SECTOR 4 The media practise high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. Most reporting in Tanzania is not considered to be of a high professional standard for a number of reasons, all of which impact on its accuracy and fairness. One of the factors responsible for biased reporting is the “brown envelope” syndrome. With up to 80% of the country’s journalists working as freelancers who earn very little for the media work they do, many will only write reports about organisations or events if they are paid to do so by their sources: thus, the “brown envelope”. Even those journalists who are employed full-time at media houses are susceptible to this syndrome because their working conditions and remuneration are poor. “If you want to get your news reported and get attendance at press conferences, you must pay the journalists. This will usually guarantee coverage.” Often non-issue stories take precedence for publication over the coverage of more important issues because the journalists have received these kinds of bribes. “Fair reporting also depends on the subject matter and if it is in a particular media house’s interests to report on it in an unbiased way, or even to report on it at all.” The generally low level of journalistic skills also impinges on the professionalisation of the media. If journalists attending press conferences are not provided with notes or press releases, often reports about the event will not appear or will be inaccurate. Many reporters go for the brown envelopes and ‘cheap’ coverage, without taking the time to conduct proper research and write balanced reports. The result is reporting with very little depth or analysis. There is also a strong tendency for newspapers to cover only sensational news or to make ordinary events sensational in order to boost sales. Television and radio stations are reportedly better at reporting the news accurately than newspapers, which “use any means to sell their papers”. The newspapers that arise shortly before elections are often guilty of reporting inaccurately and unfairly. Politicians are allowed to establish media houses and in the event that they do, their reporting is unlikely to be unbiased. The political atmosphere also affects the media’s impartiality as some journalists are used as public relations agents for particular political parties. “It is hard to be 56 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Tanzania 2015