Amid the fanfare of the World Relays, World Press Freedom Day passed with little public attention, even as editors warned that presidential attacks, delayed reforms and criminal defamation concerns are reviving old anxieties about press freedom.
As Botswana celebrated the World Relays, World Press Freedom Day quietly slipped by, leaving editors to reflect on a media environment they say is becoming increasingly strained.
BONGANI MALUNGA
Botswana’s media fraternity enters this year’s World Press Freedom Day with a deep sense of fatigue, frustration and guarded alarm.
For many editors and journalists, the optimism that followed the 2024 general elections has steadily given way to unease. The expectation was that a new administration would usher in a healthier relationship between the state and the press. Instead, MISA Botswana says that hope has faded, warning that “familiar patterns are re emerging, more subtle, more sophisticated and more difficult to confront.”
TIRED MEDIA
But while MISA points to the more sophisticated ways in which pressure on the media can operate, editors say Botswana’s current reality is also painfully direct.
They say one glaring issue cannot be ignored: the public tone set by the presidency itself. When the Head of State casts doubt on the credibility of the media, including claims that 90 percent of media reports are fake, MISA warns that such statements “risk legitimising hostility towards journalists and reinforcing a culture of self censorship.”
STATE PRESSURE
The state broadcaster has become one of the clearest symbols of this concern. Reforms that were expected to move broadcasting towards genuine public media independence are, according to MISA, increasingly being viewed as leaning “towards control rather than autonomy.” The organisation says Botswana is beginning to mirror a global pattern in which governments and powerful actors seek greater control over media spaces.
For private media, the uncertainty is compounded by the continued delay in releasing the 2025 Ministerial Media Law Review Task Team report. MISA says the delay has “deepened uncertainty in the media industry,” adding that while a new Media Bill has been introduced, “legislation alone cannot substitute for transparency and meaningful reform.”
NARROWING SPACE
This is the context in which editors are now speaking. Their message is not merely about professional discomfort. It is about the fear that Botswana’s media space is narrowing, that journalists are being pushed to second guess themselves, and that a democracy once praised for its stability is beginning to show signs of strain in one of its most important institutions.
DELICATE POINT
“World Press Freedom Day should be a moment of reflection and recommitment. Instead, it finds Botswana at a delicate and concerning point. The relationship between the media and those in power has become increasingly strained. When the Head of State openly questions the credibility of the media and elevates informal sources over professional journalism, it does more than express an opinion, it sets a tone that risks legitimising hostility toward journalists,” Tuesday Grill editor Letlhogile Mpuang told this publication.
“At Tuesday Grill, this is not abstract. We have faced sustained numerous threats from individuals aligned with the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change, incidents we have formally reported. The danger is not only in these attacks, but in their normalisation,” Mpuang added.
DEFAMATION LAW
Mmegi editor Ryder Gabathuse expressed concern about the current government’s stance on criminal defamation.
“As a lawyer and advocate of the High Court, President Boko understands the implications of such a law. Yet he appeared to defend it, arguing that it serves a function in correcting certain wrongs, particularly where media practitioners are accused of publishing false reports.
“For many in the media, criminal defamation is one of the laws that the new government should have prioritised for repeal. These are archaic laws that target the media and create fear among practitioners. The concern is that the UDC government is either moving too slowly, or failing altogether, to free the media space and allow journalists to work without fear,” said Gabathuse.
WAIT AND SEE
Gabathuse further added, “At this stage, it may be best to wait and see what comes out of the government’s proposed media bill, which is said to be aimed at introducing self regulation. However, based on the current picture, the outlook is gloomy.
“The media industry is already struggling. If new draconian laws are added to the existing pressures, the industry could collapse. We have already seen newspapers in other parts of the region folding because they can no longer sustain their operations.”
FAMILIAR PATTERNS
The Botswana Gazette editor Shike Olsen said media practitioners are concerned that recent developments echo patterns seen under previous Botswana Democratic Party administrations. He noted that the Botswana Gazette has experienced direct pressure in the past, including the detention of journalists over published stories.
“When the current administration came into office, many of us had faith that things would be different. It presented itself as a government with strong human rights credentials, and from the onset, it gave the impression that it would work with the media as a partner in strengthening democracy,” Olsen remarked.
“Unfortunately, it did not take long for that optimism to fade. What is particularly concerning now is that the intimidation appears to be coming from the highest office in the land, not through veiled threats as we may have seen before but through public statements that openly question the credibility of the media,” the Gazette editor continued.
Olsen said the concern within the media is that the new administration has yet to demonstrate, in clear and practical terms, that it is committed to creating an environment in which journalists can work freely, independently and without fear or favour.
Efforts to obtain a comment from the Press Secretary to the President, Emang Mutapati, were unsuccessful as she had not responded to this publication’s email by the time of press.