The president of Botswana’s new government will be watched closely by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) after he aired his views about the media during his inaugural speech. One of the cruellest acts against the region’s media in recent months was committed in Tanzania where two journalists were beaten with machetes and had acid poured on their faces, leaving both with serious burns and one with partial loss of sight. The Tanzanian president strongly condemned the attacks and visited the journalists in hospital. There are still several outstanding media bills in Tanzania, such as the Freedom of Information Bill, and no clarity on when these bills will be finalised. The intentions of the Malawi government are difficult to place. Three years ago, the Freedom of Information Bill was a government priority, yet the bill has yet to see the light of day. Mozambique is much like Malawi: strong on rhetoric, but weak on action. Milestones and interventions Critical milestones during the year under review included policy developments in Zambia. Firstly, the Zambian draft constitution under review makes provision for the right to access publicly held information as a constitutional right. Secondly, in February 2008 President Levy Mwanawasa announced that the Freedom of Information Bill of 2002 would be tabled in the forthcoming Parliament session.These two parallel and independent processes have given MISA a double platform on which to campaign for the right to information legislation in Zambia. Should the government fail to enact the Freedom of Information Bill, as was the case five years ago, it will soon be constitutionally obliged to do so when the new constitution comes into effect. The developments in Zambia can be attributed to a series of advocacy and public engagement strategies by MISA Zambia. The most effective strategy has been the use of live broadcast media and public debates on Q-FM Radio in Lusaka. A total of seven debates were held between July and August 2007 alone. A number of speakers, including the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, were invited to discuss the right to information in very specific and broad terms, including as a social economic right, a constitutional and fundamental right, and as a tool for fighting corruption. Due to overwhelming public interest and impact of the above programme, it was expanded by MISA Zambia to reach a nationwide audience through the public broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). In Zimbabwe, despite the extremely harsh working conditions, MISA continued to engage the public and civil society using unconventional and indigenous forms of public communication, such as community theatre. MISA Zimbabwe also assisted in the formalisation of the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ), formed in June 2008. The VMCZ had been part of the collective effort by civil society organisations to seek alternative policy frameworks for addressing the state of the media in Zimbabwe as well as to rival the new statutory Media Council of Zimbabwe. MISA Zimbabwe continued to lobby at the continental level by making submissions at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) sessions in the Gambia and Swaziland. Furthermore, MISA Zimbabwe launched a campaign around the importance of the media during elections and the chapter was part of civil society efforts to produce a Zimbabwe Peoples’ Charter that mentions the need for media freedom and the right to information. Annual Report 2008 13