NIGERIA State owned print media whether owned by the federal or sub-national authorities are basically seen as tools of propaganda by their proprietors. The managers of the media are appointed and changed by the state and are civil servants and not independent journalists. The recent dismissal of the editor in charge of ‘Legacy’ a newspaper owned by the Zamfara state government in the wake of its publication of a story critical of the federal government is a case illustrating the narrow limits of editorial independence. In most cases, one panelist said, “self-censorship and phone calls from authorities happen regularly”. SCORES: Individual scores: 1; 1; 2; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1 Total score: 12 Average score: 1.1 2.7 Local or regional independent news agencies gather and dis- tribute information for all media. ANALYSIS: In theory, the “News Agency of Nigeria” (NAN) has a monopoly of news gathering but in practice this is not respected. There is also the “Pan African News Agency” which is warehoused at the NAN office in Lagos and operates through the auspices of NAN. All media institutions are expected to subscribe and pay fees to NAN for its services. 14 African Media Barometer - Nigeria 2008