other things, can censor the flow of public information; the Ethics Commission Act for political leaders; and the Zanzibar media laws. Due to the repressive nature of these laws journalists have been mistreated, humiliated, beaten and jailed without the proper dispensation of justice. The cases in point are the beating of two journalists by prison warders on September 10 2005 and the banning of Zanzibari journalist Jabir Idrisa on June 9 2005. The Newspapers Act, which stipulates on defamation and libel without setting clear parameters to the court to institute fines and amounts of compensation, is also affecting media freedom because the highest level of compensation has now jumped up to 10 billion Shillings (about US$10 million). State of the media in Zanzibar While the Tanzanian media in general operates within a repressive legal regime, Zanzibar, which is part of the United Republic of Tanzania, is the worst affected. The Zanzibari government, which has the power to legislate laws independent of the union, has yet to respond to calls by media stakeholders to institute new legal and regulatory frameworks for the media. In Zanzibar, all media laws, including the law on the powers of presidential decrees, are yet to be repealed or amended. Unlike on the mainland, the arbitrary arrest of journalists in Zanzibar is a common occurrence. The government media in Zanzibar is tightly controlled by the state through presidential decrees and draconian laws, which give the minister responsible for information the power to deregister a newspaper without question. Unlike on the mainland, where there is a very competitive media market, state media dominates in Zanzibar. On the archipelago, there is just one private FM radio station, Zenj FM, which is owned by the Minister for Information, Sports and Culture of the union government, Mohamed Seif Khatibu. The state-owned media include Television Zanzibar, Sauti ya Tanzania Zanzibar and the Zanzibar Leo newspaper. Since Dira was banned in 2004, the private print media has been nonexistent. Conclusion Despite the boom in media outlets, press freedom is still in danger because of the failure to translate the information and broadcasting policy into a single media law. Action is needed to put in place the necessary regulatory mechanisms for the Tanzanian media. The incomplete process of media law reform must be concluded within a specific timeframe. In Zanzibar, the media law reform process must begin with stakeholders discussing the framework for a new media policy So This Is Democracy? 2005 -120- Media Institute of Southern Africa