Botswana
3.4

The body’s decisions on licensing in particular are informed
by a broadcasting policy developed in a transparent and
inclusive manner.

ANALYSIS:
The broadcasting policy was developed in an open and transparent
manner. The public had a chance to submit proposals and comments
and there was an extensive public consultation process. However,
the policy has not been adopted by parliament and it can thus not
yet serve as a basis for decisions of the NBB. Moreover, the existing
document is widely regarded as a watered-down version of the original draft, in particular in regard to public broadcasting (see 2.4).
SCORING:
Individual scores:

2, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Average score:

1.3

3.5

(2005 = 1.0)

The public broadcaster is accountable to the public through
a board representative of society at large and selected in
an independent, open and transparent manner.

ANALYSIS:
Botswana does not have a public broadcaster and there is no board
representative of society at large to oversee the operations of the
service. Radio Botswana and Botswana Television continue to be directly controlled and managed by the Minister of Communications,
Science and Technology.
The existing Broadcasting Act defines the “public broadcasting service” as “any statutory body which is funded either wholly or partly
through State revenues”. This definition differs widely from all genAfrican Media Barometer - Botswana 2007

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Select target paragraph3