SECTOR 4 One panellist worked for a newspaper where the owner was a leader of a political party and noted the challenges that this presented in reporting objectively. Despite efforts to maintain professionalism, there were instances of self-censorship among the reporters who assumed that the owner might not like the story. Panellists claimed that at a certain point in time, the Lesotho Times was progovernment and spent a lot of time ‘bashing’ an opposition party. The newspaper pretended to balance their coverage by calling a representative of the political party under the false pretence of objectivity just before the paper went to print, knowing full well that the person might not be available for comment. Religious media do practice self-censorship because of the ideological beliefs of the organisations and not necessarily due to advertising. Catholic media houses do not advertise in news prints. 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: ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓ 2.2 (2015: 2.7, 2012: 1.6, 2010: 2.8, 2008: 1.3, 2006: 1.2) 4.7 Media professionals have access to training facilities offering formal qualification programmes as well as opportunities to upgrade skills There are two institutions that offer media and journalism training in Lesotho: the Institute for Extra-Curriculum at the National University of Lesotho; and the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology. The National University of Lesotho offers part time training at diploma level, which is intended for people working in the media. The diploma is now opened to GCE (Grade 12) students but has not been redesigned to cater for them and the 21st century needs of the media industry. There are future plans at the university to offer a degree in media and communication studies and to introduce short training courses. A private Malaysian university, the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, offers an associate degree and an honours degree in media and journalism. 49 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2018