SECTOR 2 2.12 Government does not use its power over the placement of advertisements as a means to interfere with editorial content Panellists felt that government has definitely used its power in the past over the placement of advertisements as a means of interfering with editorial content. ‘Under the Thabo Mbeki era, the GCIS [Government Communication and Information System department] was unhappy with the way certain media houses were reporting on the state, and advertising was moved away from them. During the Jacob Zuma era, this became even more amplified, with advertising being steered towards Gupta-linked media houses, such as The New Age [TNA] newspaper, ANN7 and the controversial TNA business breakfasts.’ It was noted that in 2016 this resulted in the government withdrawing 30 million USD in government advertising from other private commercial media, in a move that government described as necessary to reduce government spending. However, critics argued that this was intended to punish media outlets critical of former President Jacob Zuma. Panellists also noted that in terms of advertising, the government is no longer investing in community media, and that many of these operations, which were not economically sustainable, have closed as a result. 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: ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓ 1.8 (2013: 2.3; 2010: 3.2; 2008: 2.7; 2006: 1.4) 2.13 The advertising market is large enough to support a diversity of media outlets Without some form of regulation, panellists felt that the advertising market in South Africa was not large enough to sustain a diversity of media outlets. A case in point was subscriber-based DStv. ‘DStv has no limit on the advertising it can broadcast and it is left entirely uncontrolled. It is a problem for other broadcasters, for example, e.tv.’ 33 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2018