Tanzania
Sector 4:
		
4.1

The media practice high levels of professional 		
standards.

The media follow voluntary codes of professional standards
which are enforced by self-regulatory bodies.

ANALYSIS:
Since 1995 a voluntary, non-statutory Media Council which was established by the media industry is in place. The Council enforces a
Code of Ethics for Media Practitioners endorsed by the members of
the Council. The Public can bring complaints on alleged violations
of the Code of Conduct against the media to the council for arbitration and mediation. Compliance rate of the decisions of the Council
is quite high estimated at around 90 per cent.
The Council will need to be more pro-active and comment on ethical transgressions as they happen instead of waiting for people to
come and complain.
The challenge is also to encourage individual media houses to institute in-house peer mechanisms of professional ethical conduct such
as style books and codes of conduct. The Nation Media Group has
an internal code which is enforced and journalists risk being fired if
they do not comply.
SCORES:
Individual scores: 			

2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 4, 3, 3, 3

Average score:			

2.9 (2006= 3.4)

African Media Barometer - Tanzania 2008			

29

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