Much remains to be done with respect to the legal framework. Lesotho has several laws on the statute books which unreasonably limit the functions of the media. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho has highlighted 14 such laws. That said, in 2016 the Constitutional Court ruled that the criminal defamation law in the Penal Code was unconstitutional, and thereby repealed this law. Although additional media law reform remains critical in light of MISA’s findings, the repeal of this law is promising as it presents important strides towards media freedoms. Lesotho’s media landscape is not very diverse, both in terms of content and organisation. The government does little to promote a more diverse and sustainable media, with small media houses finding it difficult to compete against more established houses who take the largest chunk of available advertising revenue. While there is room for increased diversification in the landscape (for example, Lesotho does not have a daily newspaper), it is questionable as to whether the advertising market is large enough to sustain such diversity. Moreover, the government is known to use its power over the placement of advertisements in order to stifle those who are critical of it, making the sustainability of diverse and critical voices even more difficult. In addition to the partiality in the use of its advertising budget, the government also maintains strict control over its broadcasting services. These are housed under the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology and are answerable to the minister – as there is no board governing the Lesotho National Broadcasting Service (LNBS). It operates ‘as an arm of the government’. The autonomy and independence of the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) is questionable, although the 2012 LCA Act states that …in the performance of its functions, [the] LCA shall be independent and not subject to control by any person or authority… The LCA is both appointed and controlled by the political head of the ministry. One panellist noted, ‘The licensing buck starts and ends with the minister.’ The government seems uninterested in granting licences to persons or organisations who might oppose it. Previous attempts to transform the LNBS into a public broadcaster have proven futile, with the 2004 Lesotho Broadcasting Bill remaining un-enacted, supposedly to ensure that state interests in broadcasting remain intact. Media law reform is desperately needed to ensure that the state broadcaster be transformed into a truly public broadcaster. Furthermore, the state broadcaster is not sufficiently funded, with LTV, Radio Lesotho and Ultimate FM collectively receiving an allocation of only 11 million MaLoti (M) (795,000 USD) per annum. This heavily compromises their ability 6 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER LESOTHO 2018