SECTOR 4 Panellists stated that the quality of this degree is poor. The Council of Higher Education is said to be considering the closure of the programme. Only a few media houses offer in-house training. In the state media, journalists are encouraged to attend training offered by external actors, but the problem has been that some of the journalists who go for training end up leaving for ‘greener pastures’ in marketing and public relations companies. Due to this, the government now binds journalists who attend training or further their degrees by having them work off the cost of tuition for a certain number of years. Due to the limited training opportunities in the country, it is felt that many journalists lack the required skills. ‘Gone are the days when training institutions such as the SNJ (National Union of Journalists) based in Mozambique acted as a good platform for Lesotho journalists.’ 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 (2015: 2.4, 2012: 1.9, 2010: 2.8, 2008: 1.8, 2006: 3.4) 4.8 Equal opportunities regardless of race or ethnicity, social group, gender/sex, religion, disabilities and age are promoted in media houses Since Lesotho is largely homogenous, ethnicity and race are seldom an issue in the country. Interestingly, about 60% of editors in Lesotho originate from outside of the country – a trend fostered by some newspapers having foreign ownership. Employment laws in the country are lax, although the government is now enacting measures to ensure that the Basotho are given precedence for job postings over foreigners. Class is also not thought to be an issue in Lesotho and does not frequently manifest in employment patterns in media houses. When it comes to gender, however, there are challenges. While there are many women in newsrooms, most of them are in junior positions. The majority of 50 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2018