There is no freedom of information legislation in Swaziland. Where information is requested from public institutions including government departments there are stringent screening conditions and bureaucratic barriers to be overcome. Due to the lack of clear procedures for obtaining information of public interest and the reluctance of public officials to release information, the media has resorted to the use of ‘whistle blowers’ and other covert means to obtain information. The Official Secrets Act, 1963 prohibits access to government secrets. Access to such information is not seen as a right but as a privilege. Unorthodox means of information gathering put journalists in danger of violating the law – an impediment to investigative journalism. Under the Statistics Act certain figures may not be published if publication of such is against public safety, public morality and public health. The Public Health Act also prohibits the publication of certain information on health or health statistics. The budgets of the army and the King’s office are not known to the public. SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 1, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Average score: 1.3 1.7 Civil society in general and media lobby groups actively advance the cause of media freedom. ANALYSIS: Civil society has so far played only a minimal role in the advancement of freedom of expression. This has mainly two reasons: Civil society groups have either experienced “burning their fingers” in their relations with the media and/or they do not clearly understand or appreciate the role of the media. As a result the tendency has been to shy away from media issues. As civil society sees it, the media is too preoccupied with its own agenda, to the exclusion of civil society and the public in general. Media lobby groups do not reach out to civil society and, therefore, there is a need to develop a civil society-media partnership to advance and strengthen the cause of media freedom. The panel workshop for the media barometer was the first formal meeting between civil society and media. There are numerous media organisations representing the media and advancing the cause of media freedom in Swaziland. These are MISA-Swaziland, SNAJ (Swaziland National Association of Journalists), Editors Forum, SMEWA (Swaziland Media Women’s Association), SMEPAWU (Swaziland Media Publishers and Allied Workers Union) and SMEGWA (Swaziland Media and Gender Watch). SCORES: Individual scores: 3, 2, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2 Average score: 2.1 Overall score for sector 1: So This Is Democracy? 2005 1.9 -247- Media Institute of Southern Africa