SECTOR 2 Scores: Individual scores: 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: 1.9 (2005 = n/a; 2007 = n/a; 2009 = 1.3) 2.8 All media fairly reflect the voices of society in its ethnic, linguistic, religious, political and social diversity. The media in Botswana do not fairly reflect all the voices in society. “As long as there are no community radio stations in Botswana, there will be no fair representation of the ethnic diversity within the country.” “Until parliament recognises the importance of the different dialects in Botswana, there will be an imbalance in its representation in the media.” The two languages recognised as being official/national are English and Setswana, and these are the only languages that are broadcast and represented in the print media, with English dominating. There are about 26 other languages spoken in Botswana, including 13 Khoisan languages.2 “As long as there are no community radio stations in Botswana, and government fails to recognise the importance of these, there will be no fair representation of the ethnic diversity within the country.” An example of unbalanced or propagandist reporting is the public workers strike - where government media reflected only government voices, and, in an apparent attempt to balance this situation, the private media amplified the union voices. 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Botswana AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2011 33