SECTOR 4

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:

3.3 (2009: 1.8; 2007 and 2005: n/a)

4.9
Media professionals have access to training
facilities offering formal qualification programmes as
well as opportunities to upgrade skills.
The Swazi media appear to be looking to recruit better qualified staff, and
Swaziland’s training institutions are beginning to respond to this need.
The University of Swaziland has just upgraded its diploma in Journalism and Mass
Communications to a full degree. The first year of the programme has around 20
students, while those with a diploma can enter the degree programme in the third
year. Currently the University is producing five to ten fresh journalists a year, and
the media industry should be able to absorb this number.
The private Limkokwing University of Creative Technology has just opened
a campus in Swaziland, which offers an Associate Degree11 in Journalism and
Media, Television and Film Production, Creative Multimedia, and Advertising.
Some panellists were sceptical about the new institution, but others felt its training
may prove to be more creative and better suited to the needs of young people.
The government has yet to add Limkokwing to its list of approved academic
institutions, and for now SBIS does not take interns from the local Limkokwing
campus. However, SBIS does take interns from the University of Swaziland, the
Teachers Training College and the Technical College.
Media owners are expected to contribute 50 per cent of scholarships offered by
government for the training of journalists, but they appear reluctant to pay.

11 According to the Limkokwing University web site (www.limkokwing.net/swaziland/), an Associate
Degree is the equivalent of a foundation degree, or the first two years of a four-year college or university
degree.

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AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SWAZILAND 2011

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