SECTOR 3 Broadcasting Corporation to become a public service broadcaster with universal service obligation. The Charter shall ensure that the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation is pursuing its goals and exercising its powers, enjoys the freedom of expression, journalistic creativeness and programming free from interference from the government and other stakeholders. Panellists were of the opinion that in practise, the TBC lacked editorial independence and was generally perceived as serving the interest of the government of the day. It is equally regarded as a mouthpiece serving the ruling party and often demonstrates uncensored prejudice towards the opposition and critical voices. One panellist said both executives and journalists are forced to ‘toe the line’ once they join the TBC and advocate for government policies, even though they had been critical journalists before being appointed to their current positions. Panellists said past managers who have tried to reform the TBC to uphold its editorial independence and open up to diverse views have run into problems. 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: Score of previous years: ✓✓✓✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 1.4 2006: n/a; 2008: n/a; 2010: n/a; 2012: n/a; 2015: 2.2 3.6 The state/public broadcaster is adequately funded in a manner that protects it from political interference through its budget and from commercial pressure According to panellists, the TBC was not adequately funded and annual budgetary allocations from the ministry can only pay salaries and basic operations – to the detriment of business development and programming. To reach a wider audience, the corporation has been forced to enter agreements with community radios to air TBC programmes such as newscasts in rural areas. In the absence of TV licence charges, the corporation relies heavily on revenue from advertising. Panellists said it was unclear how much TBC made from advertising. However, they felt commercial pressure had less impact on TBC’s operations than political interference. 41 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2019