SECTOR 4 The media practise high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. In general, the standard of reporting in Lesotho leaves much to be desired, though some media houses do try to oppose the current downward trend. “The principles of respecting human beings is lacking in some of the media institutions. The expression of words are not respectful, you hear vulgar language on some of the stations, and some reporting is more sensational or exploitative, and you see that principles are not respected at all.” The lack of media ethics and professionalism can be seen, for example, in reports on children. “Some media houses just don’t respect the Child and Welfare Act, and do not look out for the interests of the child when reporting.” Some of the issues to which panellists attributed the low standards of reporting included: • the lack of intensive training programmes in journalism, which therefore impact on the quality of reporting; • the absence of a universal code of conduct policies: • the absence of regulatory mechanisms to ensure compliance to certain professional codes/standards; • the absence of basic entry requirements into the journalistic profession. “Anyone without a job can one day wake up and become a journalist. Some radio stations take people that haven’t even completed their education. Media houses are careless about this issue.” • the absence of a media policy – media houses rely on universal policies, but no one can hold media to account; • the lack of knowledge by media houses themselves, about their own stand, their objectives, target market, circulation, etc; and the absence of ratings and data about the industry, that advertisers can use in selecting in which media to place advertisements. In print media, journalists are not always accurate, and “what I’ve said to them is not what is printed.” “Journalists are also often selective about what they choose to publish, and try to sensationalise issues by “taking the juicy pieces without providing the context” for why certain comments were made. The fact that so many corrections have to be published in each newspaper is testimony to the lack of accuracy in writing news stories. Further, when corrections are made, they do not receive the same prominence as the story in which the mistake was made.” 52 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Lesotho 2015