Online Newspapers, Live TV Channels, Radios

The traditional media outlets in Tanzania is formed with print, broadcast and internet-based media outlets. This is a moderate country that has an admirable media environment. But at some point, the media environments are almost similar to the neighboring countries. the freedom of expression is absent here to some extent. The media outlets are unable to express their core feelings on some specific issues. Rather they coat the matters with censorship. Besides, the journalists of the country are also subject to harassment and violence. Many of the journalists have been harassed from many quarters while performing their duties.

Besides, the supremacy of media outlets after one another is a concerning issue. Often, the media outlets try to undermine the other types of outlets in different terms. Television has become a great source of information and entertainment for the people. But earlier, it was the radio that played the similar role. With the advancement of science and technology that has brought the change and revolution in the taste of people. The local people are now not much interested in enjoying the television shows than listening to radios. So, the radio, as part of the broadcast outlets, has become alienated to some extent in the country. it has lost the former charm. But a good number of FM stations are running their operations here.

The media outlets often adopt different policies for their sustainability. As part of the policies, they take different initiatives. Sometimes, the newspapers are available across the country and in some cases, those are available only in some parts. And this mostly happens to their policies. Based on the readership, the print media outlets are made available in the country. The places which have more readers, the newspapers are interested to cover the areas. And in the case of low readership zones, the newspapers are unavailable. But the policies are almost the same for both the radio and television outlets. They run their operation nationwide.

The media outlets mostly use the local language to publish or broadcast the contents. Basically, Kiswahili is used as the primary language in the media outlet either to publish or broadcast news and events. But English is also used as the secondary language for some of the outlets as this is an international language. The key reason for using the local dialect is that the majority of the locals are literate in that language. The language has its own history too. Some other languages are also available like the Arabic or Swahili. But those are not so popular as Kiswahili.

Though the constitution guarantees the right of freedom of opinion for each of the citizens, the issue is a bit restricted to the media outlets. The authorities within the government are capable to prohibit publication of any specific media outlets which are not best for the nation. Besides, the privately run media outlets are also not allowed to express them completely. They need to take prior permission from the government or from the authorities before publishing or broadcasting any sensitive matters. Thereby, the media outlets in the country are partly free.

Around 15 newspapers are available in the country. Some of them are dailies while some others are published on a weekly basis. The newspapers provide a wide variety of news and information. The readership of newspapers is also remarkable than the neighboring countries. But the print outlets maintain some censorship. They do not publish news and information which are harmful to the society or community.

Over 10 radio stations are available in the country and they are operating across the nation. The radio stations provide the best necessary information and news instantly to the listeners. But with the passage of time, this outlet is on the decline a bit. Some of the radio stations run under the government initiative while the number of private radio stations is also notable. The radio stations mostly use Swahili for their broadcast instead of the English language.

Tanzania has 10 television stations. And they provide a good number of programs for the nationwide audience. In fact, television is one the most popular source of entertainment and information in the country and they cover the entire nation. But the privately operated television stations are not allowed to broadcast like the state-run one. Televisions are widely watched by the local people.

The number of the internet users is comparatively limited considering its populations. The people who use the internet mostly use it for their social networking. But the internet-based media outlets have their bright future ahead as the number of the internet users is increasing gradually.