SECTOR 4

The only exception mentioned was Sahara Communication and Publishing
Company in Mwanza, were the owners do not interfere in editorial decisions on
Radio Free Africa, Kiss FM and Star TV.
Panellists noted that on May 3, 2012, the Media Owners Association of Tanzania
agreed on its own code of conduct that there must be a separation between
owners and journalists, were owners not interfering in editorial matters. It remains
to be seen whether this will be adhered to.

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:

2.0 (2010 = 1.4; 2008 = 1.9; 2006 = 1.4)

4.7 Journalists and media houses have integrity and
are not corrupt.
Journalists in Tanzania are considered to be quite corrupt, according to the
panelists, although they maintain that there are a handful of editors and
journalists with integrity.
“Maybe the desperate working conditions force people to be corrupt. In the
private print media, journalists earn very little and they may not be paid on
time. They may go without their salary for up to four months at a time, but they
continue to go to work and they depend on ‘bahasha’ – the brown envelope.”
News sources are also guilty of dishing out ‘travel allowances’ or ‘incentives’ –
television journalists -get paid more as they – are deemed to grant the source
wider publicity.

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2012

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