African government over the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. However, the state denies ever signing such a contract. The state also signs international protocols regarding freedom of expression, at both regional and international levels, but never feels compelled to publicise this information to the general public. MISA is the only fully functional media advocacy organisation in Lesotho that attempts to lobby for the rights of journalists. There are no organised trade unions or professional associations that represent the interests of the media. MISA has had a hard time because media houses are often unwilling to join as they do not see the benefit of this. Editors are suspicious of such initiatives. The general media landscape of Lesotho is marked with unevenness in terms of accessibility and circulation. The country for instance, does not have a national daily newspaper. There are numerous weekly publications that are published on different days. Also, newspapers circulate in limited ways due to distribution problems and because most people consider them extremely expensive. By comparison, radio is the most popular media in the country and has an expanding market. Since the last Africa Media Barometer in 2010, 5 new radio stations have been established in addition to the existing private radio stations. Radio has a wider reach than all other media, and is connected to the national grid, going beyond the urban space to accommodate its broader rural audience. Similarly, Lesotho Television has a national reach. However, its accessibility and coverage are affected by infrastructure and resource availability. Lesotho does not have a signal distribution company so it relies on South African company Sentech to provide technical expertise on signal coverage. Other factors such as weather affect the coverage as well. Access to the Internet is becoming easy as anyone with access to a computer or a cell phone can get connected. That said, such access is limited to urban areas which also boasts the majority number of cyber cafes. Controlling the new media space has proved a lot harder for the state which has not succeeded in censoring information circulation. On a more positive note, the government promotes a diverse media landscape by assisting small private radio stations to set up their own transmission infrastructure through linking them to the national broadcasting grid. However, this is not always seen as a necessarily good thing as the government retains control of the kind of information aired through the ability to switch off specific station connections to the national grid. The government also does not restrict citizens from accessing international media from anywhere in the world. Reform efforts in the broadcasting sector remain slow, despite the promulgation of the Communications Act of 2012 which, although allowing a four tier 8 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2012