SECTOR 4 4.2 The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. “There are a few outstanding journalists in Lesotho, but the rest are not. They are unable to write fairly or accurately.” The majority of journalists do not investigate a story and they rarely bother to get both sides of the story. They do not care about mistakes and will write stories without checking the facts. As a result the mistakes made in stories range from getting names and positions wrong to producing stories that are totally incorrect. There are many cases where stories have been published and it is revealed that the subject of the article was never even interviewed. It is easy to see how mistakes are made just by looking at the apologies that are carried in publications on a daily basis. “Some of the mistakes are so stupid, you don’t even know how it happened.” Journalists are looking for something that will sell the paper. “We are under pressure to ensure scoops and in the midst of that, there are so many mistakes.” Most of the reporting in the country is event driven and articles are based on the attendance of launches and cocktail parties. There are journalists who will not attend press conferences or ministerial briefings because there are no freebies on offer. Panellists highlighted many of the challenges faced by newsrooms: - There is a serious lack of resources – human, technical and financial; - Most newsrooms are understaffed and yet the pressure is intense; - There is very little training being offered to journalists especially on the job and on specialised topics; - For over a decade most media houses do not have proper newsroom structures – the editor has to stand in as sub-editor and even news editor; - There is a lack of communication between editors and journalists which impacts on skills transfer; - Owners of media houses prefer to hire people who have not been trained because it will cost them less; - Sub-editors are graduates fresh out of University with little or no experience and have never been in the field. Their lack of exposure and experience shows in the stories that are passed and published. “We are operating in a crippled way.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2012 53