SECTOR 4 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: 3.3 (2005 = 2.9; 2007 = 2.1; 2009 = 2.8) 4.3 The media cover the full spectrum of events, issues and cultures, including business/economics, cultural, local and investigative stories. There is a lack of specialisation in the Botswana media, for example on such subjects as local governance or investigative journalism. This may be attributed to media house owners’ lack of adequate resources to allow individual reporters to spend quality time on specific issues or ‘beats’. “There is no in-depth reporting.” “A lot of the reports in Botswana are event-driven, especially government-related events. There is no in-depth reporting.” “Journalists are quick to break the news and get the scoop, without doing much research. They also very rarely follow up on stories.” Developmental stories are covered well by the government media, but not the private media, often because these journalists lack information about government activities and do not know what the state’s intentions are. This relates, again, to a lack of access to information legislation. There is a high turn-over of media staff with many experienced journalists leaving for greener pastures in public relations, and therefore a lack of institutional memory. Experience has shown that if there is sufficient support, journalists’ work often improves “If individual reporters are targeted and mentored in their work, the quality of their reporting improves.” 54 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2011