SECTOR 4 The media practise high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The media follow voluntary codes of professional standards, which are enforced by self–regulatory bodies that deal with complaints from the public. A self-regulatory body, the Press Council established in 2004, handles complaints from the public about the media. There is a counter, statutory body called the Media Council, established by the Media Practitioners Act (MPA), although this is not yet operational as the law has yet to be implemented. The Press Council was originally intended for all the country’s media – state, private, print and broadcasting. However, it became clear over time, and with the passing of the MPA in 2008, that state media could not be regulated in such a way, as it is in effect operating as a government body and thus answerable only to the state. Thus, only the private media now are members of the Press Council, which deals with ethical and professional issues. The Press Council’s members have a “good” code of ethics, which has been implemented by private media houses. The existence of the Press Council has led to a reduction in litigation against the media. However some aggrieved parties still prefer to take a matter to court to get financial compensation. The statutory Media Council, once operational, will be able to order apologies and corrections; reprimand, fine, suspend and even deregister media practitioners; while the self-regulatory Press Council will demand that any media in the wrong must publish the complaints committee’s report and an apology. Press Council decisions are not enforceable. In the past two years, it has become part of the licence conditions for all radio stations to broadcast a regular message to the effect that if anyone has any complaints about what is broadcast, they should write first to the programme managers, and if they do not have any recourse in this regard, they should write to the National Broadcasting Board (NBB). No mention is made of the Press Council. “The NBB should be looking only at regulatory and technical issues, not issues of professionalism or ethics.” 52 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2011