AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2010 Executive Summary The Constitution of Tanzania and Zanzibar guarantees freedom of expression, including press freedom. However, various drawbacks hinder these freedoms due to the failure by Government to include constitutionally guaranteed protections through supportive pieces of national legislation. Moreover, claw back laws and pieces of legislation like Article 30 of the Constitution and the Public Services Act of 1962 remain impediments to freedom of expression and access to information. While processes have been set in motion towards the review of the Freedom of Information and the Media Services Bills, consultations continue to take place at the upper levels, thereby excluding ordinary citizens. Additionally, although the country has ratified exemplary continental and regional laws that set the standard for freedom of expression, access to information and media regulation are undermined by the lack of their national implementation. With over 18 daily newspapers, 41 weeklies, 60 radio stations and 15 television stations, Tanzania should ideally be a good example of a media environment that offers diversity and plurality to the broad spectrum of its citizens. However, owing to poor infrastructure and gender inequalities, rural dwellers - particularly women - remain excluded from access to media. Furthermore, low newspaper circulation, the low purchasing power of most citizens, high cost of batteries and electricity and the inability to access internet continue to hamper media accessibility for rural and poor citizens. As a result of this decreased access to media, Tanzanian rural dwellers – who in fact have a reputation for being bold and courageous enough to speak out publicly and through the media – are obstructed from having their voices heard. This blocks much potentially beneficial discourse. Despite the relatively high number of newspapers, and radio and television stations in the country, media content largely fails to effectively meet the information, educational and entertainment needs of the various sectors of the population. As such, it is clear that Tanzania still lacks a diverse broadcasting sector essential to a functioning democracy that can contribute to the public interest. While the Declaration of Principles for Freedom of Expression in Africa suggests a “threetier system for broadcasting: public service, commercial and community”, the distribution of media in Tanzania does not adequately meet this model. In this current age of digitization, it is a concern that internet is only accessed by a paltry 1% of Tanzania’s population, while television is accessed by only 5%. This means that media largely remains reserved for the elite, while the broader portion of the population is left out. This limited access to electronic media also AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2010 5