The print media sector in general expanded in the region, but in some countries there were casualties as a result of the recession or of the existing socio-political environment. In South Africa, a weekly published by AVUSA, the Weekender, sadly went out of circulation, robbing South Africans of yet another source of information. The South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) also had a bumpy ride last year with debts almost reaching the R1 billion mark as a result of financial mismanagement and irregularities. In spite of the recession, Tanzania and Lesotho saw the expansion of the media. But the growth of the media in Tanzania has also come at a cost, as standards of journalism have plummeted tremendously. This can be gauged by the fact that last year, this country proved to be the most litigious in its region with record-breaking libel lawsuits of up to TzSh300 million (US$3 million) being awarded by the courts. There are still 300 more cases still pending against the media. In Zimbabwe and to a lesser extent Zambia, government-controlled media continued to enjoy a stranglehold on the print media sector. These media, as with public broadcasters, continued to be used as propaganda mouthpieces of the ruling governments. Despite the optimism brought about by the Global Political Agreement (GPA) government, there have been no licenses issued to new media houses. In spite of this, it did not stop the state controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers introducing their third daily, H Metro, while several private radio and print media still await licensing. The elections also posed a huge test for the print media in Zambia, South Africa, Namibia and Malawi. In Zambia, the election drew attention to just how polarised the media were. The private media all supported the opposition parties, while the state media rooted for the ruling party. By contrast in South Africa, research done by the Media Monitoring Project Africa (MMA) illustrated that 84% of all articles monitored were 18 deemed fair. (BTV) and radio. There were some positives on elections in Malawi. The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) demonstrated its autonomy by selecting a private broadcaster, Zodiac Broadcasting Corporation, as the official broadcaster for the elections. While the media landscape in Zimbabwe remained in its halted state with government’s control of all state media guaranteed, in Zambia, MUVI TV, a new national private broadcaster, was introduced to break the monopoly of the state controlled Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). This can only provide the much needed diversity that citizens can benefit from, while ensuring that the competition helps ZNBC to produce quality programmes. State of broadcasting and ICTs in Southern Africa In 2009, most governments continued to seek control of the public broadcasters instead of allowing them to be representative of the social spectrum through public service broadcasting. Cases of the government meddling in state broadcasters were blatant in Namibia, Botswana and although subtle but still of concern, in South Africa. This was evidenced by the interference in the appointments of senior managers at both the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). In Botswana, the ruling party sought to consolidate its stranglehold on Botswana Television In Swaziland, state monopoly still exists on radio, while in Lesotho the state broadcaster holds sway over both radio and television broadcasting. In February 2009, the Swaziland broadcasting regulator, Swaziland Posts and Telecommunica-tions Corporation, called for licensing applications. However, until the end of 2009, there was no explanation as to why no determination on the five applications had been received. There has been phenomenal growth in the 19