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: 2.6 (2012 = 3.4; 2010 = 2.7; 2008 = n/a; 2006 = n/a) 2.8 All media fairly represent the voices of society and its minorities in its ethnic, linguistic, religious diversity. There are more than 120 ethnic groups in Tanzania, each with its own language and cultural traditions. From 1961, when the country became independent from British rule, the government actively promoted unity by encouraging just one of the country’s African languages, Kiswahili, to be spoken officially. The official national linguistic policy, announced in 1984, declared Kiswahili and English to be the country’s official languages and these are the only languages the media is allowed to publish and broadcast in, although there is some leeway in this regard for community radio stations. Kiswahili was the language of primary education and that of the social and the political sphere, while English was for secondary school education, universities and higher courts. In 2015, however, the government announced that English in school education would be discontinued. Minorities – in terms of ethnicity, language and religion – are not fairly represented in Tanzania. “We don’t look at it that way. The media respects the dominant culture. Swahili is our national language so most newspapers are published in Swahili.” The predominantly pastoralist Maasai from northern Tanzania are considerably sidelined. There is no local-language media for them, apart from community radio. Orkonerei Radio Service (ORS) is only allowed to broadcast the news in the Maasai language, while the remaining programming is broadcast in Kiswahili. Homosexuality is criminalised under the Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act of 1998, which makes homosexual acts between men punishable by a prison term of at least 30 years and, at the most, life. As such, it is a socially taboo topic and homophobia is common. As a result, homosexual issues are ignored by the media. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Tanzania 2015 37