SECTOR 4 4.6 Owners of established mainstream private media do not interfere with editorial independence. Owners of media houses do not legally have to be journalists themselves. However, the majority of media house owners are editors at the same time. The few owners who do not practise the profession have been shown to have interests that are not motivated by journalistic ideals. Very few media houses have an affirmed editorial independence. Most bodies’ editorial slant changes in favour of various interests. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.0 (2008 = 2.3 ; 2006 = 3.1) 4.7 Journalists and media have integrity and are not corrupt. Doubts have been raised about the moral integrity of some journalists and media houses in Mali. Bad practices do exist, such as gift distribution or ‘brown envelopes’ given to journalists by organisers of public events to secure a favourable report and placement of the resulting article. This practice appears to becoming increasingly common. “Corrupt individuals exist because there are corrupting people.” Another worrisome practice is the publication of articles commissioned through bribes, or disguised as infomercials. 122 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER MALI 2010