SECTOR 4 4.6 Owners of established mainstream private media do not interfere with editorial independence. Panellists were of the view that there is a great deal of editorial interference in Tanzanian media. Some panellists even argued that it was better to work in a state or public media house than to be an editor at a private media outlet. “The owner of the paper I worked for had ordered that no story of his enemy (businessman) was to appear in any of his media outlets,” said one panellist. Panellists noted, however, that there have been efforts by the media fraternity, led by MISA, to establish an Editors Forum, which aims to address issues of editorial independence. 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: 1.4 (2008 = 1.9; 2006 = 1.4) 4.7 Journalists and media houses have integrity and are not corrupt. Panellists concurred that some journalists in the country involve themselves in corruption. A panellist gave the example of a story about a mining company that was dumping its waste into a nearby river, thereby affecting the health of local residents. Journalists were invited by the company to observe and write about the ‘safety measures’ put in place by the mine, and following that visit, the said journalists all wrote PR stories. Panellists noted that such cases are several among media circles. They added that some media houses have very strict ethics codes that are supposed to be followed by their journalists, while others do not. 46 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2010