOSE. The paper’s director is appointed by the Central Bank, and the chairperson of the board is the current Central Bank deputy-governor. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 2.7 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 3 1.3 Local or regional independent news agencies gather and distribute information for all media. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -213- Media Institute of Southern Africa