SECTOR 4 4.8 Salary levels and general working conditions for journalists and other media practitioners are adequate. “Journalists in Botswana are in urgent need of an operational union, which would help address the salary issues.” In 2010, the state Labour Department began visiting newsrooms to review salary scales. “It was quite sad… we realised we were being abused and our salaries were some of the worst in the country, but it is very good that Labour Department is looking into this.” Private media salaries tend to be much lower than those offered to state media employees. Freelancers or ‘stringers’ in particularly are poorly paid in Botswana, and do not have the benefits of state and private media employees. Some small media houses have a ratio of 60 percent freelancers to 40 percent full-time staff. Bigger media houses have 70 percent staff to 30 percent freelancers. Staff are generally not paid for overtime. As an example, an editor working in the private media may earn the same as a junior journalist in South Africa: P15,000. A freelancer can earn about P1,500 for a main news story. “Journalists in Botswana are in urgent need of an operational union, which would help address the salary issues.” “Considering how poorly paid they are, journalists’ integrity is quite incredible.” As a result of the low salaries, and the long working hours, many journalists leave the profession for more lucrative positions, often in the commercial, public relations world. 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: 60 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER BOTSWANA 2011 2.0 (2005 = n/a; 2007 = n/a; 2009 = 2,7)