SECTOR 2 With regards to the representation of religious diversity, there have been rare occasions on radio and TV where guests from religions other than Christianity were featured. However, little effort has been made to cover religious diversity. This follows an early 2017 declaration by Cabinet that eSwatini is a Christian country and that Christian teachings should be introduced into the country’s public schools. ‘Perhaps this has kept media from covering issues of religious diversity.’ Generally, LGBTIQ issues are not broadly covered by the media and when they are, it is often with a negative spin. That said, panellists noted that the first ever Pride Parade event in eSwatini (which took place in June 2018) was widely covered by the media. Aside from the VOC and SBIS siSwati channels, there are no local language media in eSwatini and minority ethnic groups do not hear or read their vernacular in the country’s media. It was noted that Swazi TV does cater for sign language interpretation with its news broadcasts. 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: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓ 2.3 (2005: n/a; 2007: n/a; 2009: 2.0; 2011: 2.9; 2014: 2.3) 2.9 Media cover the full spectrum of economic, cultural, political, social, national and local perspectives and conduct investigative stories Coverage of the full spectrum of perspectives and investigative stories leaves much to be desired. ‘There have been some efforts to cover the full spectrum, but there are some things that the media can’t touch. The former PM exerted strong controls on the media and they can’t touch sensitive political topics and the royal family.’ ‘You won’t get [opposition] political parties on the radio stating their views. We have seen some coverage, but it comes with repercussions and cost.’ This is the norm in both private and public media houses. Panellists questioned the independence of the Times. ‘The state has a heavy footprint. It’s tricky when 31 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ESWATINI 2018