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ContentsExecutive Summary .................................................................................................... 1Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1Rationale...................................................................................................................... 1Guiding Questions........................................................................................................ 2Study Team................................................................................................................... 2Methodology................................................................................................................. 2Study Findings.............................................................................................................. 3Conclusion................................................................................................................... 3Recommendations......................................................................................................... 3Preface........................................................................................................................ 6Acknowledgements.................................................................................................... ... 8Acronyms...................................................................................................................... 8Chapter 1. Introduction and Background............................................................... ...................... 9 Problem Statement ..................................................................................................... 11Purpose of the study ........................................................................................ ........... 11Study Questions ........................................................................................................ 11Scope and Study Delimitation ..................................................................................... 12Methodology ............................................................................................................... 12Study Limitation ......................................................................................................... 12Structure of the report ................................................................................................ 13Chapter 2. State of the Media in Tanzania Mainland .................................................................... 14Local Human Rights and Media Organizations ...................................................... .. 14International media and human rights watchdog organizations .................................... 16Chapter 3. The Media and the Legal and Policy Bobby-traps ....................................................... 18Constitutional Framework that supports Media in Tanzania ....................................... 18National Policies and Media ......................................................................................... 18Chapter 4. Analysis on the Impacts of New Legislations on the Media Industry ......................... 23The New Legislations Impacts on the Media and Journalists ..................................... 23The disappearance of Blogs and other Online Media .................................................. 23The Punishment on ‘Defaulting’ Journalists ................................................................ 24The Impacts of Hostile Legal and Policy Regimes on the Media ................................ 26

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Journalists’ lacking assistance ..................................................................................... 27Job security ................................................................................................................... 29Access/Right to information and Freedom of expression ........................................... 29Breach of Constitutional Stipulations .......................................................................... 30Stakeholder Engagement in Media Law Reviews ....................................................... 31Self-Regulated or Regulated Media ..................................................................... 32Safety of Media Outlets Owned by the Government ............................................ 33The Copyright Association of Tanzania (COSOTA) Royalty Payments ............... 33Legal Counsels and Clerics Opinion ..................................................................... 33Chapter 5. Analysis on the Survey Findings ........................................................................ 35Regional Bureaus Operations ............................................................................... 35Contributing Factors to Bureau Closures .............................................................. 35Media and Job Security in the Current Legislative Dispensation ......................... 36Factors Contributing to Reduced Media earnings ................................................. 36Job Satisfaction (Journalists and Editors) ............................................................. 37Policy, regulations and legislation ......................................................................... 38Journalists and the Understanding of Media Regimes ......................................... 39Suspension of Media Houses ............................................................................. 39Chapter 6. Discussions and Concluding Remarks .................................................................. 40Recommendations ................................................................................................. 43Timelines of Media Related Events ...................................................................... 45References ............................................................................................................. 47Annex 1: Interview questions ................................................................................ 47Annex 2: Likert Scale ........................................................................................... 48Annex 3: Survey Questionnaires ........................................................................... 51Annex 4: Study Design and Conceptual guidelines .............................................. 57Annex 5: List of media and related laws ............................................................... 63Additional Reference: [Perused Pieces] ................................................................ 64Principal legislation .............................................................................................. 64Subsidiary Legislation ........................................................................................... 65

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Executive SummaryIntroductionMedia is an important player in the generation, documentation and dissemination of in-formation within the society. Media also plays the critical role in the promotion of social change, democratic processes, and social accountability mechanisms. On the other hand, mass media enable voices of various sections of the society, especially that of the members of the society living in the margins, to be heard and their concerns considered at the decision and policy making platforms at the national level.

Known as the fourth estate, the media works as the watchdog on the formulation and imple-mentation of social, economic and environmental policies on behalf of the members of the society. Among the many portfolios, the media also plays the oversight part on accountable governance and has the role to augment accountability and transparency mechanisms. How-ever, this has not always been the case in the Tanzanian landscape.

RationaleIn the last four years, since the president of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. John Pombe Magufuli, assented to the Media Services Act (2016), the situation in the Media landscape in Tanzania has found itself in a deplorable state. The situation has been caused by the enactment of what appears to be draconian communication and media policies, laws and regulations, which contradicts the Constitutional promise that every member of the society, “has a right to be informed at all times of various important events of life and activities of the people and also of issues of importance to the society”.

This predicament stems from the discretionary and arbitrary use of power by government officials and agencies. This trend started at wake of the establishment of the Tanzania Com-munication Regulation Authority Act 2003 (TCRA). This was followed by the Cyber Crimes and the Statistics Acts enacted in 2015. Sequentially, the regulations that go with the said laws, over and above the enactment of laws that regulate broadcast and postal services and related media communication activities were released.

The current media regulations require journalists to have diploma as the minimum qualifica-tion. This requirement, even though in order, does not take into consideration the hands-on experience of the majority a big segment of media practitioners in the country. Therefore, puts at risk employment of about three quarter (¾) of the media workforce and journalistic profession. The risks of media owners’ businesses being thrown to shambles notwithstand-ing.In 2017 new print media regulations were released requiring all media houses and avenues to be registered on annual basis. This resulted in non-compliance from different reasons, including failure to meet the set criteria, lack of fees required, and in some cases unclear reasons by the registrar. The broadcast and on-line media regulations released in the same year – 2017, demanded all online blogs and forums to be registered after paying an exorbitant $900 (equivalent to Tzs. 2,079,000), as a registration fee, resulting in many online media failing to meet the costs and they are now out of operations. The Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority’s (TCRA) own documentation indicate that many regions are now having no online media and blogs as their owners failed to run due to various factors including failure to pay such

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exaggerated stated fees. The last four years have also witnessed acts of harassment against journalists by the police or other officials. The threats come in the form of threats, arbitrary arrests, and abductions/disappearances perpetrated by unidentified individuals, prohibitions against journalists from working in certain geographical areas, confiscations of their work tools – cameras or digital recorders, banning and suspension of media outlets.The said laws and regulations have had a profound and varied impacts on journalism as a profession, journalists and the media outlets – the industry in general. As mentioned above, media houses/outlets that failed to pay the imposed registration fees have stopped operating, and suspended or temporarily banned media houses/outlets have lost business. Advertise-ment agents have lost confidence in doing business with the media for fear of being seen as supporting anti-establishment media houses.For the reasons above, the Arusha Press Club commissioned a fact finding study in thirteen regions in order to assess the situation of the media in Tanzania. The regions involved in this study were as follows: Arusha, Tanga, Mbeya, Iringa, Lindi, Dodoma, Mara, Mtwara, Kagera, Shinyanga, Tabora, Shinyanga and Dar es Salaam.

Guiding QuestionsThe study was guided by two questions.i. What is the impact of the new legal and policy environment in Tanzania Mainland on the media? ii. What can stakeholders, including the government, do to improve the interactions among stakeholders with

the media, especially the sitting Government and its branches?

The above guiding questions were intended to gather information which would shed light on the impact of the new legal and policy environment on the media. This would potentially look at the internal media operations, professional growth and development of journalists, sustainability of media businesses, the relationship between the media and the government including its agencies, media relationship with civil society organizations (CSOs), and the relationship between the media, and the image of Tanzania as a country to the outer world on issues related to freedom of press and freedom of expression.The second, part of the guiding questions aims at probing hos best the relationship can be smoothened, and appeals to stakeholders, that is to say: the government, the media, me-dia practitioners, the civil society organizations, the private sector and other development partners to build a consensus and proactively embark on improving media landscape in the country. This part will form part of the data analysis and discussion part. The study will show the roles each of the stakeholders can play, to improve the situation. Data collected from the interactions with the respondents of this fact finding study will help build a base for lobbying.

Study TeamThe fact finding of the study activity was conducted by an identified consultant, who is also a senior journalist and university lecturer through rigorous contract and service procurement processes. The lead consultant was assisted by six (6) field data collectors. A total of 116 respondents were engaged by the team throughout the fact finding study.

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MethodologyFor this study, a mixed study method was adopted for comparative purposes. Study FindingsThe fact finding study indicates that journalists and the media houses/outlets that work at have been seriously impacted by the new legislations and corresponding regulations. The arbitrary and discretionary use of extrajudicial approaches puts journalists lives at risk and this groups of professionals live under perpetual life-threatening media environments. This fact finding study processes have established that the new legislations have interfered with the growth, stability and progress of the media value chain. Media houses/outlets own-ers have experienced dropping business and revenues. Other operators have closed shops

or reduced their workforce – in-creasing the levels of unemployment among media prac-titioners. Beyond the fear instilled among journalists and the media landscape in

the country in general, the members of the general public are also engulfed in constant fear as freedom of expression is also at stake. The findings also include the remotely thought of aspect of the media, that is to say, the Tanzanian society members living in the rural settings some sections of the communities are not adequately represented in the media. Above all the democratic political dispensation is lacking and non-inclusive.

Conclusion The media operating space in Tanzania has shrunken due to introduction of unfriendly and draconian media laws and regulations. Persistent and recurrent extrajudicial practices by government officials, agencies, and some political figures is not making the situation any better. The new political dispensation under the outgoing 5th phase Government has ren-dered the media toothless. Members of the Tanzanian society are not able to share their ideas and opinions through media. At worst, there is a continued marginalization of certain social and geographical sections of the society that have all along been at the fringes, for example people living with disability, women and children. The media industry is fighting to reclaim it relevancy in an increasingly political compro-mised environment. The latter will not happen unless all stakeholders speak with one voice in recognition of how vital freedom of press and that of speech and expression are, in the promotion of sociopolitical and sustainable social and economic progress.

RecommendationsKnowing that media are still needed for the effective functioning of the society, we advance the following recommendations.i. To the Government: To note that frustrating media operations threatens related local and

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foreign investors in the information sector. This situation reduces chances of the govern-ment to increase its revenues through the investment or taxes accrued from the revenues resulting from the activities of the media industry. Since the Government is the primary key stakeholder, it is therefore, its sole role to assure effective and a vibrant media sector in the country.

ii. To the Ministry of Education: The ministry is responsible for curriculum development and supervision at all levels of education and in all professions. In this case, it has to address the concerns regarding the quality of journalism training and education at certif-icate, diploma and degree levels. Now that the Media Services Act (2016) and its regula-tions set diploma certificate as a minimum qualification for journalists, the ministry must ensure that schools of journalism do the curricula upgrading to that level of certificate training, and that overall training package must attain the desired national quality.

iii. To the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) and the Vocational Educa-tion and Training Authority (VETA): In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, there is a need to conduct a serious review of the curricula of the schools of journalism. NACTE and VETA must ensure that they have the capacity to develop, provide and su-pervise diploma courses in journalism training, making sure that practical field training becomes part of the curricula. There are so many journalists who have worked in the media for many years without formal journalistic training. It is upon these institutions to find ways to certify such media practitioners and help save their means of livelihood.

iv. To the Police department: The police force and its branches are installed in place to maintain protect and serve the citizenry. Yet in Tanzania Police Force is blamed, in some cases, for taking part in the extra-judicial acts against journalists. The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania states warrants the court only any declaration of a person’s culpability in a felony. Unlawful arrests, intimidation and destruction of jour-nalist’s equipment is therefore against the Constitution you are sworn to uphold. The force should offer in collaboration with relevant ministries and departments continuous refresher courses on the role of police officers who come in contact with the general public on a daily basis and/or when called upon.

v. To Politicians and Administrators: There is an endemic enmity between a segment of political figures, Government officials and the media. It should be remembered that Jour-nalism is a profession like any other. It has guidelines, principles and ethics to uphold. A journalist’s work is to be on the side of the truth and practice impartiality at all times. Therefore, politicians and government officials should not expect journalists to write stories in ways that pleases either of the parties

vi. To Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA): It is quite prudent that journalists, media owners, online media and bloggers adhere to the minimum require-ments and standards to enable them to operate. However, measures and procedures to control content and establish media does not allow the media – the fourth estate, to op-erate in a manner that serves the interests of the masses. There is a need for review the current legislations to allow the media the latitude needed for the industry to serve the people of the United Republic of Tanzania and progress as well.

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vii. To media organizations: Media organizations like Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC), Press Clubs, TAMWA or Media Institute of Southern Africa, Tanzania Chapter (MISA Tanzania), must do their part in defending the rights of journalists and media houses to operate in a freer environment. This can be done through dialogue and partic-ipatory awareness creation among stakeholders on issues related to the work, role and responsibility of the Media Industry.

viii. To Journalists: It has been challenging to establish Tanzanian journalists Union. The current environment and experiences among media practitioners including journalists demands the formation of a strong media union that would be act as a bridge between the industry and the other stakeholders, especially the Government and its relevant agencies/departments. As well, it is evident that there is lack of certification among journalists. There must be a deliberate effort among journalists to constantly train and attain higher journalistic professional skills/knowledge and certification in accordance to the law.

ix. To schools of Journalism: Both ordinary journalists and editors have complained of poor knowledge and practical skills demonstrated by newly recruited journalists graduating from schools of journalism in the country. Schools of journalisms need to upgrade their training delivery methods by employing tutors with highest level of expertise and able to deliver the trainings and instill journalistic skills that are progressive.

x. To Media Owners: Media owners are key to the wellbeing of media industry’s value chain. However, lack of indemnity in the media industry in Tanzania Mainland leaves a sense dejection among the industry’s workforce. We advise the Media houses/outlets owners to establish internal and external mechanisms to offer assistance to journalists who come to rough edges with the systemic fiat.

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PrefaceMedia, in all its forms is an important element in the society before as well as in the modern society. The importance of the media is not based, only, in its practical role in fostering free exchange of information and communication, but also in guar-anteeing freedom of opinions and expression. By extension, the media also ensures that the develop-ment discourses and practice find a meeting point

– in an interdisciplinary perspective. When the media enjoys a latitude of freedom, there is vibrancy in the manner information is shared in the public domain. The media then provides an avenue through which both vertical, horizontal and lateral communication becomes pos-sible. This is where a healthy dialogic situation that we all need to see thriving. This is also in keeping up with the contemporary calls for all-inclusive democratic governance. Media is the means through which the citizenry can hold the government to scrutiny.

The media is part and parcel of the necessary checks and balances tool, to control unneces-sary excesses in authority. Indeed, mass communications media is the connective tissue of democracy. It is the principal means through which citizens and their elected representatives communicate in their reciprocal efforts to inform and influence. Economically, freedoms of the media may engender investors’ confidence for they will al-ways be assured that their suggestions for improved investment environment will be ac-knowledged and implemented. Lack of freedom of expression and opinion through the me-dia may scare potential investment away. It is also important to stress the fact that, at the moment, media organizations have become one of the major employers directly and indirectly, given the broad nature of media industry value chain.Any interference of media operations caused by unfriendly economic or legal policies may lead to inability of the organizations to survive. This has the potential, as has been indicated, to interfere with the livelihoods of media practitioners. We understand that since independence, the Government has been treating the media as an important ally. This even became clearer after 1967 at the establishment of the Arusha Declaration where the media was seen as one of the ways investments aimed at bringing development projects could be attracted into the country.

The private media were nationalized and several others were established by the State so that they could be employed to mobilize the masses and disseminate important information that the Government wanted the people to get. For example, special rural print media projects were established for the purpose of propagating the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party policy lines. New agricultural management ideas for rural communities were development, among proj-ect ventures. It is an irrefutable fact that similar functions have been performed by the me-dia, even after, liberalizing the media sector since early 1990s. This fact finding study on the Situation of the Media in Tanzania Mainland – a local initia-tive, was conducted with the intention of generating information and establishing evidences to support our plight in defense of media freedom. Through the insights emanating from

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the written evidences in this report, we can request the indulgence of various stakeholders to scale up their engagement with relevant key stakeholders, the Government in particular, to re-think and find ways to improve the existing relationship with media. The main aim is to see a freer media industry who can operate in accordance to the national set laws, but especially those which would enhance the industry’s operations towards a better-informed Tanzanian society.

You will find, in this fact finding study report, that the issues at the center of the whole study are related to policies and legislations, media relationship with stakeholders, media institu-tions’ and journalists’ working environment, ethics, and arbitrary applications of power by those in authority.

Covering a span of four years (2016 – 2019), this study was conducted with hope that the findings will catalyze progressive discussions between the stakeholders, with a primary fo-cus on opening a more transparent, tolerant and accommodative dialogue platform between media stakeholders and the Government.

Claud Gwandu Chairperson, Arusha Press Club © 2020

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AcknowledgementsThis work could not be accomplished without the participation of the of all the fact finding study questionnaire respondents in the areas the study was conducted. The Arusha Press Club presents its heartfelt gratitude for the funding they have received without which this study and report would not be possible. We thank all chairpersons and journalists of the thir-teen Regional Press Clubs for their unwavering support and cooperation during the process of gathering data and information used to compile this report. We also thank the dedicated Study team that made their time available for this project, and for accepting to work within the timeframe allocated. Finally, this project could not be as is now without the professional guidance of our study team leader and the veteran and senior journalist, Mr. Charles Musta-pha Kayoka, not forgetting Mr. Evans Rubara for editing the final edition of this study.

AcronymsAPC: Arusha Press Club BOT: Bank of TanzaniaCOSOTA: Copyright Association of TanzaniaCPJ: Committee to Protect JournalistsFGDs: Focused groups discussionsFIDH: International Federation for Human Rights IPI: International Press Institute LHRC: Legal and Human Rights CentreMCT: Media Council of Tanzania, theMISA-TAN: Media Institute of Southern Africa, Tanzania Chapter MSA: Media Services Act (2016) NACTE: National Council for Technical EducationNBS: National Bureau of StatisticsNEC: National Election CommissionNGOs: Non-Governmental OrganizationsRSF: Rapporteurs Sans-Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders) SAP: Structural Adjustment Programme TAMWA: Tanzania Media Women Association TCRA: Tanzania Communication Regulation AuthorityTISS: Tanzania Intelligence and Security ServicesURT: United Republic of Tanzania, theUTPC: Union of Tanzania Press Clubs VETA: Vocational Education and Training AuthorityZLSC: Zanzibar Legal Services Centre

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Chapter 1. Introduction and Background

Tanzania mainland mass media history is long and has gone through five crucial phases. It started with the German colonial period when print media was used for evangelization and political administration purposes. In the British colonial domination period, the media was mainly utilized for religious, commercial purposes. However, it was also used to by the freedom movement of TANU as propaganda tools mobilizing the people of Tanganyika in the demand for Uhuru.In the pre-Arusha Declaration period, the media was predominantly owned privately, and were commercially operated. However, things took a different turn in the post-Ujamaa (Aru-sha Declaration) period. Media outlets were nationalized, and were supposed to be part of the vanguard efforts to building a new socialist society. Finally, came the post liberalization period when multi-party-political system was introduced, and the economy was liberalized to allow local and foreign establishments to run the economic activities. This period saw the Government divesting from all of its parastatal ventures.

The adoption of the Arusha Declaration in 1967, considered to be a blueprint for establish-ment of Ujamaa Policy in Tanzania under the one state political party, made it impossible for establishment of liberal space for media. Alienating the media at this point would be against the principles of Ujamaa which dictated that all means of communication and publications be placed under the direct government management and supervision. What followed was a surge of nationalization. This witnessed a number of privately owned colonial media nation-alized.

In 1992 Tanzania joined the global wind of change which called for a more liberal space for national politics, economic management and media operations, among other requirements. Politically the new global movement demanded the introduction of a multiparty system. As a country, this quest was accepted and other political parties, other than Chama Cha Mapin-duzi (CCM) were established and allowed to operate.Economically, the wind of change called for inclusivity in business and economic invest-ments. At this point foreign investors were allowed to do business in the country, and im-portation of foreign-made goods under the banner of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) was a reality.

In the case of mass media, the Government was advised, and agreed, to create a freer space for as many types of media outlets as possible to be established. Indeed, by the first nation-wide multi-party general elections in 1995, the country had over 60 regular daily newspapers, bi-weekly newspapers and weekly newspapers, published in both Swahili and English languages. A few years after, the first private radio and televisions stations were established. The advent of internet-based communication has facilitated the establishment of online radio and TV channels, including blogging and public discussion forums. The re-introduction of liberal media space had its pros and cons. The media investors were less experienced and less financial capabilities, given the fact that many media outlets were underfunded and operating unprofessionally. Lack of professionalism was caused by a smaller number of trained journalists. Most were people who joined the profession out of passion and by that time there were less opportunities for formal training. According to the

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Media Council of Tanzania:After the liberalization of the media sector in the early 1990s, there was unprecedented mushrooming of the media outlets, both print and electronic. Unfortunately, emerging from decades of government control, the industry was stunted in terms of the number of qualified media personnel. In short, there weren’t enough qualified professionals to run all the newspapers, TV and radio stations that were being established in the country. What followed was for media owners to engage people who were not properly schooled in the profession, either through formal training or hands-on, on-the-job training. Over-night, street vendors become reporters, and deejays (sic) became producers, anchors and news presenters. Inevitably, this reality led to a situation where standards plunged. Professionalism suffered, and people were unnecessarily hurt by some media products.

Ethical issues were many, but the government of the time did not bother much. Taken as part of the learning process, and only in extreme cases of violation of media ethics, those who breached the journalistic code of conduct were punished by law. The Government of the time, contemplated the on establishing a statutory body, which would be responsible for the regulation of the media industry. In 1998 Journalists organized themselves and established the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT). This body would act as media self-regulatory body/watchdog in the land. The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) started to coordinate training programmes, seminars and workshops for journalists and issued monthly publication of newsletters. One of such publications was Barazania and Media Watch. These were commentaries pieces on various aspects of quality of media content.It was fortunate at the beginning that the establishment of the Media Council of Tanzania was permitted by the Government, which supported it in kind. First by allowing it to get registered and operate and having its officials file complaints against the media houses or outlets that reported what such officials considered slanderous for a settlement. Several cas-es involving high profile politicians were sent to MCT and this was seen as a healthy trend in a new democratic space. Recounting this development, the MCT wrote:

…soon most of those who were skeptical started having a second opinion as the Ethics Com-mittee, under its first chairman, Justice Joseph Warioba got to work and proved beyond doubt that the job could be done objectively. The result was that people from all walks of life started seeking the Committee’s services.

However, this was a short-lived honeymoon. The government started introducing measures and propositions for policies and pieces of legislations that threatened the progress of what seemed promising. On the one hand, the measures were seen as necessary as the media had, in some cases, exceeded their mandate, but on the other hand, the measures appeared to be drastically harsh. No consultation was made with the members of the media fraternity in the processes that considered the introduction of new legislative measures.Policies and laws have been revised, introducing criminalizing aspects over elements which were once viewed only as civil if a party was aggrieved and wanted redress. One of the re-spondents during this study, on condition of anonymity said, “the state uses its machinery to sabotage freedom of expression through various means, ranging from licensing, bond requirements, banning of newspapers, deregistration, direct and indirect threat, mistreating and killing of journalists, and barring normal citizens from contributing their views which may be beneficial to society”.

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Problem Statement Since 2003 with the establishment of Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), and the subsequent enactment of policies and other laws geared to regulate the media, it has been clear that the government has backtracked from its once cooperative and tolerant spirit. The authoritarian role was being assumed gradually. The government has since introduced different legislations, policies and regulations that have had serious consequences on the media’s operating landscape in Tanzania mainland. Stakeholders are concerned that these laws are rendering the media industry redundant. This is slowly changing the lives of media practitioners, especially the journalists who live under perpetual fear of losing their jobs, and worse, their lives. The introduction of media legislations and subsequent regulations, like Cybercrimes Act (2015), Statistics Act (2016), and the Media Services Act (2016), and online media regula-tions (2020) have raised serious concerns on freedom of press both nationally and interna-tionally. In the look of things, the media industry in Tanzania Mainland is slowly dying. The media landscape in Tanzania is now encroached by media-like information avenues, which only writes what political figures want to hear.Since 2016 the Media industry in Tanzania Mainland have witnessed tendencies that have had a significant impact on media landscape, namely: abduction of journalists, extrajudicial mistreatment of journalists while doing legitimate assignments in public spaces, uncalled for arrests and temporary detentions, confiscation of journalists’ equipment, banning and fining media outlets when they publish critical voices against the State. With a belief that freedom of expression in Tanzania is currently under attack and the situ-ation is not getting better, Arusha Press Club (APC) and other stakeholders commissioned this critical study to show the impact of the radical and rapid legislative changes on main-stream, private and online media in Tanzania.”

Purpose of the studyThis fact finding study on the State of the Media in Tanzania Mainland sought to gather empirical data that we would be used to assess the real impact of the legislative measures on the media industry. The study results of this study will be used as a lobbying tool to persuade the government and other media stakeholders to review the freedom of press and expression situation in the country and make necessary adjustments for the benefit of the nation at large.

Study QuestionsThis study was guided by the following two questions, which both helped in shedding light on the impacts of the new laws and regulations on the media:i. What is the impact of the new legal and policy environment in Tanzania Mainland on the

media? There has been a trend that shows the decline of civility toward the media indus-try and its practitioners in Tanzania Mainland in the past four years – beginning 2016. The introduction of the new media legislations and regulatory frameworks have made the media working environment rather challenging. In the wake of the seeming draconi-an media laws the media industry practitioners have had to make desperate adjustments in their internal financial and human resource policies to stay afloat. Guided by the first question, the study examined the new laws, and analyze the gathered data in order to see the impact they have caused. This segment of the study looked at the issues related to

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internal media operations, professional growth and development of journalists, business sustainability, relationship with the government and its agencies, and the relationship between the media and key development stakeholders, including the Government, and

ii. What can stakeholders, including the government, do to improve the interactions among stakeholders with the media, especially the sitting Government and its branches? This question addresses the analysis and the discussion part of the study. It shows the gaps and opportunities and how stakeholders of the media industry can engage, and what should be done to improve the prevailing situation of the Media in Tanzania Mainland. This part also highlights areas that each stakeholder can work on to ensure that the media in the country becomes the beacon of light in generating and disseminating credible and impartial information.

Scope and study delimitationsThe content of this study report is a result of data collected and analyzed from 116 respon-dents in thirteen (13) Administrative Regions in Tanzania Mainland, namely: Mara, Kagera, Mwanza (Lake Zone); Arusha and Tanga (Northern Zone); Dar-es-Salaam (Coast); Iringa and Mbeya (Southern High Land Zone); Lindi and Mtwara (Southern Zone) Shinyanga, Dodoma and Tabora (Central Zone). Methodology The fact finding study process adopted a mixed study methodology approach. The study team lead prepared data collection instruments, which were utilized to produce the report. The lead consultant was assisted by six field data collectors. The contents of this report are a consolidation of the data collected from 116 respondents in thirteen administrative Regions the fact finding study was conducted. The majority of respondents who took time to engage

with the study team were members of the Press Clubs within the Regions where the study was carried out. The documentary review traversed across reports produced by national and international organizations working on issues related to press free-dom.

Study Limitation The fact finding study faced various strains, including limited time. This predicated the short time the study team spent in each region. The study team was also faced with the scar-city of documented reports within the offices of Regional Press Clubs and media houses. This made it impossible to access contemporaneous documents on the issues at hand. As common in any fact finding undertaking, financial resources were not enough to cover the initial stages, such as an opportunity to pilot the study in order to check the efficacy of

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the data collecting instrument and methods.

Structure of the report This report is divided into six chapters. The first chapter gives a brief introduction to the is-sues at hand, the second chapter is an analytical presentation of desk documentary review on the situation of the Media in Tanzania Mainland. This section takes a birds’ eye view of what local and international media and human rights watchdog organizations have been reporting about Tanzania in the last four years. Chapter three is a critical review of the media and related laws and policies landscape. It demonstrates the implication of media law reforms on media operations, the welfare of media practitioners (journalists), and freedom of expres-sion in general. Chapter four presents field reports findings. Chapter five is critical analysis and presentation of the findings. The last chapter draws presents concluding remarks and gives key recommendations, the latter which serves as a starting point towards participatory dialogue among media industry stakeholders.

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Chapter 2.

State of the Media in Tanzania Mainland

Tanzania is not an island. International and local media and human rights watchdog organi-zations have been monitoring the trends of media operations and freedom of expression in the country. There are several reports being produced and disseminated each year through different avenues, including but not limited to online and print media outlets. These reports have damning details on the deteriorating relationship between the media and the Govern-ment in Tanzania Mainland.

Local Human Rights and Media Organizations Media freedom and human rights watch-dog organizations, such as, the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), MISA-Tanzania, and Zanzibar Legal Services Centre (ZLSC) have extensively and regularly reported over abusive and oppressive tendencies against the media and their personnel by the police force and the so famous, “watu wasiojulikana” (unidentified persons). These reports are published and are in the public domain. The main elements of these reports revolve around calls on the Gov-ernment and policy makers to review of policies related to the media industry in the country. The general concern expressed, among others, is implications of continued censorship of the press. For example, the continued muzzling of the media denies the citizens their integral right to access information. The latter is even made by the founding father of the Nation, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in 1967, when he scribbled the following, “while other countries in the world aim to reach the moon, we must aim, for the time being, at any rate, to reach the villages by providing them with necessary information.”

Curbing freedom of press, does a double injustice. While the Government thinks that they are exacting justice against the media for their reporting, the Govern-ment, in turn, misses that important element of getting objective and honest views from the Tanzanian populace over the Government’s performance. With the current state of affairs, there exists an unhealthy situation regarding information dissemination. The flow of information from and to the remote parts of the country forms a very negligible percent of the total amount of information published in all media – print, broadcast or electronic. We all appreciate the fact that freedom in information exchange is required in order to help citizens contribute ideas on policy making processes, and national development projects.

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This way, they are given their basic right to exercise and help them create social and professional connections necessary for personal, communal and national progress – socially and economically. In their August 1, 2017 joint report with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) identify a total of 27 cases of encroachment of media spaces by the Government agencies. These are reported to have occurred between January 2016 and December 2016. Mainly,

the cases involved arbitrary arrests of journalists. Media houses shown on the table below were affected:

The report bemoans the arbitrary and discretionary powers the media law accords to the Minister responsible for Communications portfolio, which gives the said member of the cabinet the authority to ban or suspend a media outlet and impose restrictions on the ‘de-faulting’ media house. Such Ministerial discretionary measures, as indicated by the report, are sometimes made on the guise of unsubstantiated national security matters.

Four media outlets were reported banned or suspended, namely: Mawio (January 2016), Mseto (August 2016), Radio 5 (August 2016), Magic FM (August 2016), and four arrests of people accused of breaching the Cybercrime Act 2015.

LHRC together with the Zanzibar Legal Services Centre lodged a complaint against the so called “unidentified” people who conduct clandestine abductions and harassments of peo-ple, including journalists. They also reported the invasion of the Clouds TV studios by the former Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Paul Makonda in the company of armed mil-itary officers. The report also documents banning/suspension of Mawio, Tanzania Daima, and Mwanahalisi in 2017, including the baffling disappearance of Mwananchi Communica-tions journalist, Mr. Azory Gwanda based in Kibiti, Coast Region.

Another repressive development mentioned in the report on the media landscape in Tanza-nia Mainland was the introduction of online media regulations, and the powers claimed by TCRA to shut-down online media that violate the set regulations. Due to these repressive

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developments, Tanzania has dropped by 12 places in the international freedom of expression index to become number 83.

The State of the Media Report (2017-2018) published by the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) indicates that the media situation in Tanzania became grimmer with the reinforce-ment of the accreditation system and amendment of the Statistics ACT in 2017. In a report published online MCT decried the lack of action by the police over cases of mistreatments 35 journalists in 2018. MCT did also warned the media houses and outlets accused of being used to promote divi-sive ideology in the country . The latter was said to promote hate ideology within the Tanza-nian society, which threatened the country’s peace, security and sense of cohesion. In similar veins as the report by LHRC (2016), MCT reported that Tanzania ranking on the global media freedom index by 12 positions in 2016/2017, and by 25 positions in 2018. The report suggests that this trend indicates, “unprecedented suppression of the media” and “en-actment of draconian media laws.”

International media and human rights watchdog organizations Various international entities working on human rights and media freedom issues have been monitoring the developments in Tanzania with keen interest. For example, Reporters with-out Borders (RSF) reported Tanzania’s drop in ranking on the media freedom index in 2019, and stands at 118th position out of 180 countries. The catalogue lists various acts of in-fringement of the media space. The disappearance of Azory Gwanda was also at the centre of the reporting. The report also mention the events of 2019 where in September 27, 2019 TCRA suspended Kwanza TV for six months, while Watetezi and Ayo TV were fined five million Tanzanian shillings (5,000,000) each for misconduct. They also mentioned the suspension of The Citi-zen newspaper for seven days over their publishing of a story on the depreciating Tanzanian currency against the dollar. They also mentioned the harassments, prevention from work and equipment confiscation against Sitta Tuma, Joseph Gandye, Elsie Eyakuze, Kranz Mwatu-pele, and Sebastian Attillio.The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) also joined the forces to decry the contin-ued stifling of the media operating space in Tanzania by authorities through laws and other arbitrary and discretionary measures. In their online report of February 20, 2019 MISA was concerned with the shutdowns and expressed their concern on the citizens being denied their basic right to access information that would enable them to create different connections “that build a community’s capacity for action”.

On the other hand, MISA applauded the Government for introducing the Access to Informa-tion Bill (2016) but with the following suggestions:• Efforts to be made for the installation of information officers in all public offices to assist

journalists get information in a timely manner• Help fight against the culture of silence, and • Stop the unnecessary harassment against journalists and media work.MISA also expressed cited “widespread laxity among government officials in handling and processing access to information requests, poor customer care services, lack of knowledge

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of the access to information law.A number of local and international organizations, including MCT and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released reports with staggering statistics on the number of harass-ments on journalists. On its reports the MCT reported a total of 28 incidents of harassments against journalists in 2019! On an interesting turn of events, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) reported that the media were not allowed to report anything negative on the media situation in Tanzania. In their 2019 report, Amnesty International states that:

Cumulatively, the application of these laws has had a chilling effect on the rights to freedom of expression […] with people censoring their actions perceived as critical of Government for fear of persecution and other reprisals.

The alarm to the increasing pressure from the Government in the effort to muzzle the me-dia have also been sounded by the diplomatic mission heads in the country, including the Embassy of the United Kingdom and that of the United States of America in Dar es Salaam. These embassies issued a joint statement calling for attention of the Government on the unethical handling of the media and its personnel on August 9, 2019. This was followed by a similar statement by the European Union delegation to Tanzania on November 15, 2019.

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Chapter 3.The Media and the Legal and Policy Bobby-traps

Media laws and subsequent regulations accompanied by the discretionary nature of deci-sion-making processes have not left any kind of media and journalists unscathed.

The legal regime related to the media industry is draconian to such an extent that the me-dia personnel are like caged birds of a community that lives in an environment infested by landmines that can go of any time. The environment in tanzania mainland at the moment is more confusing, media practitioners do not know what is right or wrong at the moment. The anti-media regulations, policies and laws were brought to force with quasi-constitutional guarantees. These guarantees go beyond the territorial boundaries and into the international spheres. For example, Tanzania is a signatory to regional and international covenants. In signing these covenants, the nation-state has made an oath to protect basic human rights, including freedom of expression and the media freedom. However, it is clear that being a signatory to international covenants on the protection of basic rights is so alienated to the actual practice.

Constitutional Framework that supports Media in TanzaniaThe constitutional provisions, article 18 of the Constitution of the United republic of Tan-zania in particular, is considered the backbone of principles of media freedom and right to freedom of expression, opinion and information in Tanzania. The presumption is that any law or policy that is inconsistent with Article 18 of the Constitution of the land will be sub-jected to constitutional petition. At a glance, the provisions of Article 18 of the Constitution state the following:• The Right to Freedom of Conscience (Freedom of expression Act No.1 of 2005 Art.6) 18. every

person: i. Has a freedom of opinion and expression of his ideas; ii. Has a right to seek, receive and, or disseminate information regardless of national bound-

aries;iii. Has the freedom to communicate and a freedom with protection from interference from

his communication; andiv. Has a right to be informed at all times of various important events of life and activities

of the people and also of issues of importance to the society.

This constitutional provision on the protection of these fundamental rights within the soci-ety, the authorities – those who are given the mandate to protect and enforce the same stat-utes are acting, as it were, trampling these statutes underfoot. The legal and policy landscape is littered with legislation and policies that contradict the nation’s maiden law.

National Policies and MediaFor over a decade now, the Government has been in the business of enacting various legis-lations and policies, which has predominantly focused on destabilizing the media industry. To make this clearer, here’s a look at the existing policies that regulate the media industry:1. The National Information and Broadcasting Policy: According to Laurean Mussa

this policy “lays down objectives aimed at protecting and promoting freedom of expres-sion. And indeed, one of the objectives of the policy is to ensure that obstacles that hinder access to information and freedom expression are removed.” Other policies that guar-

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antee freedom of expression and non-interference are: The National Telecommunication Policy (1997), The National Postal Policy (2002/2013), and the National Information and Communication Technology Policy (2016). It should not go without indicating that it is out of these policies that we finally enact legislations that regulate the relevant sectors, this is followed by the formulation and development of the regulations to interpret the provisions of such enacted laws and policies. In some cases, the laws and their attendant regulations may be at cross-roads with the policies, and by extension, the stipulations of Article 18 of the Constitution of the United republic of Tanzania. What is not clear and still remains a puzzle, is the policies’ silence over media ownership challenges. Particu-larly, the issue of media concentration, which is likely to affect journalists’ freedom and job security.

2. Laws and media in Tanzania: Apart from the policy and constitutional quasi-guarantee on freedom of expression and that of access to information, the country is also signatory to various international instruments on the matter. However, the legal environment in Tanzania is not that friendly to media. It suffices to stress the fact that mass media op-erations’ terrain in the country is full of bobby traps and legal landmines. Although the constitution seems to offer some leeway the majority of the provisions, the provisions of the new legislations easy access to information and thus deny the society the right to be fully informed of issues of interest. Understandably, the Constitution does not offer guarantee of perpetual protection of the rights to information or freedom of expression or that of the media. These rights are subject to other laws of the land. However, the multiplicity of anti-media provisions in the the Films and Stage Plays Act (1976), The Penal Code 1945/2011), The National Security Act (1970), the Civil Service Act (2002), the Prisons Act (1967), and the Public leadership Code of Ethics Act (2015) is glaring.” All these legislations and policies have loopholes that permit the media to be interfered with by the Government agencies and officials. Or they provide very limited access to information which would otherwise be deemed public.

During the Union Parliamentary sitting in the February 2015, the Government introduced two bills, namely: The Statistics Act and The Access to Information Act, which were enacted into law in 2015. The enactment of these laws was greeted by widespread concerns among development partners, the general public and the media practitioners. Despite the protest the bills were assented to at different times. The uproar was caused by the provisions that would have serious negative implications to the media industry in the country as well as the rights of the citizenry to freedom of expression. The Statistics Act (2015) for instance, limits access to information and publication within the Government’s depository deemed confidential without written approval from relevant authorities. This restriction covers published information on relevant Ministry’s websites or in book forms; recorded information gathered by statistics department and any other agencies, and there is a whole list of categories of information of which disclosure is restricted in accor-dance to the following these article (25-1 (a) – (c). The media industry and its practitioners, including journalists would be reprimanded, and to a greater probability, be punished in any reporting that would appear “false or relaying misleading statistical information,” or publish the same without authorization. The punishment could be in the form of a fine, imprison-

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ment or both. The Director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was recently quoted saying that, “the bill does not prevent a researcher or a research agency from doing research, but the re-quirement is to submit their statistical data and indicate how they were obtained so that they can get permission for public release from the Bureau!” This public statement did not come out clear, whether journalists would be also required to submit their data to the Bureau for scrutiny before publication. Even though this was not clear, it became apparent that the me-dia personnel – especially the reporters must also do this as some journalists were punished for reporting data collected and published without the privy of the NBS because in their pub-lications quoted from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT). Another example is that of The Citizen newspaper, whose news publication activities were suspended for seven days for reporting on the drastic fall in value of the Tanzanian currency against the US dollar.

The Media Services Act (2016) seeks to establish a national council for accreditation for jour-nalists, to have oversight on media industry’s operations, and approve journalism schools’ training curriculum. This law is an update of the detested Newspaper Act (1976). There are very few changes on the updated version. It is interesting to note that the Media Services Act (2016) make provisions for accreditation of trained journalists with Bachelor’s Degree and additional journalism training. But candidates with similar qualification in science or technology are ineligible for the said accreditation. However, the new regulations seem to have lessened the rigid conditions allowing journalists holding a diploma certificate, as a minimum qualification to have accreditation. Certificate holders are ineligible. The latter is a timebomb. If held and enforced, there will be an unprecedented mass layoff within the journalism landscape in Tanzania in a period of three years.

The accreditation, which is confirmed by providing a journalist with a press card, is renew-able but subject to the approved conduct of the journalist. Apparently, the accreditation may be withdrawn if the journalist’s conduct is considered not “acceptable.” There is however no clear guidance on the criteria that would lead to the discreditation of an individual journalist. The sad part is that the disqualified journalist will not be allowed any disciplinary period within which they can resume their journalistic duties – they will be completely banned from any employment in the media field. Furthermore, the bill does not give any redress opportu-nity to an aggrieved journalist. Another eye-catching element is that the possession of the press card from the Council does not make a journalist free to move into, and work in, political and public spaces which are controlled by other agencies. The penal code allows a qualified police officer or his deputy to inspect journalists’ license or impound publishing or recording devices and facilities from a media house representative. Impounding or destroying of journalists’ equipment (cameras, audio recording materials or notebooks) by the police or any other law enforcing agency (or officials) is in accordance with some provisions of the Penal Code or the Media Services Act (2016). For example, if media reporters find themselves trouble after attending a rally that has been declared illegal, such personnel will not be guaranteed physical security of that of his/her equipment, even if they wear jackets marked Press. Article 75 – 76 of the Penal Code states that, “any person who takes part in an unlawful assembly is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment… any person who takes part in riot is guilty of a misdemean-or.” The Penal Code’s provisions, as in the case of the Media Services Act (2016), provide

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for criminal treatment and punishment against any publication deemed seditious or contains defamatory information. This Act is dully complemented by the Tanzania Police and Auxil-iary Forces Act. In 2017 all media houses and outlets were supposed to be re-registered. The new require-ment came with an annual renewal card on each media house/outlet. Some media huoses and outlets, such as like Mawio and Mseto have not been allowed to come back to operation, even after the two years ban were lifted after winning the court cases that were laid against them. The Media Services Act (2016), under the Ministerial discretion, the Minister can ban im-portation of any foreign publication. In the case where such publication is already in circula-tion in the country, the law allows the police force to impound media equipment or destroy it if they think it was used illegally or has unacceptable contents, or has content prejudicial to national defense and security. In a nutshell, the decision on what is permissible or not is discretionary. There is no big difference between The Media Services Act (2016) and the Tanzania Com-munications Regulatory Authority Act (2003), which empowers the relevant authority to is-sue operating licenses and establish standards of conduct for broadcast and communication agencies. The TCRA’s decision is final as much as it is absolute. On the other hand, the Broadcasting Services Act (1993) makes provisions for all licensing needs of all broadcast-ing agencies. It also regulates the importation of broadcasting equipment in the country.But there is another regulatory body, the Broadcasting Commission. The latter is directly su-pervised by the President. However, Article 13(1-3) of the broadcasting Services Act (1993) gives license holders the leeway to develop and carry out quality programming, promote local content with an African perspective etc. In 2017 TCRA asked all broadcast media/out-lets, blogs and online media to be re-registered. Online media blogs had to pay an exorbitant USD 900 to be issued operating licenses. This resulted in lowering the number of online media and blogs. The Access to Information Act (2015) seeks to “give effect to the right of access to infor-mation by citizens as provided for by the constitution”. This is the main objective. The bill demands information holder to disclose information as guided by the act, and the purpose for the “routine disclosure” is to comply “with the principles of accountability, transparency and public participation”. The bill provides for protection of people releasing information to the public “in good faith”. However, the bill does not repeal other pieces of legislation which provide conditions or restrict access to information, or prevent publication of infor-mation classified as national security matter. Article 5(4) reads:” Nothing in this act shall limit or otherwise restrict any other legislative requirement for a public authority to disclose information”. The Prisons Act of 1967 prohibits disclosure of information including taking pictures of inmates no matter regardless of the condition they are in. Prison officers are not allowed to share information, certificate or even provide any testimonial to the public or any legal body without prior permission of the Prisons Commissioner. The mass media article 91(20) reads

…any prison officer who, without the permission of the Commissioner, gives the press or any other person any information concerning a prison or a prisoner or any information concerning a prison deriving from an official source connected with or related to the service shall be guilt of office.

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The offender in this case could be slapped by a fine. The Prisons Act of 1967 prevents jour-nalists from accessing any information on prisoners of conscience, or any persons remanded or imprisoned for any other reason. The Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services Act of 1996 prohibits access to, publishing of, information that could be prejudicial to the TISS agency or national security without the permission of the Minister responsible for security and intelligence. But the requirement to secure permission from the Minister, and not from the director of TISS, indicates the ano-nymity nature of the organization and its operations. They are not supposed to be known as they are not answerable to the general public. The TISS act prevents disclosing TISS operatives except under special situations which are not made explicit. The National Security Act of 1970, Chapter 47, prohibits possession and disclosure and communication (or dissemination) of classified “matter”, or causing leakage of the same.In this case, journalists cannot possess or publish any information regarding the abuse of office by a public officer because it may result in being fined or imprisoned, or both. The de-cision to classify information is discretionary, as in other areas aforementioned. In practice any official can determine an information to be classified. The law does not indicate how one can apply for access and declassification of information from TISS for public consumption.

The National Elections act of 1980 does not seem to recognize journalists as an important part of the electoral process, especially in the promotion of transparency and accountability. The media is not allowed into the votes counting room except with the discretionary powers of the returning officer or with the permission of the higher authorities of the National Elec-tion Commission (NEC). The Parliamentary Immunities Act (1988) does not, also seem to give journalists a special consideration. In fact, journalists enter Parliamentary premises under special accreditation other than that provided by the National Information Services (Habari Maelezo). Journalists can be declared “strangers” and disallowed into the Parliament as the Speaker of the Parlia-ment may wish. Articles 27 of the act implies that journalists’ attendance in parliamentary sessions is privileged, and could be revoked. A similar case happened years ago when the private media outlets were asked to monitor TBC for their coverage of the parliamentary affairs. Their attendance was reinstated after much public outcry, but live reporting of par-liamentary proceedings was removed again in 2016. One important point to add is that, apart from legislations and policies that infringes upon media operations, the majority of the enacted laws, simply, do not acknowledge neither the presence nor the important role played by the media and its branches – towards a more trans-parent, accountable and progressive society.

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Chapter 4.Analysis on the Impacts of New Legislations on the Media Industry

The New Legislations Impacts on the Media and Journalists Respondents engaged in this fact finding study indicated that since 2016 the media indus-try’s performance has been in bad shape due to enactment and application of draconian me-

dia and related legislation and regulations. Journalists have lost their professional confi-dence due to constant harass-ments, arrests and threats from authorities. In certain cases, journalists may be barred from attending meetings or follow-ing up certain stories. For example, journalists repre-senting Channel 10, East Afri-can Television (EATV), Majira newspaper, and Azam TV in

Mtwara Region reported incidences where they were refused to attend meetings organized by the Regional Commissioner under unfounded allegations of professional misconduct. Journalists in the Region were prohibited to report on the saga of Cashew nuts sales, and incidences of Tanzanians being attacked and killed in Mozambique.

Rampant fear and self-censorship have prevented journalists and the media houses they represent from reporting even on natural disasters hitting communities. All this results from lack of assurance on their safety after reporting. The respondents also informed the fact find-ing team of loss of income within media houses due to the segregation of the private media from advertisement business. It appears that private advertisers have, of late, reduced the amount of budget spent on ad-vertisement. Media outlets have resorted to expenditure reduction measures, which includes laying-off staff members, correspondents, and columnists in large numbers. Most media houses are understaffed, and even at that level of few employees, there is still a challenge in getting enough to maintain the remaining workforce. This situation has negatively impacted quality and timely information generation, production and dissemination.Let’s now take a look at the impact of the rogue environment the media is operating on from an individual media outlet in a thematic means of information dissemination.

The disappearance of Blogs and other Online MediaThe advent of internet driven social media platforms, that is to say, websites and YouTube channels provided Tanzanians with a novel opportunity to share news of events, social inci-dences and other information with other people within and outside the country. However, that freedom and access came to a rough halt in the wake of the Tanzania Com-munication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) establishment through an Act of parliament in 2003. In 2017 the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority issued regulations which, among other things, required online media content providers and blogs to register their news

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sharing online sites. At the registration, the owners had to pay USD 900. (equivalent to Tzs. 2,000,000). Many online content providers, including bloggers were not able to pay the fees and had to stop operat-ing their online news sharing activities. This new legal requirement resulted in loss of jobs for the bloggers who failed to pay the fees, as well as denied the cit-izenry with access to online facilities (the bloggers’ audience) access to information.

Another negative outcome was the fact that there was no equal representation of the Regions in the information sharing and receiving. For example, the Regions that had bloggers have very few or have none at all. Two things are obvious in the figure above, there are Regions with no registered blogs at all and they are not on the chart, or have very few numbers of blogs still remaining compared with the number of the media outlets before the introduction of the paid registration policy. One of the issues that media critics have been citing, is that of concentration of media outlets in the hands of few owners. These owners do, in some cases, have alliance with the State elements who uses these news avenues to promotes the business of the Government of the day or personal business ventures. Those with strong broadcast and print media also seem to have investments in consumer products. In the incidence of problems reported on the prod-ucts, they would use the media outlets at their disposal for reputation defense.

The desire for the Tanzania society to become networked and is information technology savy has been thwarted, at a time the global society is moving towards cyber communica-tion and information exchange. At the global stage, there has been complaints on the lack of sufficient information sharing from the developing or underdeveloped countries, particu-larly from Africa. The future of engagement at the global level while within a local context is becoming thinner, given such draconian legislations, policies and regulatory frameworks.

The Punishment on ‘Defaulting’ Journalists The respondents acknowledged that there are times the journalists default on professional ethics regulating the media industry, which attracts punitive measures from the government. An example at hand, is when a journalist submits an unbalanced article for publication. However, it should be remembered remember that journalists, especially those operating in remote areas, do their work in challenging, if not difficult environments. In these areas, transport system is poor, journalists are poorly paid, and in most cases, the costs for fol-lowing up stories is far greater than the pay they get from their sending media outlets. It was also reported that in several occasions, Government officials are not cooperative when approached for a comment or requested for a piece of information.

The study team was informed of the lack of due diligence in the training and recruitment of journalists into media practice. Many journalists fail to perform to the expected professional standards due to weak training and apprenticeship. The lack of skilled trainers was also men-tioned as one of the contributing factors leading to poorly equipped journalism graduates. It was widely accepted that a defaulting journalist should be reprimanded and in case of disciplinary action, the latter should be imposed by known media professional bodies as it

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is done with other professions, for example legal practitioners (lawyers), teachers, medics or accountants.It was suggested that if the Government does not like to refer the matters to journalists’ professional bodies then it must refer the matters to the court of law instead of resorting to discretionary measures, which are, by and large considered arbitrary. The respondents appreciated the fact that most of the online media journalists and bloggers were not professionally trained for the job. But shutting them out of media practice was not an agreeable solution.

The respondents suggested further that, TCRA should consider setting the maximum num-ber of subscribers on a single blog, say 1,000 subscribers to warrant a blogger to seek official registration by paying the set registration fees. The Government was called upon to remember that, “in the midst of the journalistic defaults, these bloggers have been playing a big role in educating and informing the society”. There-fore, the Government should not too quickly forget this contribution. The following chats below show the study respondents’ views when asked if the journal-

ists and media outlets are to blame for the seeming misreporting of events. The responses are inconsis-tent with the government fre-quent charges that media and their reporting and operations are unlawful and unethical. The respondents indicate that the jour-

nalists have nothing to be blamed for. Such charges are one sided. The media industry’s views on their role and responsibilities seem to be in sharp contradic-tion with what the Government would like to portray. The latter view is debatable. But the key issue that comes out of this assessment is how to make sure that these opposing, if not,

contradicting views can be resolved and a consensus drawn between the parties. Another important element that comes out is that of trust. The Government do not seem to have faith in the media, while the media on the other hand seem to in-cline towards self-regulation policies. This brings the discussion to the biggest question: ‘can the media be trusted enough

to be able to conduct an impartial self-regulation?’ Asked if the accusations on reporting defaults could be attributed to “insufficient journalists’ training”, the journalists’ responses were highly divided. The distri-bution of the scores in the chart below indicates agree-ment with the proposition to some extent.

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The responses were consistent with focused groups discussions (FGDs), which blamed poor training of journalists by schools of journalism as one of the causes of the alleged poor quality in reporting practices. to resolve this kind of a stalemate, there is a need for the Gov-ernment, through the Ministry of Education, the national council for technical Education (NACTE) and/or the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) to look into the situation in order to find measures intended to improve the training structures towards the production of professional skills and knowledge among graduates of journalism with link-ages to other education system structures. In order to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings, journalists and editors must agree to ad-here to orders from the Government and its agencies in the manner the media industry value chain is operated but especially the news production systems. Freedom of the media in a liberal economic and political environment is about allowing the media industry them to make their own prudent decisions regarding the content. The media needs all the financial resources and skilled work force, like any other business to survive the test of time in the financially competitive environment. The moment the media starts to accept uniformity in the way reporting is done, it will be the time to install the cross on the media grave. Currently, and as indicated elsewhere in this report, the media and its branches are slowly dying due to the unfriendly operating environ-ment and. One of the contributing factors is the implicit demand that they report from the government’s and its agencies’ perspective. This is augmented by the restrictions around investigative journalism desire from the Government not to read any reporting from other political thoughts and views – especially from the politically opposing views. Readers expect detailed information and serious follow ups of developing stories by the media. The lesser the performance the higher the possibility of media not getting audience or buyers. Advertisers will place their adverts if they are sure of many people view them. If such a guarantee is lacking, the potential or even the existing clients who tender adver-tisements will also withhold any business opportunities from the media houses and outlets.

The Impacts of Hostile Legal and Policy Regimes on the MediaSeveral negative outcomes have been noted. Journalists’ vigor and work morale has been profoundly reduced, with some completely losing hope in the profession. The introduction

of the Media Services Act (MSA) has made the media situation in Tanzani-an Mainland worse. In particular, the fueling factor the worsening media situation is the criminalizing profes-sional mistakes, which can be handled in a different way and treated as part of creating a strong working partner-ship between the Government and the Fourth Estate. This would help in the development of a coherent system and

an informed Tanzanian society. Secondly, private media outlets are experiencing a slow death, and perhaps verging into extinction, due to poor and hostile business and political environment. Third, and perhaps the most important, the slow extinction process of media

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outlets denies the people of Tanzania their fundamental right to access to vital information. Due to budget cuts resulting from lack of business, media houses and outlets cannot afford to pay the workforce, especially journalists and reporters who must go out each day to gather information. Journalists and other media workforce located in remote areas with poor road and technological infrastructure cannot do their work. Even more disturbing, is the fact that the people of Tanzania living in the same areas cannot access any form of information that informs them of the well-being of the nation. The findings of this study indicate that most private media outlets reduced their representa-tion at District and Regional centers by closing down their bureaus. At the same time Print media circulations have been significantly reduced as citizen’s purchasing power has drasti-cally dropped. This is partly attributed to the setbacks mentioned above. One vivid example was reported in relation to the fact that journalists who work for media outlets owned by the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and Government owned media houses, operate from party and Government offices to avoid paying rent for work spaces. The Chart below indicates the fall in newspaper business and subsequent decrease in distri-bution, after the stifling legislations against freedom of press/media and that of expression came to force.

Nipashe newspaper, for instance, has reduced the number of pages from around 50 to 24, the sister paper, the Guardian has remained with only two pullouts as the number of advertisements for both newspapers have dropped by 40 percent. IPP me-dia who is the producer of the above-mentioned

newspapers stopped the production of Financial Times edition since 2019.

Journalists’ lacking assistanceOne of the issues that was mentioned during the interviews and interaction s with the re-search respondents was the fact that media owners and editors’ apathy towards jour-nalists. There is no assistance, whatso-ever, when journalists, who are basically the foot soldiers, and the movers behind media industry’s business success, land in trouble. The study team was informed that journalists expect a bail out, when they find themselves in work related troubles. But the media outlets have not come up with institutional structures that offers indemnity to their workforce. When a journalist is arrested or threatened, they do not get any assistance or legal defense aid from their employers. In some cases, they are left to fend for themselves. The most aban-doned group are the correspondents. Moreover, media organizations like MCT and UTPC or MISA-Tanzania have not done enough to come to the rescue of the troubled media outlets or journalists. The only explanation for this seeming laxity is that these Media bodies are also facing own fears of being both persecuted and prosecuted.

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The diploma certificate requirement for all journalists, as minimum qualification, is pushing some scribes out of the profession, while some leave due to old age. Others for lack of fi-nancial resources to finance their journalism refresher courses for accreditation. Most of the media outlets are not financially prepared to help their journalists in the processes leading to acquiring accreditation.Asked to propose measures that would potentially lead to solving the existing impasse, me-dia house owners and journalists said that direct talks between the Government and media houses is the only measure remaining to mitigate the animosity experienced between the parties. Before the year 2016, the Government had accorded the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) a space to adjudicate cases that in other scenarios would be handled in the court of law. Many high-profile individuals were happy with the arrangement and filed their complaints with the MCT. The MCT and the Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC), and other press clubs-initiated roundtable discussions between the police force and the media to find better ways of work-ing together, and also work towards improving the relationship between the media fraternity and the police force. The round table discussions did not go very well. But it indicated the possibility of the two entities to accommodate each other, within permissible limits. It was also suggested that cooperation between the government on one side, and the media bodies such as the MCT and UTPC on the other side, could be a more convenient approach to enhancing media free-dom. It was proposed that this could be also a way to the influx of untrained workforce in the frontlines of news reporting. The graph on the left, shows that journalists are in favour of the talks and reconciliato-ry arrangements between the Government and the media fraternity. This calls for Govern-ment’s cautiously dropping its guard. What this means is that, instead of the Government

regarding itself as a policing instrument, it needs to look at the media as a partner in the efforts to realize sustainable development in the country. In the past, both Governmental agencies and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were working together in a number of projects, with the media playing their crit-ical development role of informing the public of the processes and also making critical analysis on the ef-ficacy of the development projects being implement-

ed. The government was always happy and ready to respond to the queries from the media, as well as critiques and provided elaborations.

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Job securityInterviewees informed the study team that due to growing insecurities in the media land-scape, many upcoming journalists and a few experienced journalists have resigned or are considering to resign and looking for job opportunities elsewhere. Some journalists have taken part time roles in the journalistic field, and this happens only when they are sure they will be paid for the work done. Some hang-in there for the minimal honorarium they get when they go on training or field trips with NGOs. Others are engaged in full-time non-jour-nalism businesses and come back temporarily to journalistic work. It could be said that some come back for the passion of the industry. There also emerged the view that a number of journalists who have become mercenaries of some malicious news sources, particularly some unscrupulous government officials. These journalists spy and report on other journalist’s activities and reporting in exchange for little pay gains.

Access/Right to information and Freedom of expressionThere were views among the study informants that the new media and related laws with their criminalizing intent have curtailed access to information and prevent citizens from

exercising their freedom of expression and opinion as expressed in the Constitutional stipulations. The Fear is not just felt among media houses and workforce but is also evidenced among common members of the society. The citi-zens live in fear, and have become silent even when their opinion is in high demand on contemporaneous issues.

Much of the media content circulated today is urban and highlights issues that favour those in authority. Censorship among journalists and editors in private media outlets is rampant. Self-awareness, instilled from the confusing media and reporting etiquettes provisioned by the Government agencies responsible for media welfare in Tanzania mainland is rife. The MSA (2016), Cybercrime Act (2015), the EPOCA (2010), TRA and TCRA Acts and regulations have played a big role in curtailing media freedoms. Vibrant and free media landscape provides platforms for the citizenry to express socioeconomic desires and frus-trations. It is the only way policy makers will hear different opinions and get something to work on for the benefit of the masses. Another question that was asked, queried the general feeling among the citizens on personal liberties related to freedom of expression and opin-ion on issues they would like to see the Govern-ment taking responsibility on. The scores indicate that restriction in media freedom and that of the general public space has created an uneasy feeling among members of the general public to share their opinions.

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The situation calls upon the Government to review its position regarding the matter under discussion – freedom of expression.

By enacting restrictive media legisla-tions and policies, the Government has expressly curbed the latitude that was enjoyed by the media and the members of the general public alike. as can be seen on the score, the responses to the

questionnaire that asked whether the respondents felt the introduction of new media laws and policies curb media freedom. The scores above, indicate the general feeling among respondents that the newly introduced laws, regulations and their application has restricted media freedom and freedom of expression.

Furthermore, the responses we got during FGDs reinforced these scores. In a way, there was also that feeling that policy makers have not appreciated the work that has been done by the media. The latter, was said to see no linkage between the work done by the media as an integral part of feedback mechanism that is at best efficient and cost effective.

Breach of Constitutional StipulationsThe scores from the field indicate that the newly imposed legislative and policy measures by the Government are a direct breach of the Constitutional stipulations on media free-

dom and freedom of expression. It must be noted, though, that the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, and that of Zanzibar make provi-sions for freedom expression, freedom to receive and disseminate information and freedom of opin-ion. Nevertheless, and it is important to stress that neither of the cited constitutions have any clause in that restrict enactment of laws and policies likely to curtail these freedoms.

The Constitution of the United States of America, for instance, has a clause saying that no law will be enacted to curtail freedom of the media. In this scenario, the enacted laws, policies and regulatory frameworks in our country seem to override the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.

However, the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania has clauses which demand offenders to be listened to before any court proceedings leading to conviction. But this is not adhered to.

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Stakeholder Engagement in Media Law Reviews The enactment of the Media Services Act (MSA) was done with little consultations with the stakeholders. Had there been consultations with the media stakeholders, the Govern-ment would be informed of the situation on the ground which would have informed the process of establishing new media legisla-tions, policies and regulatory instruments. If this was done, there is a likelihood that the current perception that these new leg-islative and policy measures are antimedia, would not exist. This trend of enacting law without consultation with key stakeholders in the socioeconomic sectors expected to be regulated by the proposed new legislations have gone on in Tanzania for a long time. Media stakeholders are not an exception in this terrain of exclusion.

As already seen, these laws have a serious sustainability implication on the media in terms of income and human resources/staff retention and development. From the ongoing discussion, it is clear that the Constitution of the United Republic of

Tanzania does not have a backbone when it comes to these supplemen-tary laws, policies and regulatory instruments. This brings the whole discussion to a point of asking whether there is a need to add claus-es in the Constitution that prohib-its, in absolute terms, infringement of any kind against freedom of the

media and other civil rights of the citizenry pertaining to expressing views, receiving and disseminating information. This is in support of the earlier argument for having provisions in the Constitution which would potentially prevent enactment of new legislations geared towards restrictions that would cause civil unrest. It should be understood that the restrictive media laws also have impacts on the broader economic landscape in a nation as well as political and democratic cohesion among the members of the general public. From an economic point of view, the restrictive environment that closes out the media is in-dicative of an oppressive, if not, a troubled political environment. Investment in any country looks at few factors, one of which is suppression of the media. The investor confidence is likely to diminish when a potential investment destination is covered in a litany of media and human rights violations.The study delved into finding the views of the respondents on how they view the work of the media in relation to the wellbeing of nation in social, economic and political spheres.

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The score on this matter showed that 75% of the re-spondents were of the view that besides taking away the fundamental rights of the citizens, the restrictive media laws and policies also have a huge impact on the livelihoods of those who depend on the media in-dustry. This results from the impacts such introduced laws and policies have on sales.

Self-Regulated or Regulated MediaAnother important follow up discussion occurred, which queried whether the media should be given the space for self-regulation given the good work they have done, or should regu-lation by the Government through its agencies be enforced. In the event of misreporting or what would be considered a professional misconduct, what should be the severity of their punishment? The response score shows clearly that the kind of punishment the Government has accorded to defaulting media personnel is unnecessarily egregious. Completely not acceptable within

the media fraternity.The earlier proposal of using media fraternity’s ombudsperson and the strengthening of journalists train-ing structures would be one way to resolve the seeming bad blood between the Government and the members of the Fourth Estate. But the Government has also been asked to refrain from using arbitrary powers bestowed upon its agencies or officials. It appears that the many

times when Government officials representing relevant media regulatory authorities would summon journalists or their respective media houses on grounds of protecting public inter-ests. Often, these summonses have nothing to do with the so-called ‘public interest’. Often than naught, journalist have been subjects to harassments, unnecessary arrested and detentions, or have their equipment destroyed or confiscated to prevent them from reporting on unacceptable conduct of some officials in the government who protect their own person-al interests. Journalists must be subjected to formal legal and court procedures in cases of gross misconduct. This way, each party will be served justly. Regarding the observance of constitutional principles and guidelines when the police force

officers deal with issues related to journalists or the media, the responses indicate that the police force officers should uphold the constitutional stipulations. However, the responses rein unclear regarding the kind of disciplinary action to be accorded to default-ing media and media personnel.

There is also the other part of the argument that queried what should be done on the various complaints from journalists on arbitrary arrests and impunity by some officials. This goes hand in hand with the lack of provision of the right to be heard before the verdict.

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Safety of Media Outlets Owned by the GovernmentThe study score found out that while private media seem to have all the scrutinizing eyes of

the Government on it, media houses owned and operat-ed by the Government or agencies related to the Gov-ernment are not excepted from the censorship. They have to abide within the parameters set by the Govern-ment for their survival.

Given the situation at hand, the study also needed to have a general feel among journal-ists working in the private media, whether they would prefer working in the media houses

owned and operated by the government ap-pointees. This was asked to respond to the assumption that Government owned and operated media house personnel are better off, and most journalists would an employ-ment within Government media houses than private media houses. The received responses tell a different story. None of the respondents preferred working for Govern-ment owned media against privately owned

and operated media houses. This is indicative beyond any reasonable doubt that the restric-tions imposed by the government by the Government on the media by the introduction of the new media legislations, policies and regulatory instruments affects the entire media industry in Tanzania Mainland.

The Copyright Association of Tanzania (COSOTA) Royalty Payments As from 2019 broadcast media producing artist works have to pay a royalty fee of up to Tzs. 500,000 to (COSOTA). A percentage of the royalty payment to COSOTA is paid to artists. Even though this is a good gesture, there is however a discontentment on the part of the me-dia. There is COSOTA does not recognize the contribution of the media in the promotion of local artists work without any financial bearing on the artists.

Legal Counsels and Clerics Opinion The study also sought audience with legal experts and clerics on the situation of the media in Tanzania Mainland. In their contributions to this work, they cautiously deplored the situa-tion the media in the country is in and hastened to suggest that media freedom and freedom of expression is limited and never set in stone in all societies. They advised that there should be a clear distinction, and a line drawn, between freedom of expression and hurling unfet-tered insults on politicians or Government officials. This group refused to acknowledge the contradictions found between the recently enacted media laws, policies and regulatory frameworks and the maiden law in the country – the Constitution of the United republic of Tanzania. However, this group supported the proposi-tion for a self-regulated media industry. It was also suggested that “when a law does not respect provisions of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, that piece of legislation is arbitrary.” Therefore, any piece of

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legislation that threatens the wellbeing and limits media practitioners from doing their job by destroying equipment is in direct breach of the Constitution. There is still a segment of the clerics and the ‘learned friends’ who viewed the situation of the media in Tanzania Mainland as normal. To this group, there still is a measure of media freedom and freedom of expression. The limitations and seeming muzzling of the media resulted from ill generated information by ill equipped journalists.

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Chapter 5.Analysis on the Survey Findings

The survey part of the study was intended to focus on issues that journalists, editors and bureau chiefs. The reason for this particular section of the study activity was to understand the challenges that have become part of the media landscape in Tanzania mainland since the new media legislations, policies and regulatory framework enter into force.

Regional Bureaus OperationsThere is an unsubstantiated report that the number of media outlet bureaus countrywide have been reduced. This study has established that due to the recent legislative developments, which have resulted on the tightening of media freedom and freedom of expression noose, regional media bureaus had to close. The challenging part during the study was to establish the exact number of media bureaus closed and the ones still in operation. Contributing Factors to Bureau Closures The survey established that journalists come together in one place, either at a Press club facility or one of the media houses to prepare their articles for submission. The Regional me-

dia bureaus is becoming a thing of the past, if not dead, buried and forgotten. This situation has become a reality due to what has been highlighted before – media houses not being able to even recover the capital input in their businesses. Another factor that was identified at sever-al occasions while carrying out the survey is the fact that most media personnel are ill equipped to perform their journalistic duties

professionally. This caused media houses to close the Regional bureaus. From the hindsight, it appears that the underlining factor, which seems to be the major contributing factor is budget issues.

Cross checking with the respondents, a segment confided that most journalists have left their work stations due to increasing delays in receiving their pay-cheques. The delay is get-

ting longer. What used to take a maximum of two months at the beginning, now extends to a year in some instances. One of the chilling factors of the bureau closure incidents is due to life-threatening working en-vironment that has been intro-duced by the new legislative and policy measures. The most affected category here, is that of investigative journalism.

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Media and Job Security in the Current Legislative Dispensation In the scenario described from the beginning of the report, especially a situation where me-dia houses are not even able to recover capital injected into the media business, the potential to high job insecurity is high. However, the study sought to understand the experiences among media practitioners. It was also of interest to find out what cushioning structures were put in place by the media houses to ensure personnel are covered.

The respondents revealed that “in the past, it was easy to get regular employ-ees, pay retained correspondents on a regular basis. But the situation has changed due to the new regulatory re-gime imposing media unfriendly struc-tures”. The score on the chat shows the respondents’ identified factors leading to job insecurities in the media land-

scape in Tanzania Mainland. The number of adverts and commercials received by the media houses were said to have dropped to 20% while paid for programs have been reduced by 50%. The other major blow to the media industry mentioned was the increase in numbers of online media outlets. This is a reality that seem to have caught traditional media owners unawares. There is therefore the need for media houses and outlets operating based on traditional structures to introduce and adopt new ways of disseminating information.

Factors Contributing to Reduced Media earnings The new legislative and policy measures have by and large created a fear in the potential me-dia house clients to the extent that the latter feel that they would be blacklisted by the govern-ment when they give advertisement businesses to private media houses. There is a sense that giving business to private media houses is akin to be anti-establishment. It would also seem that the type of uniformity in reporting introduced by the new me-dia laws makes it difficult for those who used to be regular readers to buy newspapers. This would only happen if there is an interesting story/news piece.

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Job Satisfaction (Journalists and Editors) The study queried on matters related to job satisfaction among media prac-titioners, starting with journalists and news editors. This exercise went hand in hand with the desires to solicit in-formation from this groups of person-nel on what is done to make sure that the situation in the media landscape remains stable in the midst of wide-spread confusion.

As indicated in the score chart above, the media personnel in Tanzania Mainland are neither satisfied nor comfortable with their job environments. This could be one way to explain the low morale that has been popping in the media the past few years, evidenced in the low tur-nup of quality articles. This would also explain why there is an influx of untrained journalists in the media landscape. In trying to get a deeper understanding of dissatisfaction expressed, 58% of respondents indicated that lack of contractual agreement with employers and 56% on hostile legislation were the leading reasons for the level of demoralization as shown on the score chart below.

The respondents also informed the fact finding team that most of media personnel have now resorted not to generate and file non-controversial and non-critical stories as a mecha-nism to stay safe from the wrath of the Government fiat.The requirement that one must have a diploma certificate to continue

working as journalists was also mentioned as a demoralizing factor among journalists.

The survey also found out that even though there is a sense of intimidation against the me-dia and its personnel – spoke or unspoken, nevertheless, it was almost predictable that a

journalist would be in trouble at the moment an article with critical arguments about the Government is published. Almost immedi-ately after the story hits the streets the indi-vidual media house and the journalist will be served with a warning letter from the office of the director of information services, who also doubles up as the chief spokesperson for the Government. There are instances where the journalists find themselves accused of crimes that have n basis. Some have found

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themselves being threatened by messages of phone calls, as shown on the chart above. Cases of arrests for reporting critical articles/information seem to be rare.

On the matter of indemnity for media personnel, the study found out that in rare occasions journalists get any support from the media houses when caught up in trouble while on work related assignment. In most cases journalists are left to get their own way out of the problem. This seem to be one of the top reasons why most journalists and editors make the decision to

quit a job that they were once passionate about. As shown on the chart, journalists are not insured despite working in dangerous environments. They also don’t have any legal assistance in the event they find themselves at log-gerheads with the authorities for publishing a piece that is

considered unprofessional.

Due to falling economic stability in the media industry, journalists have decided to stop low – even beneath contempt lines to put bread on the table and keep a roof over their heads. In the interviews, the study was informed that “at the moment bribes from both Govern-

ment officials and private entities has become an essential and acceptable means of survival among many journalists”. This situation, and fearing to be caught on the other side of the law – abetting criminal activities, some media personnel have taken a step back from the practice to establish own

businesses.

Policy, regulations and legislation The survey shows that the new media legislations have introduced a social reality among

within the media industry in Tanzania main-land that threatens journalists. Even though most respondents confessed that they have not been physically assaulted, arrested or own work equipment confiscated or destroyed, the intimidating realities remain a stabilizing factor in the lives of media practitioners, as

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shown on the chart above. The majority of journalists have resorted to do their reporting work within the set parame-ters. What this means, is that the Government will not receive critical feedback that ought to come from the citizenry to the government through media avenues.

Journalists and the Understanding of Media RegimesThe respondents admitted that even though the new legislations on the media have made

working as a journalist diffi-cult, there are mistakes made because of being ignorant of the laws. This showed awareness gap among the media personnel on legisla-tive issues.

Suspension of Media Houses A number of media outlets were slapped with temporary suspensions ranging from seven days to 2 years. Others decided to suspend their operations after being reprimanded for mis-

reporting. The bans or suspensions have resulted in massive loss of in-come to some of the media houses. The situation also prompted some se-nior editors and reporters to quit their positions. As flimsy as the reasons given for such disciplinary actions against the media houses, it was the opinion of the respondents that the police department should have fol-

lowed up the stories accused of misrepresentation and mudslinging on the Government.

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Chapter 6.Discussions and Concluding Remarks

This study has established the fact that the current unfriendly media environment that has developed since 2015 with the enactment of several legislations, policies and regulations instruments has created a hostile economic environment for the media industry and a highly intimidating and life-threatening work environment for journalists. The narratives of the processes that led to the production of this report has, in many ways informed the study, of the various ways the media situation in Tanzania mainland has taken a turn to a gloomy future within such a short time. The study established that the media, that is to say: broadcast, print or electronic (online) are operating in a desperate social and economic environment. For media house owners, businesses in the industry have slowed down tremendously. There are no sales whether in advertisement or news departments. The conservative estimates indicate a sales loss of about 50%. In other media outlets, sales have dropped to the record of 2% of advertisements. This makes it difficult for such media houses to continue operating. Media house owners are faced with the decision to wrap up their game and close the doors. While this may sound simplistic, media industry, as any other financially viable business, has its value chain.

Media industry involves many players, including graphic designers, photographers, adver-tisers, printers, distributers, internet service providers, street newspaper vendors and a host of other stakeholders who benefit from presence of the media sector. The fall of one media house due to restrictive legislative and policy environment, then, even the food vendors who made a living by selling their products to the media workforce will suffer.

In the efforts to remain relevant, the players in the media industry are forced to make dif-ficult choices. One of the choices if to cut on the workforce and reduce production. These survival efforts, have necessitated the closure of Regional media bureaus that served as hubs where news from the regions were generated and shared for publication. The people living in the regions, especially those living in remote areas are subsequently marginalized again.

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With these arbitrary restrictions, Government and policy makers will not be able to interact with the necessary information from rural areas that aids decision and policy makings at all levels.

In an exercise that moni-tored the trends in distri-bution of three newspapers published in Kiswahili for five days, it was proved that the quality of information flow from the remote ar-eas is very poor compared to that of urban areas. This proves that point that the members of the Tanzanian

society, already marginalized when the legislative, policy and regulatory instruments were not as restrictive, will now, and doubly so, be even more marginalized given the current situation.All this is happening within a very short time after a celebrated relationship between the Government authorities and the media industry for decades. Even though not recognized, the media has played a role in steering a path for the discussions around combatting and eliminating corruption and the like. In the contemporary governance system, mass media is one of the major facilities used by citizens to participate in public affairs. Mass media’s function is not only that of sharing in-formation but also of disseminating “critical opinion and influence the formation, expression and consumption of public opinion”. Lunt et al (1994) continues to suggest that:

…mass media play a crucial role in the modern political process, for even the elite forms of democracy, the polity requires some mediated communication with the popu-lace to gain consent. Freedom of expression has long been seen as essential to protect-ing the rights of the individual… a government legitimated through consent depends on a free press.

Mass media spaces, from an inclusive democracy perspective, have always been regarded as public spaces. Such spaces that should be accessed by all members of the society in order to air their views regarding the state of affairs in a particular context socially and economically. The concept of public space presumes that media is a market place of ideas where one can shop the best possible ideas and use such ideas towards an improved governance structures among other valuable systemic and communal values. The advent of the internet-based communication and media systems provide an additional opportunity for both the government and the populace within a country context, and even beyond the territorial borders to engage in information exchange. Being cheap and ubiquitous the internet can facilitate e-participation and engagement through various platforms, as it can show how much does the “governments interact with citizens by using blogs, chats, short messaging systems (SMS), Facebook, Twitter and others”.

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The internet, through social media, has widened the concept of the public space so much so that there is no government that can deny the opportunity afforded by the virtual space. An attempt to clamp down the functioning of the media systems in its branches is a direct infringement of the Constitutional rights of the citizens.

One of the serious outcomes of the current media dispensation in Tanzania Mainland could be said to be the undermining the integrity of the Media industry and that of media practi-tioners – the journalists. As indicated by the many accounts from the respondents of this study, the censorship of the media has taken up the whole media industry value chain. This situation has led to compromises among journalists in order to survive. In doing so, this segment of media practitioners has made a decision to service the interests of their sources because they are assured of kickbacks. Journalists have therefore, turned into ‘mercenaries’ who report for the highest bidders, making the voices of the ordinary men and women unheard because they do not have the money to pay journalists. A careful study of the media content would reveal that much of the content is about the big names in Government and other institutions.The study heard from time to time complaints about ill structured journalism schools. The latter has resulted into poor and unprofessional reporting from most of media outlets. The quality of reporting has been the talk in attempts made by the Government agencies to tight-en the noose on media freedom and reluctance to allow the media in Tanzania Mainland to self-regulate the industry. While the blame is placed on the media houses, the onus is on the Government authorities to take the necessary measures to make sure quality of training is to improve to the desired standards.The aforesaid goes hand in hand with collective efforts from all stakeholders to come togeth-er and conduct widespread awareness trainings to practitioners in the media industry on the different legislative, policy and regulatory frameworks. An average journalist does not seem to get time to go through the different legislations related to the media. This only happens when the individual journalist journalistic interest is in such an area. This opportunity should also be given to those who enforce the laws, that is to say: members of the police force of all ranks, civil servants and members of other security forces in the country.As already indicated above all kind of mediated communication between the Government and the populace is beneficial in the sense the former gets the opportunity to get critical views of how people feel the way they are governed. Through media the government gets information on how people respond to development projects, policy implementations and any other political decisions that affect citizens. According to Tom Burns (1997): The liberty of the press [is] essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints on publication, and not in freedom from censure of a criminal matter when published. Every freeman has undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases be-fore the public: to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press: but if he published what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity. Therefore, the Government need to realize that media industry involves more than just pro-ducing legislations, policies and regulatory instruments. The media industry is first and fore-most a development partner with the responsibility to highlight the good and the wanting in the collective efforts to attain sustainable development.

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RecommendationsKnowing that media are still needed for the effective functioning of the society, we advance the following recommendations.i. To the Government: To note that frustrating media operations threatens related local

and foreign investors in the information sector. This situation reduces chances of the government to increase its revenues through the investment or taxes accrued from the revenues resulting from the activities of the media industry. Since the Government is the primary key stakeholder, it is therefore, its sole role to assure effective and a vibrant media sector in the country.

ii. To the Ministry of Education: The ministry is responsible for curriculum development and supervision at all levels of education and in all professions. In this case, it has to address the concerns regarding the quality of journalism training and education at certif-icate, diploma and degree levels. Now that the Media Services Act (2016) and its regula-tions set diploma certificate as a minimum qualification for journalists, the ministry must ensure that schools of journalism do the curricula upgrading to that level of certificate training, and that overall training package must attain the desired national quality.

iii. To the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) and the Vocational Ed-ucation and Training Authority (VETA): In collaboration with the Ministry of Educa-tion, there is a need to conduct a serious review of the curricula of the schools of journal-ism. NACTE and VETA must ensure that they have the capacity to develop, provide and supervise diploma courses in journalism training, making sure that practical field train-ing becomes part of the curricula. There are so many journalists who have worked in the media for many years without formal journalistic training. It is upon these institutions to find ways to certify such media practitioners and help save their means of livelihood.

iv. To the Police department: The police force and its branches are installed in place to maintain protect and serve the citizenry. Yet in Tanzania Police Force is blamed, in some cases, for taking part in the extra-judicial acts against journalists. The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania states warrants the court only any declaration of a person’s culpability in a felony. Unlawful arrests, intimidation and destruction of jour-nalist’s equipment is therefore against the Constitution you are sworn to uphold. The force should offer in collaboration with relevant ministries and departments continuous refresher courses on the role of police officers who come in contact with the general public on a daily basis and/or when called upon.

v. To Politicians and Administrators: There is an endemic enmity between a segment of political figures, Government officials and the media. It should be remembered that Jour-nalism is a profession like any other. It has guidelines, principles and ethics to uphold. A journalist’s work is to be on the side of the truth and practice impartiality at all times. Therefore, politicians and government officials should not expect journalists to write stories in ways that pleases either of the parties

vi. To Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA): It is quite prudent that journalists, media owners, online media and bloggers adhere to the minimum require-ments and standards to enable them to operate. However, measures and procedures to control content and establish media does not allow the media – the fourth estate, to op-

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erate in a manner that serves the interests of the masses. There is a need for review the current legislations to allow the media the latitude needed for the industry to serve the people of the United Republic of Tanzania and progress as well.

vii. To media organizations: Media organizations like Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC), Press Clubs, TAMWA or Media Institute of Southern Africa, Tanzania Chapter (MISA Tanzania), must do their part in defending the rights of journalists and media houses to operate in a freer environment. This can be done through dialogue and partic-ipatory awareness creation among stakeholders on issues related to the work, role and responsibility of the Media Industry.

viii. To Journalists: It has been challenging to establish Tanzanian journalists Union. The current environment and experiences among media practitioners including journalists demands the formation of a strong media union that would be act as a bridge between the industry and the other stakeholders, especially the Government and its relevant agencies/departments. As well, it is evident that there is lack of certification among journalists. There must be a deliberate effort among journalists to constantly train and attain higher journalistic professional skills/knowledge and certification in accordance to the law.

ix. To schools of Journalism: Both ordinary journalists and editors have complained of poor knowledge and practical skills demonstrated by newly recruited journalists gradu-ating from schools of journalism in the country. Schools of journalisms need to upgrade their training delivery methods by employing tutors with highest level of expertise and able to deliver the trainings and instill journalistic skills that are progressive.

x. To Media Owners: Media owners are key to the wellbeing of media industry’s value chain. However, lack of indemnity in the media industry in Tanzania Mainland leaves a sense dejection among the industry’s workforce. We advise the Media houses/outlets owners to establish internal and external mechanisms to offer assistance to journalists who come to rough edges with the systemic fiat.

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Timelines of Media Related Events

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References

Annex 1: Interview questions

Focus Groups DiscussionsMada Kuu: Athari ya Hali ya sheria na kisera dhidi ya vyombo vya habariMkakati upi ufanyikeNote Books:Digital recordersMaswali ya kuongoza mjadala1. Ni tathmini yenu kuhusu haki ya vyombo vya habari kwa sasa, hususan kati ya mwaka

2016 na 2019?2. Unadhani waandishi wa habari na vyombo vyao wana mchango wa makosa na hivyo ni

haki wadhibiwe?3. Athari kubwa kwa hali hii imekuwa nini katika uandishi na mapato, na hali ya kuridhika

na ajira hii?4. Nini kifanyike kwa upande wa waandishi wa habari?5. Nini kifanyike kwa upande wa mamlaka za kiserikali?6. Wamilikie wa vyombo vya habari wana mchango wowote katika kutanzua hali hii?7. Unadhani taasisi za waandishi wa habari, UTPC, MCT au Press Clubs zimekuwa za

msaada? Au zifanye nini kuweza kusaidia kutanzua hali hii?8. Mnadhani mazungumzo na taasisi za dola yatasaidia kutanzua au ni bora kuutii bila

kuhoji amri?Maswali kuwa wanasheria, wanasiasa na viongozi wa serikali

Digital recordersNote Books

1. Uhuru wa kutoa maoni, kupata na kusambaza habari umeainishwa ndani ya katiba ya Jamhuri ya Muungano. Unadhani kama ilivyo inatosheleza?

2. Kuna maoni kuwa sheria za nchi kuhusiana na habari na uhuru wa kutoa maoni zinak-inzana na katiba. Nini maoni yako?

3. Ni sheria zipi hasa unadhani zinafaa ziangaliwa upya? (kama unaongea na wanasheria)4. Unadhani ni vizuri waandishi wa habari wadhibitiwe kisheria na kw matumizi ya taasisi

za kidola?5. Kwa nini kuna umuhimu wa kuwadhibiti?6. Waandishi wana taasisi yao ya UPTC na Baraza la Habari Tanzania. Kwa nini zisitumike

kufanya majadiliano na usuluhishi kama inaonekana waandishi wanavunja maadili ya kazi yao?

48

Annex 2: Likert ScalePO/JO/NG/CIT/AC/ED1. Kukosekana kwa uhuru wa wa vyombo habari umesababisha waandishi Makala na ba-

rua za wasomaji kupungua

2

3

4

5

49

6.Majadiliano ya moja kwa moja kati ya serikali na vyombo vya habari ni njia pekee ya kutatua hali iliyopo

50

51

Annex 3: Survey QuestionnairesSEHEMU YA KWANZA

Uendeshaji wa Vyombo vya habari (televisheni, Magazeti na Radio) (wahariri/ bureau chiefs)1.0 Uendeshaji wa vyombo vya habari (Kwa Wahiriri na Wamiliki wa vyombo vya habari)

a) Bureau za mikoani a) Kuna bureau ngapi mikoani kwa ajili ya chombo chako cha habari? ________ b) Awali ulikuwa na Bureau ngapi kwa nchi nzima _________ c) Ni sababu gani zimefanya bureau kupungua i) Ufinyu wa bajeti ii) Upungufu wa waandishi wa habari wenye sifa iii) Kupungua kwa mauzo iv) Vitisho kwa waandishi habari v) Sababu zingine___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

d) Kupungua kwa bureau kumeleta athari gani kwa chombo chenu cha habari?i) Wateja kupungua na hivyo mapato piaii) Kupungua kwa habari za kutoka vijijiniiii) Kupungua kwa habari za uchunguziiv) Kupungua kwa matangazo ya biasharae) Wafanyakazi wangapi wamebaki katika kila bureau au kwa bureau zote kwa ujumla_________________________________________________________________________

f) Unawalipa wafanyakazi wa bureau kwa wakati: Ndio/Hapanag) Kama malipo ya wafanyakazi hayafanyiki kwa wakati huchelewa muda gani kwa wastanii) Mwezi 1-2ii) Miezi 2-4iii) Miezi 5-9iv) Mwaka mzimav) Muda mwingineo_______________________________________

52

SEHEMU YA PILI2.0 Ajira (employment) _wahariri/wamilikia) Umelazimika mara ngapi kupunguza wafanyakazi wasio waandishi wa habari kati ya 2016 na 2019 _______________________________________________________b) Umelazimika mara ngapi kupunguza wanaofanyakazi katika vitengo vya habari: ___________________________________________________________________c) Ni sababu gani zilizopelekea kupunguza wafanyakazi walio waandishi wa habari na wasio waandishi wa habari?i) Wafanyakazi kukosa sifaii) Wafanyakazi kuwa wengi kuliko uwezo wa kimapatoiii) Mapato kupunguaiv) Mengineyo_________________________________________________________d) Chomba chako kina waandishi wa habari wa kujitegemea (correspondents): Ndio/ Hapanae) Umelazimika kupunguza idadi ya waandishi wa habari wa kujitegemea : Ndio/ Hapanaf) Elezea sababu za kupunguza waandishi wa habari wa kujitegemea: taja sababu tatu tu: _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ g) Unapata wastani asilimia ngapi ya matangazo kati ya 2016 na 2019 ukilinganisha na miaka ya nyuma: _____________________________h) Mauzo ya magazeti/nafasi za programu yameongezeka au yampungua: _________________i) Kama jibu ni yamepungua ni kwa asilimia ngapi? ____________________________j) Unaweza kueleza sababu ya kupungua kwa mapato? i) Kukoskana kwa habari motomotoii) Watangazaji kukosa bajeti ya kutoshaiii) Watangazaji kutishikaiv) Watangazaji kupungua idadi yaov) Mengineyo: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

53

SEHEMU YA TATUKuridhika na hali ya kazi (JOB SATISFACTION) – WAANDISHI WA HABARI/WAHA-RIRI

A. Unaridhika na mazingira ya kazi ya uhariri/uandishi wa habari kwa sasa? Ndio/

Hapana

B. Kama huridhiki na mazingira ya kazi ya uandishi/uhariri kwa sababu gani:

h) Mishahara midogo na haijapanda

i) Kutishwa na mamlaka za dola

j) Kukosa mikataba ya kazi

k) Kuongezeka kwa sheria hasimu

l) Mengine: ____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

C. Je umewahi kusumbuliwa na taasisi za dola kutokana na kufanyakazi iliyowaudhi?

Ndiyo/Hapana

Kama jibu ni ndiyo ulisumbuliwaje

i) Kupigiwa simu za maonyo na vitisho wewe

ii) Wenzako kupigiwa simu za vitisho au maonyo

iii) Kukataliwa kuandika habari na baadhi ya idara au maofisa wa serikali

iv) Kunyang’anywa au kuharibiwa vyombo vyako vya kazi

v) Kushushwa kwenye misafara

vi) Mengineyo: ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Chombo chako cha habari kinatoa msaada gani kwa waandishi wa habari wenu kama kume-

tokea matatizo na serikali?

i. Hakuna msaada wowote

ii. Kupewa wakili

iii. Kulipwa fidia kifedha kama chombo cha kazi kimeharibiwa

iv. Bima

D. Malipo yanapochelewa una mbadala wa vyanzo vya mapato? Ndio/Hapana

E. Ni vyanzo gani vya mapato wewe au waandishi habari wenzako huvitumia?

54

i) Malipo ya wakuu wa idara za serikali

ii) Malipo ya watu wanaotaka habari zao zitokeiii) Biashara binafsi

F. Unadhani kupokea rushwa ni moja ya chanzo mbadala cha mapato kwa waandishi wa

habari? Ndio/Hapana

G. Kuna waandishi wa habari/wahariri walioacha kazi hivi karibuni kutokana na mshahara

kutokuwa na uhakika? Ndiyo/Hapana

H. kuna waandishi wa habari walioacha kazi na kuanzisha shughuli tofauti na uandishi wa

habari? Ndio/Hapana

55

SEHEMU YA NNESera na sheria

A. Ni sheria gani zinawaathiri mara kwa mara kwenye shughuli za kukusanya taarifa na

kuchapicha:

i) Sheria ya takwimu

ii) Sheria ya huduma ya vyombo vya habari

iii) Sheria ya maudhui ndani vyombo vya habari vya utangazaji

iv) Sheria ya makosa ya kimtandao

B. Kuna sheria yoyote iliyowahi kutumika kuwaadhibu hivi karibu? Ndiyo/Hapana

C. Kama ndio Kwa ni sheria ipi na kwa kosa lipi?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

D. Una maoni yoyote kuhusu namna ya sheria au sera ilivyotumika dhidi yenu.

i) Mlionewa

ii) Ilikuwa sahihi

iii) Hakukuwa tunajua sheria inazungumzia nini kuhusu kosa lenyewe

iv) Mengineyo

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

E. Kuna mwandishi wa habari katika chombo chenu ambaye amepata misukosuko

kutokana na kazi yake ya uandishi wa habari kati ya 2016 na 2019? Ndiyo/Hapana

F. Wangapi? Ke ____________________Me_______________________________

G. Eleza misukosuko waliyopata na hatua zilizochukuliwa na chombo kilichohusika na

tukio hilo?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

H. Hatua mnazochukua ili msiathirike na sera na sheria?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

56

I. Chombo cha habari kilishapata kushitakiwa au kufungiwa au Kuonywa? Ndiyo/

Hapana

J. Kilifungiwa kwa muda gani: ___________________________________________

K. Sababu ya/za kufungiwa:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

L. Una maoni gani kuhusu kosa lilisababishwa kufungiwa na adhabu iliyotolewa ____

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

M. Adhabu mliyopewa iliwaathiri kiasi gani kimapato: _________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

N. Chombo chenu cha habari kinajihusisha na habari za uchunguzi? Ndiyo/Hapana

O. Kama jibu ni hapana elezea sababu? _____________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

57

Annex 4: Study Design and Conceptual guidelines

1.0 Introduction

This study is basically explanatory in nature. It seeks to explain why the media in Tanzania

are in their current status, that is, cause and effect analysis. The study will go through var-

ious stages starting with the inception meeting. The objects of this inception report for the

upcoming study project to the Situation of the Media in Tanzania are three folds. One, to

clarify on issues relevant to the study project. Two, to indicate the study process and what it

seeks to achieve. Three, to present tools for data analysis and time frame.

2.0 Background and statement of the problem- already stated in the project (concept)

document.

3.0 The key Study question (s)

As deduced from the project concept this study seeks to answer the following

questions.

• What are the potential long term and short-term impacts of the current legal and policy

regime on the media and freedom of expression in Tanzania?

• What are the possible measures that media stakeholders can undertake to redress the

negative legal and policy environment impacting on the media in Tanzania?

4.0 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: As deduced from the project document the overall

purpose of the study is to conduct a critical assessment the current media-government rela-

tionship with the intention of identifying the impact of the media unfriendly legal and policy

environment in Tanzania. The main purpose has been divided into the following operational

objectives.

4.1 Potential long term and short-term impacts of the current legal and policy

framework on the media and freedom of expression.

- Impact on media operations

o Media income

o Job security

- Impact on media contents

o Investigative journalisms

o Critical cartoons

o Columns with critical columns

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- Impact on freedom of expression

- Impact on democracy and communication practices

- Impact on respect for human rights practices and constitutional guarantees

NB: Media do also include Music and books and any other means of public communica-

tion and information sharing. This study limits itself to journalistic media only which also

involve platforms that facilitate citizen journalism and other such lateral public communi-

cations

4.1.1 Media disambiguation

4.1.2 Mass media

4.1.2.1 Newspapers

4.1.2.2 Television

4.1.2.3 Radio

4.1.2.4 Online media (soft versions of mass media)

4.1.2.5 YouTube Channels

4.1.3 Internet based media

4.1.3.1 Social media

• Blogs and microblogs – twitter

• Social networking sites – facebook

• Online social forums –

4.1.3.2 websites

5.0 Policies and legislation

Tanzania has about 17 to 20 pieces of legislation that impact directly or indirectly on jour-

nalists and media operations. The list below is only of some of them. In doing this study we

shall take cognizant of these legislations and how they contradict the guarantees on freedom

of expression provided for in the constitution on the United Republic of Tanzania.

5.1 Media services act

5.2 Freedom of information act

5.3 Cybercrime Act

5.4 Statistics Act

5.5 National Security Act

5.6 Penal Code

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5.7 Police and Auxiliary Police Act

5.8 Etc.

6.0 Objective two: What are the possible measures that media stakeholders can

undertake to redress the situation

We shall, for this objective, seek opinions and propositions from the various stakeholders

and informants. The proposal will be used to guide future work on improving the situation.

7.0 STUDY DESIGN

7.1 Study methods

Will use both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods (triangulation) order to

obtain the best results

7.2 Qualitative methods

7.2.1 Review of relevant literature

• Media Council of Tanzania

• Union of Tanzania Press Clubs public reports

• Legal and Human Rights Reports

• MISA Tanzania

• Any other relevant literature on Tanzania state of the media and, of course,

from outside the country

7.2.2 Interviews and discussions

The following interview types will be used;

• Unstructured interviews

• Semi structured interviews

• Focus groups discussions

NB: Observing the following

- Guarantee anonymity and security (if need be)

- Respect their privacy

- Avoid leading questions

- Have your informant define terms

- Stay focused

- Make sure your questions are clear

60

- Ask for amplifications and examples

- Prepare some questions before the interview (based on sub-themes)

- Don’t be judgmental and opinionated

- Insert voices or words to encourage the interviewee to talk on

- Take notes

- Be accurate

o The date of the interview

o Where it is taking place

o Who you interviewed (all demographic/professional details)

o Go audio record if allowed

7.2.3 Discussions

• Informal discussions with qualified informants

• Focus group discussions

7.2.4 Textual analysis (media reports, court judgements/rulings)

7.2.5 Media monitoring – studying media contents

7.2.6 Qualitative Content Analysis of laws and policies

7.2.7 Critical social discourse analyses – to study various texts and citizens

(published) discussions regarding the state of the media

7.3 Quantitative methods

7.3.1 Survey

• Using questionnaires

• Likert scales – rating scales aimed at measuring attitudes

7.3.2 Quantitative Content analysis which will involve the following processes

• Identifying texts (newspapers, radio and television)

• Determining themes of investigation or units of analysis (or units of measurements)

• Coding the themes

• Counting frequencies

• Calculating frequency against total

• Interpretation for meaning and implications

7.3.3 Statistical records on journalists who have been troubled during the

study period

61

62

9.0 Sampling methods

1. Sampling method 1- purposeful – using informants who are known to have relevant on

the study topic

2. Sampling method 2 – Cluster – the informants will be grouped into clusters of which

members share characteristics. Then a few representatives from each cluster will be

selected as informants for this study. This is done to ensure equal representation by all

stakeholders groups

63

Annex 5: List of media and related laws

1. The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977 as amended from time to

time;

2. Access to Information Act (2016)

3. Cybercrimes Act (2015)

4. EPOCA Online Content Regulations (2018)

5. High court of Tanzania at Songea 1997; Adam Mwaibabile V. Republic; criminal ap-

peal No. 13 of 1997.

6. High court of Tanzania, at Dodoma, 1995. Rev. Christopher Mtikila V. Attorney Gen-

eral Dodoma Registry, civil case No. 5;

7. International Covenant on civil and political rights of 1966 (New York, United Na-

tions)

8. Media Services Act (2016)

9. Regulations of 1996;

10. The African Charter on Human and peoples’ rights of 1981;

11. The basic rights and duties enforcement Act, No. 3 of 1994;

12. The Broadcasting services Act, No.

13. The codes of ethics for media professionals;

14. The High Court of Tanzania, Dar-Es-Salaam 1997, District Registry, civil cause No.

36;

15. The media policy in Tanzania;

16. The ministers discharge of ministerial functions Act No. 10 of 1980;

17. The National information policy.

64

18. The public leadership code of ethics (declaration of interests, assets and liabilities)

19. The Public Leadership code of Ethics Act Nos.13 of 1995 and 5 of 2001.

20. Universal Declaration of Human rights, 1948;

Additional Reference: [Perused Pieces]

Principal legislation

1. Basic Rights and Duties Enforcement Act 33. 1994

2. Institute of Adult Education Act 3 of 1973

3. Patents (Registration)Act, 1/87

4. Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 27/80

5. Protection from Radiation Act 5/83

6. The Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act iv.

7. The Education Act. 25 1978

8. The Emergency Powers Act No.1 of 1986

9. The Films and Stage Plays Act 4 of 1976

10. The Mental Diseases Act

11. The Ministers (Discharge of Ministerial Functions Act 10/80

12. The National Kiswahili Council Act 27/67

13. The Newspaper Act No. 3 of 1976;

14. The Parliamentary Immunities Powers, Privileges Act 3/88

15. The Presidential Affairs Act, 4/62 xv.

16. The Preventive Detention Act 60/62

17. The Public Officers (Recovery Off Debts) Act 37/74

18. The Public Order Act 21/51 Cf Gn20/57

65

19. The Public Procurement Act 3/2001

20. The Public Service Act 8/2002

21. The Public Trustee (powers And Functions) Act 2/30

22. The Publications (Compulsory Deposit) Act No 14 of 1962

23. The Tanzania Commission for Aids Act 22 of 2001

24. The Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology Act 7/1986

25. The Tanzania Communications Act No.18 of 1993

26. The Tanzania Industrial Research & Development Organizations Act

27. The Tanzania Industrial Studies and Consulting Act 2/1976

28. The Tanzania Institute of Education Act 13/75

29. The Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services Act 15/96

30. The Tanzania Investment Act, 26/1997

31. The Tanzania Library Services Act 6/75

32. The Tanzania News Agency (Repealing) Act 7/2000

33. The Tanzania Posts Corporation Act 19/1993

34. The Tanzania School of Journalism Act 8/81

35. The Tanzania Telecommunication Incorporation Act, 20/93

36. The Trade and Service Marks Act 12/86

37. The Witness Summonses (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 4/69

Subsidiary Legislation

1. GN 108/96 and 261 of 2001

2. GN 22/75

3. The code of ethics for media professionals

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67