Swaziland become an important day for activists and citizens. It provides them with a platform to debate media issues guided by the WPFD theme. Swazis enjoyed their right to free speech on this day. They openly criticised media capture by the state and powerful individuals. Editors and journalists interacted with the public and explained the media’s role. Police did not come to harass those who attended the gathering. Gearing up to transform the media environment, the Information and Media Development Unit addressed the absence of a broadcasting and media policy by hosting a three-day Broadcasting and Media Policy Indaba. South African regulatory media and film bodies came to share their experiences with local media players and stakeholders. After the three-day conference, the ICT minister requested the participants to elect members to the Swaziland Broadcasting and Media Policy Technical Committee. Its task was to compile a broadcasting and media policy and MISA Swaziland was included in the newly formed Swaziland Broadcasting and Media Policy Technical Committee. MISA Swaziland’s efforts to promote freedom of expression and media diversity had paid off in the year under review. A new mobile network operator, Swazi Mobile, was launched in July 2017. This was welcomed by cellphone users as it ended the 19-year-monopoly of Swazi MTN. Users enjoyed cheaper call rates as a result of the competition in the telecoms industry. PRINT MEDIA The year saw the revival of two weekly newspapers and new entrants into the print sector. Publishers of the Swazi Mirror and Ingwazi News re-launched their publications. Swaziland Newsweek newspaper and Zion Magazine were launched, and this increased the number of newspapers in the country to nine and magazines to three. Swazi citizens now had multiple media platforms which was a positive move towards diversity and plurality. But inasmuch as there were positive developments, there were also setbacks. Against the media’s role of advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies, the editor of Independent News published an inflammatory commentary, seen to be stirring up hatred against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community. He called for the ‘hanging’ of the LGBTI members on cultural and moral grounds. To address this LGBTI issue, MISA Swaziland sought funding to conduct research on media’s portrayal of the LGBTIs. This in turn was to pave way for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Reference Guide. However, this media research did not materialise because of financial constraints. The managing editor of Swaziland Shopping published serious allegations of corruption among editors themselves. He alleged that a businessman had captured the editors. He also accused the current crop of journalists of revealing their sources in exchange for bribes. He claimed that the same businessman had hired a hitman to silence him for his exposé. So This is Democracy? 2017 101