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AcknowledgementsThis publication represents joint effort and in particular a collective input from various diversemedia professionals and researchers in the SADC region. In the first instance we aredeeply grateful to all the individual authors of the country media freedom and freedom ofexpression overviews for their thorough and insightful analyses.MISA’s national chapter Information and Advocacy Officers are the face of MISA at nationallevel - most certainly to those persons who have fallen victim to media freedom and freedom ofexpression violations. These are staff members who go further than document violations, andin many instances offer much needed moral support to journalists.In 2006 for the first time, So This Is Democracy? includes the African Media Barometer (AMB)reports from six SADC countries, i.e. Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swazilandand Zambia.The AMB, developed by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and jointly implemented in SADCby FES and MISA, is the first in-depth and comprehensive description and measurement systemfor national media environments on the African continent. Whereas MISA’s traditionalmonitoring sheds light on the number, context and nature of violations of media freedom andfreedom of expression, the AMB provides insight into civil society perception of media freedom,media content and professionalism.The AMB is a groundbreaking initiative and presents powerful lobbying tools. We thereforehave to say “thank you” to FES for considering MISA as its natural implementing partner inSADC region.Also, a special word of thanks to Sarah Taylor for sharing her excellent copy-editing skills, andJerry dos Santos who coordinated the translation of portions of this booklet into Portuguese.Furthermore, we wish to express sincere appreciation to all our partner organisations and donorswho continue to contribute to the publishing of this annual booklet.As always, we must acknowledge and express gratitude to the International Freedom of ExpressionExchange (IFEX) in Toronto, Canada, which ensures that violations recorded by MISAin southern Africa receive maximum exposure in the international community and in doing so,allow for rapid, world-wide and coordinated response to media freedom and freedom of expressionviolations.So This Is Democracy? 2005-3-Media Institute of Southern Africa