Botswana
instructed to stock certain newspapers and are not aware of the
existence of local papers that they could also sell.
It was further noted that, generally, investigative journalism appears to be lacking and that news content in most newspapers is
largely the same. One of the panelists argued that where there is a
major issue of national or regional importance, this tends to happen
even among leading publications in the world and that it is not only
true of Botswana.
Panelists stated that, given the scattered distribution and the small
size of the population, it would take a long time for specialized
publications to evolve in Botswana and that the tendency to have
general newspapers will stay with us for a long time.
Newspapers in Botswana are generally affordable as they are cheaper than a loaf of bread, an internationally accepted form of measuring the affordability of newspapers.
SCORES:
Individual scores:

2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Average score:

2.2

2.2

Citizens’ access to domestic and international media
sources is not restricted by state authorities.

ANALYSIS:
Access to media sources is not restricted. In any case, it would be
difficult to stop any published material from entering Botswana.

African Media Barometer - Botswana 2005

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