3.6 Persons who have vested interests of a political or commercial nature are excluded from possible membership in the board, i.e. office bearers with the state and political parties as well as those with a financial interest in the broadcasting industry. ANALYSIS: There are no such provisions or exclusions. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 3.7. 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 1.0 The editorial independence of the public broadcaster from commercial pressure and political influence is guaranteed by law and practice. ANALYSIS: Editorial independence is guaranteed by law but never practised. Editorial independence is enshrined in Article 11 of the Press Law, but reality is different. It is alleged that the chairman of the board of RM is sometimes pressured to take certain positions, but that he refuses to do so based on the article. However, pressure is exercised at other levels. RM’s bureau chief in Sofala was suspended for broadcasting an interview with the Beira Archbishop, D. Jaime, who is a vocal supporter of Renamo. In another incident, a RM director banned the rap song, “O País da Marrabenta”, which is critical of corruption. Only when the print media started writing about the ban did the management of the radio order its reversal. This shows that some heads of departments will act when they perceive a danger to their own position. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 3.8. 3, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3 1.9 The public broadcaster is adequately funded in a manner that protects it from arbitrary interference with its budget. ANALYSIS: There is no independent allocation of funds to the public/state broadcaster. Government encourages the chairmen of public media boards to seek funding for the running of their institutions. They survive mainly on advertisements. Most of the time RM does not know how much it will have the following year because even though it submits its own budget, this will usually suffer cuts of all kinds. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: So This Is Democracy? 2005 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 1.2 -218- Media Institute of Southern Africa