Government administrations have pledged to maintain open relations with the press. However, media professionals feel there is a certain lack of transparency, even though technology has facilitated transmission.
Media landscape
The media is very polarised, making the coverage of political news or criminal cases controversial. When covering news, some journalists generally show their allegiance to one of the two major political parties. The main non-partisan newspapers are Amandala and The Reporter. Channel 5 and Channel 7 are the two most-watched television networks. Some websites purport to be professional news outlets but show clear bias in favour of a particular political party. Many younger people are turning to online breaking news outlets, such as Breaking Belize News, rather than standard newspapers or television broadcasts.
Political context
Belize is a multi-party parliamentary monarchy and a member of the Commonwealth. The prime minister is the head of government and the governor general is the head of state who represents the British monarch. The country has enjoyed a fairly stable political life for four decades, with the two main political parties alternating their time in power fairly regularly. Crime and politics, widely covered in the media, are often sources of contention between the media and the government. Officials regularly accuse some media of resorting to “sensationalism” on these topics which they say jeopardises the country’s major economic engine, tourism, by resorting to “sensationalism” on these topics.
Legal framework
Overly critical journalists, and media houses face state censorship by way of intimidation with threats of costly and lengthy defamation lawsuits.
Economic context
With no daily newspapers, the pool of media outlets is small, and of those considered mainstream, some are supportive of political parties, even when privately owned. Independent media are scarce and access to funding is limited. Most of the advertising funds that media publishers rely on come from the government and their distribution is often dependent on the party in power. With a rise in online advertising, media outlets are less reliant on developing individual advertising commitments with Belizean businesses.
Sociocultural context
Formerly British Honduras, Belize gained independence in 1981. The country is relatively sparsely populated, with more than 400,000 inhabitants, but it has one of the highest homicide rates per capita in the world. Criminal affairs and political life are the two subjects most covered by the media. While English is the official language, over half of the population speaks Spanish, many exclusively so. This limits news access for a considerable portion of the population since most outlets only broadcast in English.
Safety
Journalists are occasionally threatened, intimidated or harassed. In particular, those who cover the lower courts in criminal matters often face threats from the accused or their relatives over the publication of images and stories.
