So This Is Democracy? The annual publication So This Is Democracy?, which records incidences of media freedom violations within SADC, was produced for the eighth time in 2002. The publication provides insights into and analysis of media freedom trends within the region. So This Is Democracy? is an important historical document detailing events affecting media workers in most of Southern Africa and remains valuable not only for media activists but also for scholars and others interested in plotting the trends and identifying the various devices used to undermine media freedom and limit the free flow of information. For the first time, in 2002, the publication included translations into Portuguese of the country overviews. This was an attempt to make this publication more accessible to the Lusophone countries in which MISA operates. MISA Chapters in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia kept up their production of the newsletters and magazines that keep their membership informed of MISA activities and on matters of freedom of expression and the media. RESEARCH With support from the Netherlands institute for Southern Africa, MISA facilitated a research study to analyse MISA Action Alerts over the period 2000 to 2002 (three years). The objective of the research study was to identify trends of media harassment and to propose effective follow-up actions in relation to various types of violations, and to identify journalists/media that are frequently 'under fire'. The research report was an important activity which informed the SADC Journalists Under Fire campaign. A draft report of the initial findings was subsequently discussed at a conference held in Cape Town, South Africa, on May 15 and 16, 2003. Discussions centred around trends of media harassment and strategies to counteract such harassment. 39