SECTOR 4 this respect, entry-level salaries start at around 14,000 M (1,000 USD) when in possession of a degree. State media workers do not have medical aid, however a pension is provided. Freelancers are paid the lowest salaries in the industry. Remuneration ranges from 5-10 US cents per word, depending on the media house. Most media houses in Lesotho do not often use freelancers: they get stories from the LENA and then use interns to develop the stories. ‘In general, the media in Lesotho is under-resourced, not professionalised and not institutionalised.’ 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: ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ 1.1 (2015: 1.9, 2012: 1.6, 2010: 2.4, 2008: n/a, 2006: n/a) 4.4 Journalists and other media practitioners are organised in trade unions and/or professional associations, which effectively represent their interests Attempts to set up an effective journalist trade union have failed. The Journalist Association of Lesotho failed to take off because there was no industry-wide buy-in by stakeholders in the media. The government media workers were not allowed to join, given that media employees in the state media are considered public servants. The public service has a union (Lesotho Public Service Staff Association) and the state media employees are members of this union. Journalists from the private media, often submissive to their owners, were not active in the union. Therefore, the union has not had enough members to enable registration of the body with the International Federation of Journalists. In addition, power struggles and fighting over the union's resources rendered it weak. Due to poor salaries and working conditions, journalists do not come to the meetings if no per diems and food are provided. The Editors Forum in Lesotho was established in 2012, but has not been effective due to lack of funding and commitment from members. The shareholders or 46 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2018