SECTOR 2 2.1 A wide range of sources of information (print, broadcasting, internet, mobile phones) is accessible and affordable to citizens Print There are two daily newspapers in eSwatini – the privately-owned Times of Swaziland and the Swazi Observer – owned by the royal family through the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane Trust. The Times is the larger of the two newspapers and is broadly distributed – reaching the rural areas. No audited circulation figures are available, however, the newspaper’s website claims to have a circulation of over 300,000 (it does not state whether these are daily, weekly or monthly figures). A panellist noted that the Times has a fleet of 28-30 vehicles for distribution. The Swazi Observer, on the other hand, circulates about 8,000 copies daily and has six to seven vehicles for distribution. Both papers cost 5,50 E (40 US cents). In comparison, a loaf of bread costs about 9,50 E (70 US cents) in the city and can go as high as 12,00 E (90 US cents) in the rural areas. Weekly newspapers include the Swazi Mirror, which sells for 4,50 E (35 US cents) and the Swati Newsweek at 4,00 E (30 US cents) which also has a strong online presence. Swaziland Shopping, which started in 2016, was closed by state authorities at the end of 2017 after it published a contraversial article about a new telecommunications company Swazi Mobile, owned by King Mswati III and run by local businessman Victor Gamedze, and how the two had forced Swaziland’s government to sideline rival government parastatal company SPTC from competing with Swazi Mobile. The paper’s editor fled to South Africa after death threats were allegedly made against him. Other weekly papers include The Independent News and On Time Business. The Nation – which ‘specializes in socio-political commentary and analysis’ and occasionally covers breaking news – is the most popular magazine and has a broad distribution network. Other magazines include Eswatini Property Magazine, which is found only along the Mbabane-Manzini corridor and the religious Zion Magazine. All the above publications are printed in English. There are no newspapers that publish content in the local vernacular. Further, these publications are centred in the Mbabane-Manzini corridor and cannot be easily found in remote areas. Print publications from South Africa and Zimbabwe are often available in eSwatini. Broadcasting Radio is the most commonly accessed news medium, with the two channels of the state-owned Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) – SBIS 1 in siSwati and SBIS 2 in English – reaching about 98% of the country’s population. 23 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ESWATINI 2018