WINDHOEK – The Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index that hailed Namibia as one of the top 20 countries in the world that uphold press freedom was received with mixed feelings by local journalists.
Some praised the achievement, while others were more sceptical of the latest ranking. Emily Brown, the head of the media technology department at the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN), said that if press freedom did in fact exist in Namibia, there was a lot to be proud of, but that there were many challenges when it comes to offering diverse views. She said the status quo is not really challenged and 80 percent of voices conveyed are those of male officials and only 20 percent are the views of female officials. “Ordinary voices are not heard. We can’t truly be proud if we do not bring out those voices,” she added, saying that lazy journalism where single-sourced articles are commonplace was also to blame for the current state of affairs. Her general perception is that Namibians appear to be very respectful of authority, including their their seniors or leaders and therefore would not challenge or oppose their views even if they are wrong. She further said although Namibia is ranked higher than some Western democracies such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, she sees more diversity in the media coverage in those countries. “We are too nice. It’s our right to differ,” she maintained, saying opposing views create informed decisions and she is worried this development will make Namibians even more complacent.
Augetto Graig, a journalist at Informanté, said the fact that press freedom exists is due to the incompetence on the part of authorities that withhold information from the public. “No law guarantees access to information in Namibia and too many authority figures are in a position to prevent important information from surfacing. The fact that the nation is fairly well informed is a credit to journalists and news organisations in the country,” he said, adding that if government had its way, less information would reach the public. Eberhard Hofmann, the editor of the Algemeine Zeitung and chairperson of the Editor’s Forum said he is impressed by the assessment, but remains sceptical about the lack
of access to information. According to him there is a lot of resistance from senior government officials to avail information or respond to media queries. “This is a serious concern and it has become worse,” he said, questioning the role of public relations officers at government ministries. The editor of The Namibian, Tangeni Amupadhi, shared the view of Hofmann, but praised Namibian politicians for having come of age in terms of accepting free and independent news media, but said that the same could not be said of bureaucrats in public and state-owned enterprises, as well as many private businesses. “Government has gone as far as removing one of the official and long-standing features of its aversion to a free press when Cabinet in 2011 rescinded its decision to ban state advertising in and the purchase of The Namibian newspaper.”
“We hope the strong ranking of Namibia as a beacon of freedom of the news media in the world would spur us on to spread this tenet of democracy wider through better access to information,” he said, adding public institutions should be compelled to make information available to the general public.
Namibian Sun’s editor, Toivo Ndjebela, also hailed the ranking, saying media in Namibia enjoy massive freedoms. “We must thank government, because they are key in this.” He added that there have been rare unpleasant scenarios of camouflaged intimidation, but the general trend is that of great freedom for journalists to practice their profession. NBC presenter Fran Thomas commended the government for allowing press freedom, saying it is a sure sign of a flourishing democracy. “A journalist’s right to report on matters affecting the people must at all cost be respected and protected and so should citizens constantly be provided the platform to voice their own opinions without fear or favour through print and electronic media, but especially through new age media, such as Facebook and Twitter.” Thomas said all Namibians should jealously guard this achievement of being among the top 20 and in doing so, constantly and always hold government and the media itself accountable to produce and circulate credible news and information accurately. “Compared to other countries such as North Korea, Somalia and Syria, where a journalist’s life is in constant danger, we do have a lot to be grateful for in Namibia. So well done to all of us!”
Tjirume Beckz Gavert, a former journalist of the Namibia Review, said non-violence against journalists in Namibia compared to other countries contributed significantly to the ranking.
“But I don’t think press freedom means that readers are satisfied with what they get from newspapers. There is just not much content in most,” he said. He further said sometimes when a reporter produces a well-investigated story, most media houses care more about commercial survival than journalistic content. Ferdinand Tjombe, a journalism guru, said he is very proud of Namibia’s performance in terms of media freedom and tolerance of diverse opinions, especially in the political sphere. “However, there are some weaknesses such as the lack of a Freedom of Information Act, which ought to make it possible for competent journalists to lawfully demand public information from the state and its institutions,” he said. He argued that public officials and spokespersons dodging journalists should also be held accountable through legislative measures and added that public servants have a duty to provide information to the media if it is in the public interest and the well-being of the nation and keeping that information deliberately away should be regarded a criminal offense.
The Reporters Without Borders Index measures the state of media freedom each year globally and reflects the degree of freedom that journalists, news media and citizens enjoy in each surveyed country. It also takes into account efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom and further measures the level of self-censorship in each country and the ability of the media to investigate and criticize.
By Magreth Nunuhe