Malawi There are many retractions of stories and corrigenda. Although at face value these corrections show professionalism, their frequency suggests sloppy work and most of them appear to be published under pressure from lawyers and the threat of law suits. The lack of fairness and balance is caused by the temptation to sensationalise in order to sell copy. Editors want to out-scoop the competition and this leads to carelessness. Far too often editors are lax in checking copy for error due to their inexperience – it is not unusual to be promoted to the position of editor after two to three years in the profession. The situation is worsened by the fact that reporter and sub-editor are often one and the same person and owners employ very young reporters because they come cheap. SCORES: Individual scores: 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 Average score: 2.6 4.3 The media cover the full spectrum of events, issues and cultures, including business/economics, cultural, local, and investigative stories. ANALYSIS: The Malawi media has a preference for political news reporting and an eye for politicians generally who are frequently quoted for comments even outside political issues. Political developments and the performance of politicians, however, are rarely investigated, as most of the stories are simply on-the-record. For example, the on-going conflict between the incumbent president and his predecessor always makes front-page news (“it’s like a permanent soap opera”) while a few weeks ago a terrible mini-bus accident with ten deaths made only page 4. 30 African Media Barometer - Malawi 2006