In Zimbabwe the project focused on establishing a Media Council and the main objective was to have a Code of Conduct agreed on and adopted by all relevant stakeholders. In 2000, media practitioners under the auspices of MISA-Zimbabwe drafted a code of conduct and a constitution for the Zimbabwe Media Council. There were several meetings held with media practitioners, editors and government officials also attended the meetings. However, these efforts were overtaken by events- the refusal by the government to allow the public media to be part of the initiative and the gazetting of AIPPA. It was felt then that the nonparticipation of public media journalists would threaten the initiative. In the period under review, it was decided to review the code of conduct and adopt it. Seven provincial meetings and 2 meetings with editors were held. The Code of Conduct has been adopted by all media organizations, save for editors in the public media. The project is however affected by the current polarization in the media and the closure of the Daily News and Daily News on Sunday . The editors from the public media have recently formed a rival editors' association and the country now has two editors’ representative bodies. 7.4 Fostering professionalism in the Media 7.4.1 MISA Media Awards Most chapters introduced media awards to promote excellence in journalism and reward high standard of reporting. They also continued to run the events. The Botswana chapter continued to hold its annual Gala Dinner and Awards night where a number of media workers were recognized for their exceptional work performance. More than 25 members of society were involved in the selection and judgement of these categories which allows for transparency and fairness in the process. In Tanzania the chapter continued with the promotion of professional excellence through the awarding of media awards. In addition, journalists were mobilized through newspapers adverts, to write articles and produce TV and radio programmes for media award. MISA Annual Report (April 2003 – March 2004) 81