SECTOR 2 compromised by the digression. In addition, there are listeners who politicise all the topics even when it is unnecessary. “Some of the issues are being watered down by the ‘callers’, who claim to know everything. Then the professionals who can offer an informed view shy away as the space is crowded by these other people. They contribute on Facebook, rather than calling in to correct people.” “I’ve been termed controversial by the general public as I do a lot of public interest programmes. I hold government to account, different people to account. We try our best. Most of the time, I have challenges with government representatives coming in.” A veteran broadcaster who was well known for choosing controversial as well as topical issues of public interest was credited for “creating that space which would not otherwise have been there.” As one panellist observed: “The private broadcasting industry in Botswana is still in its infancy. The oldest station is 15 years old. For 10 years it was only a musical radio station. So talk shows being a part of broadcasting is new still; it’s only 3 years old as a serious component of programmes.” “One thing is that we don’t have a lot of journalists in the broadcasting sector. Instead we have presenters and this is completely different; they wouldn’t understand issues and they wouldn’t bring the message home. In the past, people that were on air were people who had good voices but they wouldn’t have the content. Now we’re getting people who understand issues but it’s a slow process.” 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: 38 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Botswana 2014 3.5 (2005 = n/a; 2007 = n/a; 2009 = n/a; 2011 = n/a)