SECTOR 3 3.4 The state/public broadcaster is accountable to the public through an independent board which is representative of society at large and selected in an independent, open and transparent manner. Botswana Television does not have a board. Instead there is a direct line between the President’s office and the station. The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President reads the news on Radio Botswana. State media used to fall under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, but now it has been placed directly under the Office of the President. The Directors of Broadcasting Services (Radio Botswana and Btv) and Information Services (Daily News) are directly answerable to the Office of the President. “Actually as some people have said, we have moved backwards. There was a move towards accountability to the public but this was all with individuals, not a board. Now we have gone backwards and the media has been put directly under the Office of the President. It used to be under the Ministry of Communications.” “If a new minister comes who is maybe sympathetic to the media, maybe it can be moved back to Ministry of Communications and be removed from control by Office of the President.” 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: 1.0 (2005 = 1.0; 2007 = 1.0; 2009 = 1.0; 2011 = 1.0) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Botswana 2014 47