SECTOR 1 1.12 Media legislation evolves from meaningful consultations among state institutions, citizens and interest groups. Government may involve stakeholders in initial discussions on media legislation, such as the Media Practitioners Act (MPA) but it is a façade. Once the legislation has been drafted, the stakeholder input is generally not visible. As was the case with the MPA, government did not make the draft legislation available for comments, and it was only seen publicly once it had been published in the Government Gazette. The private media used to have a seat on the High-Level Consultative Council (HLCC), which is comprised of government and private sector representatives and chaired by the President. This seat was taken away two years ago, when control over the media was moved from the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology to the Office of the President. Only the state media have remained on the HLCC. “There used to be lots of talking, but this is all reversed now. The consultation process with the media has been taken away.” With the Private Member’s Access to Information Bill, there was quite a degree of media consultation, but now stakeholders “have no idea how it will emerge”, if it does emerge at all. Scores: Individual scores: * 22 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: 2.1 (2005 = n/a; 2007 = n/a; 2009 = 1.0) Average score for sector 1: 2.0 (2009 = n/a; 2007 = n/a; 2009 = 1.2)* The indicators were reviewed, changed and shifted in 2009. Therefore the sector scores from 2005 & 2007 are not comparable anymore. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2011