The Department of Broadcasting Services is the body that operates the state broadcast media in Botswana. It comprises Radio Botswana (RB), Radio Botswana 2 and Botswana Television (BTV). The mandate of these media outlets is to provide news, information and entertainment.
Media assets
Television: BTV1, BTV2, BTV News
Radio: Radio Botswana, Radio Botswana 2
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Radio Botswana and Botswana Television are run by the Department of Broadcasting, a division belonging to the Ministry for Presidential Affairs Governance and Public Administration.Appointments at the Department of Broadcasting are all made by the government, in line with the public service act. Attempts to establish an independent board of directors for Botswana Television were planned in the past but never implemented. As civil servants, officials at the Department of Broadcasting can be and are usually transferred to other government departments.
Source of funding and budget
According to the latest budget data available from the Ministry for Presidential Affairs Governance and Public Administration, the Department of Broadcasting received a state subsidy worth BWP 153.3m (US$ 16.7m) for the year 2018. That represented more than 75% of the budget used by the state-run television and radio services in Botswana. In the fiscal year ending March 2020, the budget of the Department of Broadcasting increased to BWP 236.7m (US$ 19.9m). No more recent data about the budget of the Department of Broadcasting has been released.
Both Botswana Television and Radio Botswana accept commercial advertisements to generate additional income, but this source of revenue represents a small part of their yearly budget.
Editorial independence
The Department of Broadcasting implements its editorial policies “in accordance with the mandate bestowed on the department by the government.” The division is charged with promoting policies of the government. Although the department claims that it is “dedicated to the provision of objective, balanced, credible and professionally-tailored programmes and publications,” independent assessments show that the media operated by the Department of Broadcasting are editorially controlled by the government.
No domestic statute establishing the editorial independence of the Department of Broadcasting has been identified. The department abides by government regulations and is not regulated by the official broadcasting regulator that licenses other players.
No independent oversight mechanism to specifically assess the editorial independence of the media run by the Department of Broadcasting has been identified either. Sometimes, the Botswana Ombudsman in charge of investigating complaints of injustice or maladministration in Botswana criticizes the coverage of the state media. In 2018, for example, the Ombudsman said that the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) enjoyed 82% of Botswana Television (BTV) coverage with the remainder of 18% shared by all the opposition parties, a proof, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, that the broadcaster unduly favored BDP.
September 2023