SECTOR 4 won’t report on certain things,’ for fear of losing favour, advertising revenue, of personal repercussion or of being taken to task for defamation. ‘Journalists don’t want to keep testing the parameters and would rather be safe. Publishers are always cautious about not having anything that’s defamatory and heavy editing is the norm. Media freedom in Swaziland never comes on a silver platter.’ ‘Legal fees are very high in Swaziland and publishers are playing it safe. You have some lawyers touted as “ambulance chasers”, who see a report and go to the person covered in the story and say, “There’s a case here”. So, editors and publishers are very careful.’ Panellists agreed that the degree of self-censorship taking place raises critical questions about media freedom. 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: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓ 2.0 (2005: 1.4; 2007: 1.5; 2009: 2.2; 2011: 1.7; 2014: 1.3) 4.7 Media professionals have access to training facilities offering formal qualification programmes as well as opportunities to upgrade skills The University of eSwatini (UNISWA) offers a four-year Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communication programme. In previous years, UNISWA admitted about 15 students per annum. In 2017, this rose to about 40 students but dropped down to 18 students in 2018. Panellists noted that in general, the training provided by UNISWA addresses the needs of media houses. Limkokwing University’s Faculty of Communication, Media & Broadcasting offers an Associate Degree in Media and Journalism, as well as an Associate Degree in TV and Film Production. Their programmes have received criticism for not providing an education that meets the basic standards required of entry-level media practitioners. 55 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ESWATINI 2018