SWAZI TV ON THE RACK

Swazi TV seems to be going through a bit of a bad patch at the moment.

The Times of Swaziland reported yesterday (Monday 18 February 2008) that the Auditor General has launched ‘intensive investigations’ into the financial accounts of the state-controlled television station.

To add to this the entire board of directors of Swazi TV were summoned before the Minister of Public Service and Information S’gayoyo Magongo yesterday to explain the current problems at the station.

Last week it was revealed that an auditor’s letter had exposed what could turn out to be financial malpractice at Swazi TV.

The Times of Swaziland reported on Friday (15 February 2008) that Magongo also wanted an explanation on accusations made at a media conference by the Swazi TV chief executive Vukani Maziya that political interference was killing the station.

Meanwhile, the Times reports that the office of the Auditor General has eight weeks to complete an investigation of Swazi TV and report to a select committee of the Swazi Parliament.

The Auditor General’s investigation was launched before the most recent allegation about funds was made. According to the Times, Parliament last November (2007) tasked the committee to investigate allegations of mismanagement and maladministration.

Meanwhile, Swazi TV has come in for criticism for the type of programmes it broadcasts.

Also in the Times on Friday, the newspaper’s television critic reported that Education Minister Themba Msibi had given Swazi TV ‘a nudge on the shoulder’ to get the station to broadcast ‘educational shows’.

The Times reported Msibi, who was speaking at a school function, saying that the Swazi public wanted more local content on the screens. There was a need, the Times reported the minister saying, for TV programmes that empower the Swazi, such as how to draw up a business plan.

This type of criticism of Swazi TV programming is not new.

The recently published African Media Barometer (AMB) Swaziland 2007 report had a lot to say about Swazi TV. It found, ‘There is much less diversity of programming on Swazi TV than on radio. The programme guide is still dominated by foreign content – news (CNN and Deutsche Welle), movies and soap operas. There has been a slight increase in local content in the last two years, but the lack of programme diversity is still severe enough to drive many (those who can afford it) to watch South African television.’

There has been a slight increase in domestic production in the last two years. New programmes include a show on siSwati praise names, an interview programme and programmes promoting local musicians. But resources are scarce, so the quality of production is poor.

There are also concerns that Swazi TV does not get enough funding for it to run adequately. At Swazi TV ‘resources are scarce, quality of programmes is poor and there is very little local content. Swazi TV relies mostly on government subsidies, but supplements its income with license fees and advertising.’

The AMB report was produced by the media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland chapter in conjunction with Frederich Ebert Stiftung. Eight panellists from the media and civil society in Swaziland met for two days in July 2007 to discuss the state of the media in Swaziland.

The AMB report said that Swazi TV can be viewed by people in about three quarters of the kingdom, but it is not considered to be popular among viewers. The report said that people who do watch it do so because they ‘don’t have a choice’.

Swazi TV is controlled by the government and the station’s editorial independence when it comes to news and current affairs is not guaranteed in law, ‘though in practice there is some effort to resist political influence’.

The report states,

‘Journalists at both broadcasters [state-controlled SBIS radio and Swazi TV] are demonstrating more freedom in editorial decision-making and taking more risks by including progressive voices and running stories critical of government. For example, during the recent strike (July 2007), trade unionists were given considerable airtime on both SBIS and Swazi TV to air their grievances.

‘In part, this new editorial license has been put down to the protections brought in by the Constitution. But mostly it is thought to be motivated by a staff rebellion against management (particularly in the case of SBIS). In other words, it is not so much fuelled by a desire to fight for media freedom, but rather driven by internal politics and personality issues.

‘Despite efforts to exercise greater editorial independence, journalists still work under considerable constraints. For instance, the crippling border blockades instigated by a group lobbying for political reform (April 2007) were not given any coverage on SBIS.

‘The consensus is that journalists will not be able to resist political influence in editorial decision-making until they have legal protection.’

News content on Swazi TV is skewed toward government interests and stories about the king always get preference. If footage of the king comes in too late to be allocated the top story, the presenter will have to explain on air why the story was not given priority, the report states.

I think Swazi TV will never improve while it remains under government control. As it stands the television channel is not much more than a propaganda mouthpiece for the monarchy and the government. As the summons of the Swazi TV board by the Minister of Public Service and Information shows, people who work at the station do so under extreme duress.

While this continues the brightest and best people will refuse to work at the station and only the less-good or government lackeys will be attracted to Swazi TV. If we really want improvements at Swazi TV we should stop arguing about the quality of this programme or that programme and instead campaign for the government to give up its control and let the station be run by professionals who know what they are doing.

See also
SWAZI MEDIA RIGHTS STILL RESTRICTED
POLITICIANS INTERFERE AT SWAZI TV
TWO WEEKS TO SAVE SWAZI TV