SECTOR 2 At an average of P8 (US$1,22) per newspaper, it was felt that newspapers were not affordable to ordinary citizens in a country where a loaf of bread costs about P7. Access to print media in rural areas is a huge challenge as the country is relatively large at 600,370 square kilometres (about the size of France or Kenya) but the population, estimated to be almost 2 million, is small and spread-out. The print and some of the broadcast media is mostly centralised around Gaborone and a few other large economic centres, as the costs of distribution and transmission across the entire country are very high. Another fact that reduces the people of Botswana’s accessibility to the print media is that it is almost entirely published in English, although some newspapers, such as the Daily News and Mmegi, have Setswana pages in each edition. The government radio and television stations, however, broadcast in English and Setswana. English is the official “There has been language of Botswana, although the national language is Setswana and an estimated 78 percent of Batswana growth in the use speak Setswana as a home language. English is spoken of the internet in by two percent of the population as a home language, Kalanga eight per cent, Sekgalagadi three percent, and Botswana but the the remainder made up of other languages. Clearly, Batswana who speak English are at a greater advantage in terms of accessing the media. costs have not come down. Internet is accessible, but it is not affordable.” Broadcasting There are six radio stations broadcasting in Botswana: the government-owned Radio Botswana 1 and 2 (the latter has more of a commercial focus), and the private and commercial stations Duma FM, Gabz FM, Yarona FM and Voice of America. Most of the private radio stations are broadcasting countrywide and some stations, such as Gabz FM and Yarona FM, as well as Radio Botswana, have begun streaming their content over the internet. Podcasting is not very common in Botswana. Botswana television audiences can access two local TV stations, the state-owned Botswana Television (BTV) and the private e-Botswana, formerly Gaborone Broadcasting Company (GBC), which is now a local collaboration with South Africa’s etv containing a small portion of local news, music and other content. Viewers can subscribe to the South African satellite subscription service, DSTV, through Multi-Choice Botswana. The Batswana can also access SABC TV through the Chinese Philibao (pirated). In the past two years, the government has installed new transmitters for BTV, which now reaches about 85 percent of the population, terrestrially, and it is also possible to pick it up on satellite, via the DSTV bouquet, countrywide. The reach of AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2011 25