Online Newspapers, Live TV Channels, Radios

Earlier, the traditional media outlets in Botswana is mostly controlled by the government. Hence, the local media outlets were unable to express their opinions perfectly. Often they were dominated by the government and other state bodies to revise the media content. The South African landlocked country is bordered with some influential neighbors but the media freedom is still a dream for the media outlets. Before the birth, the country underwent domination and became a colony of British. The government structure set by the British is a visible event in the present days. But at present days, there have been significant changes in the media outlets.

The mainstream media outlets of the country are consisted or print and broadcast media. The country has some newspapers published at different intervals. They also publish the newspaper using different languages. The history of print media dates back to the early part of this century. Gradually, all the media outlets have flourished inside the country but at some points, they are unable to express freely. The interruption that they receive from the government is largely responsible for the growth of media outlets in the present age. Since the inception of media outlets, especially the print media, most of them were owned by the government. But there were some privately owned outlets as well and their number was too small to count.

The government has one thing special regarding the press laws. Criticisms of the government and the opposition are allowed in the country but to a limited extent. The neighboring countries have a ban on such matters but the Botswana government is liberal in this case. The constitution of the country allows press freedoms – however, it is rarely maintained in the country and the media outlets have imposed a self-censorship on them. They remain careful while publishing or broadcasting any news or information. Earlier, there is less censorship and the journalists did not have to sign bonds for journalism.

Around nine newspapers are available in the country and they run the outlets using different languages. English is one of the prominent languages that is used to publish newspapers. The print media outlets always try to provide the best possible information to the audience. Unluckily, the number of readership for the print media outlets is lower than the other countries. And the imposition of the self-censorship is also found in some cases if the reports are related to state security or any other important issues.

Three different television channels are under operation in the country at present. And they come with a wide range of programs for their audience. In fact, television is one of the greatest sources of entertainment and information for the local people of the country. But still, some television channels are yet to reach to the total population. People mostly watch television channels for their entertainment. In line with local programs, the private television channels also broadcast some international programs as well on their channels.

Five radio stations are available across the country. Four of them have their commercial operation because they are privately operated. The only radio that is state-owned operates with a non-commercial perspective.