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Main issues for Consideration

The Independence of Radio Lesotho as a Public Broadcaster
GoL should ensure that Radio Lesotho is fully independent in all editorial and operational matters. At a minimum, there needs to be a statutory guarantee of independence and a clear prohibition of government interference in any aspect of operation.

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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