SECTOR 2 Incidents involving women are reported in a certain way. If they are involved in battles within the corporate sector, they are made to look petty and undignified, whereas men are seen and regarded as fighting commercial interests. “This year was election year and for me, it was not about gender. It was about who offers me sound bytes. Women won’t come up and speak out. Many are not articulate enough to put on air, so I wouldn’t even bother because they would not give me what I would want on air. Men speak very well on issues.” Some participants felt that media reflected the structure of society. CEOs and directors are men and reportage on business and economics tend to focus on them, as they are the primary sources of news. Other panellists disagreed: “There are quotas which are in place and the numbers show that corporate Botswana has a better than fair representation of women. This doesn’t come out in the sources or the news, and it is an important dynamic to bring in. Editors are not making an effort. There is no attempt to redress the situation.” 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: 2.9 (2005 = n/a; 2007 = n/a; 2009 = 1.3; 2011 = 1.9) 2.8 All media fairly represent the voices of society and its minorities in its ethnic, linguistic, religious diversity. Conditions for a broadcasting licence stipulate that only 2 languages can be used for broadcast – Setswana and English. “The two languages are seen as ‘unifying’ the nation, but the moment we start using our mother languages this will cause division. Diversity of languages is regarded as a divisive issue.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Botswana 2014 35