State of the media in Southern Africa - 2003 Access to Information Access to means of communication is a human right and yet the majority of the ‘so-called development initiatives’ overlook this necessary condition, for sustainable development. Realising the pivotal role the media can play in development, NAMISA has proposed enactment of a law on freedom of information. During these consultations it was evident that public officials and institutions do not provide timely, quality, and relevant information when media workers make requests. Access to data-bases remains restricted and procedures to obtain authority for access are shrouded in bureaucracy. Internet-based resources were hardly updated. The media have therefore relied on whistle-blowers and shock tactics to compel public officials to release information. Diligence and resilience in investigations, especially among private (print) and community media, have exposed high levels of abuse of power, corruption and social and economic injustices in Malawi. This calibre of investigative journalism should be nurtured and encouraged. The flip side of access to public information is access to information by and from the majority of Malawians. Due to poverty, illiteracy and urban-centred media structures, the majority of Malawians have no access to information in the media. In addition, information, knowledge, and opinions from this rural majority were rarely available in mainstream media. A top-down communications approach is dominant at the expense of more effective participatory (downtop, horizontal and lateral) communications approaches. Public media institutions such as MBC, Television Malawi (TVM), and Information Department5 which are constituted for public service have no structures to facilitate dialogue among the citizenry because of a lack of public service ethos, centralised media production systems and unreliable financing systems6. 4. Media Solidity While the media are not a homogenous group, they are expected to show professional unity of purpose. While they have formed organisations and associations, these entities are too loose and weak to be sustainable without donor support. Membership to these organisations is low and so is a sense of ownership. Most media associations exist on paper and have been ridiculed as “briefcase organisations”, which exist as contact points for training or ‘per diem’ opportunities. However, a few media groups have shown resilience. These include Media Women Association of Malawi (MAMWA), Lilongwe Press Club, Nyika Press Club and NAMISA. Apart from advocacy for media freedom, these groups have participated in public affairs such as HIV/AIDS behaviour change initiatives. • Conclusion Media freedom in Malawi continues to deteriorate as the operating environment is littered with legal traps, economic quicksand and political landmines. Major challenges for Malawi should include decentralisation of media production and distribution systems, reviewing repressive laws and re-orientation of public media towards a public service ethos. To unleash the potential of the majority of Malawians to live in full human dignity, there is need for a revolution to unshackle the social, economic and political structures that marginalise the majority. Such a revolution is impossible without empowering information and avenues for effective participation of the citizenry. The media have an immense potential to provide these avenues for effective dialogue and participation. This calls for reconstituting the grassroots from masses who are recipients of information to originators of knowledge. Structures and operational routines of the media would therefore have to change so that the oxen (grassroots) come before the cart (media). These changes should be So This Is Democracy? 2003 42 Media Institute of Southern Africa