When the advert becomes mightier than the pen – A wake-up call for press freedom

In a speech marking World Press Freedom Day, he subverted the age-old refrain that "the pen is mightier than the sword" with a chilling observation: “The advert is mightier than the pen.” In that moment, Justice Ketlogetswe captured, with surgical precision, the silent crisis threatening journalism in Botswana and around the world, the overpowering influence of economic control over editorial independence. His words were not merely rhetorical. They harkened back to a defining moment in 2001, when The Botswana Guardian and Midweek Sun faced an existential threat after publishing stories that displeased the powers that be.

The government - then, as now, the largest advertiser - pulled its advertising from the two publications, nearly collapsing them. This action sent an unmistakable message: cross certain lines and the lifeblood of your business - advertising revenue - will be cut off. Today, two decades later, the issue has metastasised.