Botswana
their point.
Efforts to de-mystify community radio and make parliamentarians
and government aware of the potential of this sector as a development tool have so far been in vain. To the contrary: there appears
to be a hardening of attitudes on the part of the political establishment and an increased unwillingness to allow for the opening up of
the airwaves to communities.
In light of developments in the ICT sector and the ongoing convergence in communication technologies this seems to be a shortsighted stance to take. With Internet access becoming more widely
available and affordable, more and more people will be able to
listen to radio stations on the Net anyway, including in Botswana
where at present this is still a privilege of the elite.
The fact that there was no outright rejection but merely a postponement of the new broadcasting policy in Parliament can perhaps
be taken as a small sign of hope. It is not clear, though, how civil
society groups and others interested in the establishment of community broadcasting intend to take the matter forward and prepare
the ground for a more favourable decision in the future.
SCORING:
Individual scores:

1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Average score:

1.0

20

(2005 = 1.0)

African Media Barometer - Botswana 2007

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