This has been made worse by the fact that one of the communities wishing to set up a community radio station is the Basarwa from around the Gantsi area in the North of the country. There seems to be a fear in government circles that an international NGO - Survival International – which has been campaigning against the removal of San people from their original home in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, could use community radios to promote its cause. Some MPs felt that community stations would bring about tribal tensions and even quoted the example of the genocide in Rwanda to make their point. Efforts to de-mystify community radio and make parliamentarians and government aware of the potential of this sector as a development tool have so far been in vain. To the contrary: there appears to be a hardening of attitudes on the part of the political establishment and an increased unwillingness to allow for the opening up of the airwaves to communities. In light of developments in the ICT sector and the ongoing convergence in communication technologies this seems to be a short-sighted stance to take. With Internet access becoming more widely available and affordable, more and more people will be able to listen to radio stations on the Net anyway, including in Botswana where at present this is still a privilege of the elite. The fact that there was no outright rejection but merely a postponement of the new broadcasting policy in Parliament can perhaps be taken as a small sign of hope. It is not clear, though, how civil society groups and others interested in the establishment of community broadcasting intend to take the matter forward and prepare the ground for a more favourable decision in the future. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 2.6 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 1.0 (2005 = 1.0) The editorial independence of print media published by a public authority is protected adequately against undue political interference. ANALYSIS: The government media is under the direct control of the minister responsible for the media – the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology. Government journalists are seen more as government officials and not as journalists per se. There is little independence and a lot of interference. The one positive development is the fact that the Department of Broadcasting has recently published more progressive editorial guidelines which proclaim “editorial independence” for its publications. Bold steps are still needed to bring about a more satisfactory situation. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: So This Is Democracy? 2007 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2 1.6 (2005 = 1.2) -157- Media Institute of Southern Africa