It has come to my attention as a reader of most of Botswana’s local newspapers that there is never any news about Botswana’s entertainment industry.
I may be exaggerating with this statement since there actually is a little that is reported about the music, television and events in Botswana’s social scene in general, but it is clearly unsatisfactory.
I am specifically referring to the music industry in this case since it is the one which seems to be growing at an incredible rate. However, all of us also know that this industry is closely linked to the film and television industry.
I am rather concerned that the blossoming music industry of Botswana is hardly ever reported about in our local newspapers, which comes as both a surprise and a disappointment to say the least.
It is evident that the country’s aspiring musicians and entertainers are on their own and are slowly being exposed to the public through their strenuous efforts of promoting their creative artistic works through radio.
This is quite a commendable achievement and could be boosted by the newspapers taking an interest in this and making efforts to enquire more about each project that these artists may be currently engaged in. This would be a great way to diversify away from the overly political news which fill our local newspapers while reaching a new target audience – the youth – and adding to the development of the local music, arts and entertainment industry. Some would term the local music industry as ‘non-existent’ due to the troubled financial, legal and professional obstacles faced by the field, as well as lack of a regulatory body which works to ensure a fair and competitive market that rewards artists for their creative endeavors through the means of royalties. This does not change the fact that Botswana definitely has talent which must be recognized and exploited. In fact, this should make the media, events organizers, investors and other affected entities take note of this and become all the more eager to work towards lending a helping hand to this struggling industry in order to both increase the quality and exposure of these artists and their work.
This is not only limited to the music industry alone as I mentioned, but especially the local film and television industry as well. There are plenty of qualified and technically skilled individuals in this industry but due to lack of funding and a governing board which works towards giving these people the opportunity to utilize their skills by making contributive productions to the country’s entertainment industry, they are left out in the cold while the miniature industry experiences stunted growth.
There was an interesting article which was published in the 30th June 2010 edition of The Midweek Sun entitled, “BTV guilty of stifling growth of film industry,” which enlightened readers on the current state of affairs at the government- owned television station and why the country’s film industry remains poor and stagnant.
It is articles like these which need to appear more in local newspapers as they not only educate but tell of the reality which is faced by the entertainment industry and what possible solutions can be offered by the specialists in these areas.
I must say that it is sad to depend on foreign music and film production for entertainment which is what we are currently experiencing in Botswana. Everyone goes around downloading all of the recent international music and films from the Internet and our locals are literally more knowledgeable about foreign entertainment industries and their household names than that of home.
The 7th July 2010 edition of The Gazette also had an article entitled “House Musicians Learn” which talked of the recently held House Symposium that was organized in order to offer guidance and direction concerning making music in Botswana and establishing a solid, effective music industry.
Measures are being taken to improve the country’s music industry and people must not only be made aware of this but must also feel comfortable enough to freely make contributions to this development in order to combine all efforts, resources, finances and organizational sponsorship to make it work efficiently. This is why we need local newspapers to inquire more about all developments going on in the local entertainment industry in order to increase their media coverage in the entertainment section of their papers.
I honestly feel that not enough measures are being taken, as with everything else in this country, to improve the situation which our local entertainment industry is facing at the moment. It is for this reason that organizations like BOMU (Botswana Music Union) were established and designed to address such issues as well as tackle them and come up with solutions to enable the country’s musical talent to reach full potential.
In closing, I urge BOMU to seriously consider making a major commitment to seriously develop an organized governing music body for the country’s music artists, taking into consideration the amount of sacrifice that will be needed in order to reach this desired goal which I am certain is already in progress.
Mogami Ntseane
By email