SECTOR 3 3.4 The state/public broadcaster is accountable to the public through a board representative of society at large and selected in an independent, open and transparent manner. Tanzania has two state/public broadcasters: the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) and Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). The chairmen and director-generals of both these bodies are appointed by the president, while the board members are appointed by the Minister of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, except for one board member who is appointed by the TBC and ZBC staff. There is no civil society involvement and the appointments to the board are not done in an independent or transparent manner. Some panellists felt that the position of the director-general is a very political one, and if a director-general appears sympathetic to the opposition, their contracts will not be renewed, as happened at the TBC after the 2010 general elections. “TBC was showing some positive changes before the 2010 elections, and appeared to be more of a public than a state broadcaster in terms of the content. But in terms of political interference, we seem to have gone back to square one now and TBC is for all the citizens of Tanzania now. It has no independence.” Other panellists disagreed, saying that they felt that the state broadcasters were operating under a “very independent policy”. 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: 2.3 (2010 = 1.9; 2008 = 1.7; 2006 = 1.5) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2012 41