The chapters continued to publish various publications during the year. MISA Botswana’s The Forum newsletter has
become the chapter’s advocacy tool for members and stakeholders, informing them of activities undertaken and
upcoming events in which they can participate. MISA Lesotho continued to publish its newsletter, Moqolosti. MISA
South Africa began circulating bi-weekly media briefs to its members, updating them on pertinent media issues.
It is, however, limited by patchy newspaper delivery, lack of access to news wires and the absence of a national
network of media freedom monitors and reporters. MISA Swaziland continued to produce its quarterly publication,
Khulumani, as part of advocacy efforts to promote its activities.
MISA Tanzania produced a Kiswahili World Press Freedom Day supplement, which was widely circulated in the
Mwananchi newspaper to increase awareness on the role of the media in society, and to increase publicity of World
Press Freedom Day and the media awards. The Tanzanian chapter also translated into Kiswahili the ‘Have you Heard
Me?’ booklet and designed Kiswahili posters of ‘10 principles on reporting HIV-AIDS and gender’ under the Media
Action Programme (MAP). The chapter produced 2 000 copies each of the booklet and the poster, which were
distributed to journalists and media workers to boost their HIV and AIDS reporting skills.
MISA Zambia continued to publish its newsletter MISA News. The chapter also published a book entitled Struggle for
Media Law Reforms in Zambia, authored by lawyer, media advocate and academic, Patrick Matibini. The book documents how media organisations, especially MISA Zambia, carried forward media law reforms, especially with regard
to the establishment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the Amendment of the Zambia National
Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Act and the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill.
In an effort to create public awareness on the impact of media laws and build pressure for its reform, MISA Zimbabwe printed 500 facts sheets each on the AIPPA and the POSA, and 250 each on the Broadcasting Services Act
and Constitutional Amendment Number 17. The fact sheets are proving to be handy reference tools for civil society,
researchers, and students in media studies as well as members of the diplomatic community, especially in light of
the spate of arrests, beatings, and banning of meetings and any forms of gathering perceived as oppositional.
All of MISA’s publications were distributed throughout the region, as well as to the Library of Congress in the United
States of America, which has since requested additional copies.

Resource Centres
As part of the service provided to MISA’s members, the national chapters continued to run increasingly popular
resources centres. MISA Botswana received no less than five clients daily. While the resource centre at MISA Namibia
remains dormant due to a shortage of human resources, the chapter provides free Internet access to many local
freelance journalists and students. MISA South Africa continued to update its resource centre and conduct the daily
monitoring of newspapers and websites. Information gathered from monitoring is archived for research and general
reference purposes. In April 2006, MISA Swaziland launched its resource centre, which is equipped with books and
three computers. MISA Zambia has also registered an increase in the use of its resource centre with an average of
eight users daily with some frequenting the centre on a weekly basis. MISA Tanzania had planned to fundraise to
buy equipment for its resource centre. No funds were obtained during this reporting period although the United
Nations Information Centre (UNIC) had shown an interest in working with the chapter to raise funds for this purpose. However, MISA Tanzania has continued to acquire titles for its resource centre and disseminate information to
stakeholders.

Annual Report 2007

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