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Radio Lesotho
should be governed by a board that is independent of government.
Public servants, Members of Parliament and political party office
bearers should not be eligible to serve on the governing board.
Members of the Radio Lesotho governing board should not maintain any interest,
financial or political, that could impair their ability to discharge their duties
in a fair and impartial manner.
Members of the board should view themselves as independent trustees of the public
interest in broadcasting, not as representatives of any special interest group.
Members of the board should be appointed for a fixed term, preferably by public
nomination and a process of public hearings, according to publicly available
criteria which guarantee diversity of political, social and professional background.
The selection process should contain safeguards, such as appointment by an independent
panel of generally respected citizens, to ensure that neither the government
nor any political party will be able to dominate or undermine it.
The Radio Lesotho governing board should appoint the head of the public broadcaster,
who should report to the board; this will further promote the head's independence
from the government.
The head of Radio Lesotho should be a broadcasting professional and should not
hold any leadership position in any political party.
The Editorial Independence of Radio Lesotho
Editorial independence and decision-making in Radio Lesotho should be free from
interference by government or the governing board.
The editorial policy of Radio Lesotho should follow agreed standards of political
fairness and impartiality, However, these should not be set down in such detail
as would interfere with editorial independence.
Editorial independence means the right of journalists and editors to make decisions
on the basis of professional criteria, consistent with international standards,
such as the newsworthiness of an event or its relevance to the public's right
to know and in accordance with international codes of ethics for journalists.
Funding of Radio Lesotho
In Lesotho , as in most Southern African countries, only the state has the resources
to adequately fund public service broadcasting. Therefore, it will be necessary
for the government to fund Radio Lesotho , at least in substantial part and for
the foreseeable future.
Safeguards should be incorporated into the funding process in order to ensure,
to the greatest extent possible, that the government or Parliament may not reduce
the broadcasting budget in retaliation for programming decisions with which they
disagree.
One mechanism would be for funds to be voted by Parliament through a multi-party
consensus vote. This means that all parties must agree; the vote must not be
a simple majority vote.
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