SECTOR 4 different system of government in order to be a free media, but we have to play our role within the current environment. We have to continue to exist in order to say ‘there is a problem in this country’ in a nice way. When we sit down in our editorial meetings, we take it story by story. Ours is a sort of hit-and-run approach. There is nothing nice about going to sit in front of the King and explaining where you are coming from, knowing that you have employees who could lose their jobs as a result of the newspaper being too progressive. You protect your jobs and interests. I was given a last warning: if I make another big mistake, I will be finished. I don’t want to be finished, so I’m going to be extra careful.” “Self-censorship has killed our position in terms of standing up against things...” Another constraining factor is the lack of general support: “If anyone wants us to be brave, there must be more people out there willing to put their heads on the block with us. Many people use us to push an issue but then withdraw. If we are going to publish a story about the King buying new cars, others must stand by us when we do. Often we have found ourselves on our own.” Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator. 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.7 (2009: 2.2; 2007: 1.5; 2005: 1.4) 4.6 Owners of established mainstream private media do not interfere with editorial independence. The discussion focussed on whether or not a publisher sitting in on an editorial meeting constituted editorial interference. “Part of the publisher’s job description is to guide the newspaper,” said one panellist. “I don’t take that as interference. Interference is where they would say: ‘Don’t run a story, I want to see a story before you run it.’ They understand that they have to leave editorial issues to us and only be concerned with financial matters. Besides, the publisher only gives an input to what is published already.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SWAZILAND 2011 63