Guardian Newspaper Guardian Publications 5,000 Selected districts Tri-weekly Boma Lathu Information dept. 10,000 National Monthly Weekly News Information Dept 5,000 National Weekly Financial Digest Financial Digest Ltd 5,000 National Weekly Pride Magazine Pride Publications 10,000 15,000 National Bi-Monthly Nkwaso Magazine Montfort Press 3,000 Community Bi-Weekly The Lamp Montfort Press 3500 National Bi-Monthly Together magazine Montfort Press 5000 National Quarterly *Information obtained from individual media managers Media Diversity There was little to show for media diversity in 2007. Joy TV was unable to take off over legal wrangle surrounding its licence and issues of dual ownership. The Joy case seems to be complicated by the fact that under the Macra Act, no politician can own a radio/TV station. Bakili Muluzi is the former President and still an active politician while Atupele Muluzi is a serving MP. Both are listed as owners of Joy Radio. There were hardly any new titles of publications; on the contrary, quite a few seemed to have folded or taken a long break, viz. The Chronicle, Dispatch while one new title, Business Digest, comes out intermittently. A blend of editorial policy and self-censorship determine editorial outcomes. Advertisers tend to be a very powerful influence on editorial decisions; they are the so-called lifeblood of the media and the media have to pander to their every whim. Media Fraternity The comatose Media Council of Malawi resurrected to life with campaigning from MISAMalawi and funding from Casals & Associates acting on behalf of the Millennium Challenge Account. A Journalist Union of Malawi (Juma) was born out of the ashes of defunct Journalists Association of Malawi (Jama) also with MISA-Malawi’s push and funding from Copyright Society of Malawi and International Federation for Journalists (IFJ). There were significant gains for the media in 2007, including Presidential blessing. Media workers should rise up to the challenge of ownership in order to become a dominant factor in making editorial decisions. As we approach elections in 2009, the media will be put to the test once again. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -48- Media Institute of Southern Africa