37 SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020 BOTSWANA By Joel Konopo INTRODUCTION The media industry in Botswana is going through trying times. Devastating effects of prolonged Covid-19 lockdowns have left a trail of destruction in its wake on southern African economies. Plummeting advertising revenue, dwindling sales, as well as shrinking budgets have been the bane of the Botswana media. In a country where data costs are prohibitive relative to salaries — (it costs $10.49 to get 1 gigabyte of data in Botswana compared to $0.09 in India, according to a 2019 study on the cost of internet) — internet inequality has impacted negatively on unemployed youth. The decline of newspapers in Botswana also means that the public will lose much of the engagement with trusted sources of information. (36) With shrinking budgets, newsrooms have announced staff layoffs, suspended or cancelled their print operations, and downsized significantly. Sadly, this has impacted the media ability to inform the public leading to overdue demands for media reform and transition to digital platforms. Courageous and independent watchdog reporting is on the wane, based on numbers alone; there simply are fewer professional reporters holding those in power accountable. MEDIA FREEDOM While Botswana has maintained a lofty position in terms of good governance in the Ibrahim Index for African Governments and the Freedom House ranking, these ratings have not translated into human rights gains. In 2020, international journalism watchdog Reporters without Borders has ranked Botswana at a global position of 39, a 5 step increase from 2019. On the other hand, the 2020 Freedom House findings award the country 72% in terms of general freedoms but condemns the government for maintaining a hostile relationship with the media despite a change of guard. (37) A spate of threats and arrests of journalists on vague charges continues today. In June 2020, two journalists for Weekend Post newspaper were detained by the country’s intelligence services accused of photographing a building linked to the Directorate of Intelligence and Security, the country’s domestic and international intelligence agency, according to the New York-based Centre for the Protection of Journalists. Journalists have previously been threatened with the little-used Cyber Crime Act after putting up various posts on Facebook that alleged a minister was involved in a sex scandal. President Mokgweetsi Masisi has been accused of paying lip service to press freedom. (38) In July 2020, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party’s members of parliament rejected a motion that called for the government to repeal the Media Practitioners Act which was passed in 2008, but was never implemented mainly because the Law Society of Botswana declined to participate in its implementation saying the act was draconian. State-run media outlets dominate the broadcasting sector and have exhibited a progovernment bias in their programming. Botswana is still without a freedom of information law, and this limits government transparency. The recent refusal to repeal the Media Practitioners Act by Members of Parliament confirms the uneasy relationship between the press and government. Additionally, section 44 of Botswana’s corruption watchdog law, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) Act, prohibits journalists from divulging information on ongoing DCEC investigations. MEDIA AND GENDER Gender representation in newsrooms in Botswana has hardly improved in the past decade, according to the coordinator of the World Association of News Publishers in Botswana. Out of nine mainstream newspapers, only two have women in positions of power and influence — the editor of The Voice and the managing editor of Weekend Post. The work environment is also generally not conducive to women, including low salaries and the absence of gender policies in the male