MEDIA RAISES FREEDOM CONCERNS

As Botswana celebrated the World Relays, World Press Freedom Day quietly slipped by, leaving editors to reflect on a media environment they say is becoming increasingly strained. Botswana’s media fraternity enters this year’s World Press Freedom Day with a deep sense of fatigue, frustration and guarded alarm. But while MISA points to the more sophisticated ways in which pressure on the media can operate, editors say Botswana’s current reality is also painfully direct.

They say one glaring issue cannot be ignored: the public tone set by the presidency itself. When the Head of State casts doubt on the credibility of the media, including claims that 90 percent of media reports are fake, MISA warns that such statements “risk legitimising hostility towards journalists and reinforcing a culture of self censorship.” The state broadcaster has become one of the clearest symbols of this concern. Reforms that were expected to move broadcasting towards genuine public media independence are, according to MISA, increasingly being viewed as leaning “towards control rather than autonomy.” The organisation says Botswana is beginning to mirror a global pattern in which governments and powerful actors seek greater control over media spaces.

For private media, the uncertainty is compounded by the continued delay in releasing the 2025 Ministerial Media Law Review Task Team report. MISA says the delay has “deepened uncertainty in the media industry,” adding that while a new Media Bill has been introduced, “legislation alone cannot substitute for transparency and meaningful reform.” This is the context in which editors are now speaking. Their message is not merely about professional discomfort.

[paywall]

It is about the fear that Botswana’s media space is narrowing, that journalists are being pushed to second guess themselves, and that a democracy once praised for its stability is beginning to show signs of strain in one of its most important institutions. “World Press Freedom Day should be a moment of reflection and recommitment. Instead, it finds Botswana at a delicate and concerning point.

The relationship between the media and those in power has become increasingly strained. When the Head of State openly questions the credibility of the media and elevates informal sources over professional journalism, it does more than express an opinion, it sets a tone that risks legitimising hostility toward journalists,” Tuesday Grill editor Letlhogile Mpuang told this publication. “At Tuesday Grill, this is not abstract.

We have faced sustained numerous threats from individuals aligned with the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change, incidents we have formally reported. The danger is not only in these attacks, but in their normalisation,” Mpuang added. Mmegi editor Ryder Gabathuse expressed concern about the current government’s stance on criminal defamation.

[/paywall]