Private media must be respected
Kabo Ramasia | Monday October 13, 2025 06:27
Following the success of the Botswana team in the just-ended Tokyo, Japan World Championships, which resulted in Botswana winning a gold medal in the 400*4 men’s relay team and another gold and bronze in the 400M men’s final, it called for a heroic welcome of the athletes. However, what was supposed to be a unifying moment in our national history turned out to be polarising. Reports from private media sports journalists who covered the welcome ceremony indicate that they were denied access to the VIP area where they could have interviews and or capture photographs clearly. Meanwhile, their colleagues from state media, being Botswana Television (BTV), RB, and Daily News (BOPA), were given access. This is despite that all journalists must be equal in the eyes of administrators and event organizers. However, in Botswana, it would appear that some still harbour the old mentality where it was a thing to segregate state from private media, despite that all serve the same purpose, albeit under different platforms. Reports are that it was unclear why private media was, for the lack of a better word, “barred” from covering the proceedings. One hopes that this will be ironed out.
Nonetheless, now that the event has passed, it is worth noting to remind those in the habit of sidelining private journalists and/ or segregating media according to whether they represent government or not that a time has come for them to be progressive. For that to be achieved, public office bearers must be reminded that in their capacity as government workers, they do not represent themselves or the government but the citizens of Botswana and must not hold any monopoly of wisdom on their behalf. Many citizens read private newspapers, listen to private broadcasters, and watch independent TV. With media, different demographics are catered to, and that is why newspaper X will cater to urban youth, whereas newspaper Y caters to the elderly. All that should always be considered. What occurred was unbecoming. The embarrassment that those journalists suffered despite being on duty and assigned by their respective media houses should not be a normalized thing. Likewise, this is not only in sports; it also applies to the police, DIS, and other organisations, which, when national events or issues of public interest occur, are quick to restrict media access, sometimes without any basis. Unless those who deny them entry do so on reasonability that they are willing to share publicly, then this must stop. Be that as it may, if it were meant to be that journalists were to be excluded from these events, then the same should apply to state media. Or is it? It comes across as divisive and sets a bad precedent to give one form of media priority over the other, yet it serves different audiences. The private media is not an afterthought. In any case, such occurrences may even reverse the gains that the current government is trying to achieve in transforming the state into a public media to accord it some independence and shift its operating model.
Going forward, it would mean, state journalists do not only come to an event because the minister of someone from the government is there, but because they are now journalists who thrive on public interest and are pluralistic in their news coverage and not information officers. Thus, all media, regardless of where they fall, must and should serve the same purpose, and that is to educate, inform, and entertain. What we must all hasten to know is that despite being victimised now and then and with its fair share of mistakes, private media is not infallible. But that does not take away from them, their sense of duty and patriotism, especially in instances that call for national unity. We would all vividly recall that historic moment at the Paris Olympics when Letsile Tebogo stormed to gold in the 200M. We observed how most locally based, privately owned newspapers ran the story on the front page. A rare occurrence for sport to feature on the front page, especially in our demographic, where the thinking is that politics sells much faster than fat cakes. Equally, the same media has, over the years, reported on the success and challenges of our athletes, sporting codes and sport administration, thus deserving some bit of respect. Therefore, it would be a sad day for anyone to imagine that private media is the enemy. Should it be that anyone have reservations about sports stories, then there are tried and tested procedures of seeking recourse, like asking for retractions, apologies, demanding a right of reply, and issuing rebuttals to set the record straight. But one would want to imagine that for every credible journalist, the story must be ethical, verified, and carry an element of truth to be published. Other than that, it exposes the publication to severe legal implications. Moreover, the complaints raised by private media on ill-treatment during events not only affect the government, but some are also said to be from corporates. Listen, the media does no one a favour by attending events. This is because most of these are not even advertisements, and while that should not matter, any organisation must not under any circumstances feel entitled to or have the need to control journalists. Kindly do not mishandle them. This is wrong on all fronts. Firstly, who is going to carry your message when there is a blackout or they start snubbing your events? Secondly, would anyone unprovoked see the need to pick a fight with journalists? I bet not. Journalists are not above anyone and do not seek any special treatment. It’s only their work that is peculiar than most jobs I know. To that end, it may be that where there is a need to reprimand them for wrong behavior or there are complaints about misconduct of any sort in these events, they be raised with their editors or forums to which they belong to like MISA and the Editors Forum.
These fora are best placed to mediate on their behalf. Organisations must not normalise sanctioning journalists, as that may amount to infringing on free speech and freedom of expression. Whether they ask questions that you do not like is neither here nor there when dealing with this lot. Lastly, to the journalists themselves, let’s accredit to attend events, ensure that dress code is always appropriate, and endeavor to behave well in networking sessions, particularly when firewater is served. On some occasions, I know that seems to be where the problem stems from. Despite that, this seemingly cantankerous lot is one of the best to hang around, and I argue that we learn to co-exist with them. Yes, you may have differences with them, but let it be respectfully resolved. Otherwise, not all are hungry or alcoholics when they come for events, as otherwise deemed. Some just want to get the story and go back home. *Kabo Ramasia is a Media Institute of Southern Africa(MISA)-Botswana national Governing Council Member. He writes in his personal capacity.