3.2.7 Tanzania The chapter continued to raise awareness on the importance of having community radios in the country. During various seminars and workshops organized by MISA-Tanzania chapter, participants were asked to mobilize communities and establish community radios. The issue of sustainability continued to be identified as a major hindrance to the establishment of community radios. The issue of sustainability was addressed at a UNESCO sponsored meeting in Dar es Salaam in May 2006. The issue also came up during a two day workshop organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at Dar es Salaam in December 2006. Another challenge identified is that the concept of community media is still not understood by many stakeholders. There is therefore a need to create awareness on what constitutes community radio according to the African Charter on Broadcasting. The chapter also continued to lobby government to support community media initiatives. Another activity implemented by the chapter in support of community media establishment was training of journalists on filming for cultural journalism. A one-week training exercise took place in May 2006 at Dar- es- Salaam. There has been a noted improvement in video reporting skills based as a result. Many stakeholders have questioned the government’s emphasis on the use of Kiswahili in community radios instead of local languages. The government stance is that Kiswahili promotes national unity. This is a challenge that MISA Tanzania continuously addresses as community radios should be able to broadcast in the local languages. During the reporting period, the government sought to support rural and under-served communities to access information through the Universal Communications Access Fund that was established by the Universal Communications Access Fund Act, 2006. The fund would be used to support initiatives for establishment of internet and telecommunication centers, subsidy to telephone service providers. It is anticipated that the fund will eventually support the establishment of community media. There has also been an increase in the media coverage on ICT issues The chapter participated in various forums where provisions of the African Charter on Broadcasting were addressed. One of such forums was the annual stakeholders’ consultative meeting organized by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority in December 2006 at Bagamoyo. Participants to that meeting put emphasis on the issue of media diversity and pluralism. The issue of cross-ownership of media was addressed as a hindrance to media diversity in Tanzania. A new trend has emerged in which ordinary investors transfer ownership of media to politicians and is yet another threat to media pluralism and diversity. The government which continues to be the owner and regulator of both electronic and print media is another major threat to diversity. In February 2007, MISA Tanzania organized a workshop on transforming state –owned media into public service broadcasters. Following this initiative the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority has developed a draft charter for the operations of the Tanzania Broadcasting Services 3.2.8 Zambia From April 2006 onwards, the major activities had been monitoring of the broadcast media environment in the country as the country drew closer to the September 28 2006 general elections. 28 Annual Report 2006