Media in Lesotho is Free From Government Harassment - Study

The media in Lesotho is considered relatively free from direct government harassment, threats, assassinations, restrictive legislation, censorship and expulsion, a media law audit has revealed.

 The research, aimed at reviewing laws that restrict the media freedom in Lesotho, shows however that despite their freedom,  the media failed to exploit its relatively positive working environment through its lack of professionalism, the Lesotho News Agency (LENA) reports.

"This lack of professionalism in the media and lack of investigative journalism has been echoed among journalists themselves and other stakeholders in Lesotho," according to the findings.

The study recommends the need for a professional media fraternity to ensure credibility and safeguard this profession in the country. It said media practitioners are generally ignorant of laws which affect their operations and that this is evidenced by the number of defamation cases against the media.

It recommended the need for the adoption  of a media policy, adding that a draft media policy has been in existence since 1996 but has never been finalized and implemented.

The survey, conducted in November 2003, covered both private and government media, and included print and electronic media. It is said to have the views of local journalists as well as other stakeholders. It
was commissioned by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and conducted by a local consultant, Mrs. Mokhibo Matela-Gwintsa.

07 April 2004