SECTOR 4 4.2 The media follow voluntary codes of professional standards, which are enforced by independent/ nonstatutory bodies that deal with complaints from the public. Government claims that the self-regulatory Press Council, set up a decade ago, is not effective. Funding, capacity and the government’s lack of faith are some of the challenges facing the Council. The state media does not subscribe to the self-regulating body and this lack of support from a large section of the media impacts negatively on the Council. The private media complains that it does not have a mechanism through which grievances can be addressed and this tendency to sideline the Press Council jeopardises its effectiveness and existence. Self-regulation in Botswana is under serious threat if editors, journalists and publishers do not utilise the complaints mechanism under the Council. The gravest threat to media independence is the Media Practitioners Act, which seeks to establish a statutory regulatory body which would involve the Minister of Transport and Communications and a politically appointed body to run it. Government has been unable to fulfil most of the provisions contained in the MPA, including the Media Council and the Complaints Committee because it has not been able to set up a functioning secretariat, and “they realised they hadn’t really budgeted for that.” 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: 3.2 (2005 = 3.6; 2007 = 3.3; 2009 = 2.9; 2011 = 2.8) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Botswana 2014 53