Professionalism and Accountability MISA continued the fight for self-regulation in the region. At the regional level, a draft code of ethics was developed during the year under review and it is waiting to be circulated for further input. The production of a MISA code of ethics was recommended at a 2005 conference on ‘Ethics in the Media’ that was held during the MISA AGM. The publication of the conference report has, however, been pushed to the next financial year due to financial constraints. Several strides have been made in the fight for self-regulation in the chapters, with the revival of the Media Council in Malawi in early 2007. The Media Council’s constitution was adopted and candidates for the post of national director have been short-listed. The council’s secretariat is at present being housed by MISA Malawi. This is a positive step towards boosting the credibility of the media in the eyes of the general public. Botswana has an operational Media Council and the MISA chapter continued to support its activities. However, this council has financial problems and has approached MISA for assistance. This is a matter of concern since MISA was instrumental in establishing the council and not providing assistance might signal its collapse and delay the process of self-regulation in the region. MISA Namibia continued to promote the need for a self-regulatory mechanism in the country in order to get buyin from all stakeholders. In this vein, MISA Namibia was instrumental in establishing the Namibia Editors’ Forum, which is essential in the process to establish a self-regulatory mechanism. In Swaziland, MISA continued to work closely with stakeholders to facilitate the delayed launch of the Media Complaints Commission (MCC). The delay was mainly caused by uncertainty around the MCC’s sustainability. Media owners, who are supposed to fund the commission, are yet to decide on the funding mechanism. The delayed launch saw the government draft a Media Commission Bill to introduce a statutory regulatory mechanism. To fight the new bill, MISA Swaziland facilitated a series of meetings with stakeholders and newsrooms to advocate against the bill and promote the importance of media self-regulation. All stakeholders are once again agreed on self-regulation and the plan is to launch the MCC early in the next financial year to pre-empt the government’s introduction of the statutory mechanism. MISA Zimbabwe continued to work with media houses and organisations to set up a Voluntary Media Council and to publicise the Code of Conduct as an alternative to the settlement of disputes the media might have with any individual or groups. The Code of Conduct and Voluntary Media Council project is now one of MISA Zimbabwe’s biggest projects as the government indicated that if the media established a media council then it would revise the statutory Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Media and Information Commission (MIC). On January 26, 2007 MISA Zimbabwe, working with the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), the Zimbabwe National Editor’s Forum, the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and the Zimbabwe Association of Editors, launched the Media Council of Zimbabwe (MCZ) in Harare. The launch was accompanied by direct threats from the Ministry of Information and Publicity as well as the Chairman of the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communications, Leo Mugabe. The structure of the MCZ was set for completion in May 2007. A draft code of conduct 40 Annual Report 2007