practice of journalism and these are the Media Council of Malawi and the Journalists Association of Malawi which regulate and effect a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. 851 1 1 . 1 .2 R e s o ur c e s ( Pr a ct i c e ) Score: 50
To what extent is there a diverse independent media providing a variety of perspectives?
The media in Malawi is quite diverse. There are 47 licensed electronic media houses of which 21 are not yet operational.852 Of those that are operational, only two are Television stations of which one is public and the other is owned by a community of interest. 853 The remaining 24 operational stations are sound (radio) broadcasters. Of these only two are state-run while 22 are either private or owned by a community of interest. Out of the 24 radio stations only seven have limited geographical coverage while the rest broadcast nationally. The diversity in the ownership of the media houses ensures a diversity of news perspectives.
In terms of outreach, most perspectives from the print media target the urban middle class who can afford to buy the Newspapers. Most newspapers are in English and thus their readership is quite low mainly due to the high levels of illiteracy. 854 The most popular Daily papers-The Nation and The Daily Times- are also mostly urban-oriented. This is despite the fact that 80% of the Malawi population is based in the rural areas.855
Efforts have however been made to make the respective papers more accessible to rural masses. For instance, the Weekend Nation and Malawi News publish vernacular pages weekly targeting the rural masses. The Weekend Nation publishes other outlets in vernacular languages. 856 In addition, the Montforyt Media also publishes a Chichewa weekly called Mkwaso. However, MBC TV and radio tends to cover rural areas better than the print or other electronic media, because of advantages of economies of scale.857
851
For more detailed discussion see; So This is Democracy? State of Media freedom in Sothern Africa 2008: Annual publication of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), John Meinert printing, Windhoek, Namibia.
852
Most of the unoperational ones are TV stations
853
The stations are MBC TV and Luntha Tv. The latter is owned by the Catholic Church through Monrtfort media.
854
BTI Report 2012.
855
Ibid.
856
Fuko in Chichewa and chiTumbuka.
857
African Media Barometer Malawi 2012.
2013
197
VII. The National Integrity System 11. Media
on entry to journalism as a profession, there are institutions which regulate the standards in the