SECTOR 3 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: 3.5 (2007 = 4.7 ; 2009 = 3.6) 3.2 Broadcasting is regulated by an independent body adequately protected by law against interference whose board is appointed - in an open way - involving civil society and not dominated by any particular political party. HAAC, which is the regulatory body for broadcasting in Benin is protected by law against interference. Apart from its constitutional status, article 4 of the law establishing HAAC reads “he Broadcasting and Communications Authority is to be independent of any political power, political party, association or pressure group of any sort or form”. he procedure for the nomination of its nine members conforms to the criteria of transparency and representation since it is to be made up of three nominated by parliament (of which one is a journalist, one communicator and one resource person), three by the Head of State who should meet the same criteria as those of parliament, and three by the professionals group who have to be chosen from among broadcasting, print media professionals and technical personnel. Article 18 of the law establishing HAAC determines the terms of oice of the members of the Broadcasting and Communications Authority as lasting ive years and each person’s mandate cannot be revoked or renewed. According to the panelists, the nomination of members does not necessarily mean that there is no independence because the HAAC, as it is now, does not have any party dominating and this has also accounted for its credibility. Out of the nine members, six are journalists as emphasized by one of the panelists. From a gender perspective however, one can clearly notice the absence of a woman on the executive board of the regulatory body. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BENIN 2011 103