Adolf Kaure
Over the years, the Namibian media landscape has developed significantly. As we approach the 36th anniversary of independence on 21 March 2026, this reflection highlights how the press has resonated through various aspects of daily life. Before independence, South West Broadcasting Corporation (SWABC) was our main source of daily news, with notable anchors like Robin Tyson providing updates on current events.
Early newspapers such as Algemeine Zeitung, now part of Namibia Media Hub (NMH), and Namib Times were among the first publications printed in the country. Algemeine Zeitung first came out in 1919, while Namib Times, a coastal newspaper, was established in 1966.
Under the guidance of Dirk Mudge, the Afrikaans publication known as Die Republikein was established in 1977 as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party.
A year later, Hannes Smith along with Gwen Lister founded the Windhoek Observer, working together to change the narrative and challenge the colonial regime’s depiction of Swapo as “terrorists” or a “black threat.”
After resigning, Lister founded The Namibian, an independent publication that became popular with its slogan “bringing Africa south,” reporting on human rights abuses by South African forces.
Media and independence
According to Robin Tyson, a veteran media practitioner who is a former NBC presenter, Unam lecturer, and media consultant in Swakopmund, the media played a crucial role in Namibia’s independence.
“Even before independence, during the so-called ‘Government of National Unity’, there were efforts to move away from a language-based radio service, to one which was more ‘national’ in nature (even though the nation, as such, didn’t yet exist),” he said.
He added: “National Radio, for example, actually started before independence, with all radio stations, for the first time, joining to listen to a single broadcast in English and Afrikaans. Come independence, and national television then also played a key role, even going so far as to ‘teach’ the nation the new national anthem (there was a ‘bouncing ball’ on the TV screen each evening to guide viewers through the words of the new anthem).” He further explained that even the process of selecting our anthem was democratic, with different entries broadcast on the radio and listeners voting. Private media also played a crucial role. ‘The Namibian’ in particular, likely a name that irritated the South African occupiers, was petrol-bombed multiple times, and efforts were made to shut it down.
“It survived, and, for those Namibians looking forward to independence (the early motto of the newspaper was ‘bringing Africa south’ – another irritant for the South Africans, who were trying to bring South Africa north), it led the way in giving voice to the voiceless, and introducing Namibians to who would soon be their future leaders,” said Tyson.
Media entities after independence
It wasn’t until independence that, under the oversight of the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, the late Hidipo Hamutenya, the Namibia Press Agency (Nampa) was established in 1991, followed by New Era in 1992 and Namibia Broadcasting Corporation.
Independence also led to the establishment of commercial radio stations such as Radio Kudu, Radio 99, Energy 100, and Kanaal 7 (Channel 7).
After DMH changed its name to Namibia Media Holdings, a newspaper targeting a wider English-speaking audience, known as The Namibian Sun, hit the shelves in 2008.
The Office of the Media Ombudsman, through the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Namibian print, broadcast and online media, has aided journalists to maintain standards.
Fast forward to the turn of the century, and several media publications have captivated many across the country.
Under Trustco, Informanté came out as a free newspaper on Fridays, with catchy headlines that provided many readers with comic appeal, while One Africa TV became Namibia’s first commercial television station, offering its news bulletin at 7PM.
According to Tyson, Namibia’s diverse media landscape, which includes state, independent and private media houses, has contributed to the expansion of the freedom of expression in Namibia.
“Before independence, there was, essentially, one radio station and one television station. Newspapers were more diverse. But that changed at independence, with M-Net on television and ‘Radio 99’ on the radio. Those expanded, with One Africa TV, and today, numerous commercial and community radio stations. That was a clear sign that the old ‘propaganda’ state broadcasters were over, and the new government had opened up the floodgates to an exciting new world of independent voices,” said Tyson.
Media freedom
Namibia enjoyed several years as Africa’s leading country for media freedom.
In 2018, the Namibian government and the Namibia Central Intelligence Service (NCIS) engaged in a high-profile legal battle against The Patriot newspaper to prevent the publication of details regarding properties owned by the intelligence agency.
The High Court ruled in favour of The Patriot, dismissing the NCIS’s application with costs and affirming that state agencies are accountable to the judiciary. The victory signalled the strength of media freedom in the country.
According to Tyson, Namibia’s media freedom is commendable, especially with the country’s dark history.
“We are consistently in the top African (indeed global) countries that allow the press to operate freely. Journalists here are not murdered, detained, or tortured. And that is even more surprising when one considers where the country came from.”
Challenges
A fresh challenge presented itself towards the closing stages of the previous decade as many news outlets struggled to stay afloat with operational costs. This led One Africa to dissolve its entire news team through mass retrenchments before relaunching a few years later. Namibia Economist also sought to become an online publication, as printing costs escalated.
The owner and managing editor of the Namibia Economist, Daniel Steinmann, said that it is more sustainable for them to be a digital publication than a print one.
“We should have gone digital earlier. For three years, we could not convince Namibians. They thought that digital and social media were the same thing.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, we were three years ahead of time, and our advertising income is sufficient,” said Steinmann.
The prices of newspapers have also skyrocketed, which makes one wonder how the ordinary Namibian can afford Die Republikein for N$9, Namibian Sun for N$7, and how most of the remaining newspapers average N$5. Many readers have chosen to read news on the respective media publications’ websites.
This has provided another challenge for media practitioners as ethical standards are constantly tested. From photos to videos, the scrutiny has intensified, leaving journalism a virtually 24/7 job of monitoring comments on social media and figuring out how to reinvent new online advertising ventures.
Looking to the future
With the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the challenge has become even greater, as some journalists come under scrutiny for using applications like ChatGPT, which can dilute and often misrepresent facts in stories.
However, Tyson does not consider AI as a real threat to the quality of Namibian news.
“Namibians are too intelligent to fall for such naive propaganda. And, of course, AI is not acquainted either with our local languages, their unique subtleties, or our various cultures. If you ask AI to tell you, ‘the funniest Namibian joke’, or ‘the best Herero joke’, it fails miserably – indeed laughably. Try it. It can’t come anywhere close to touching us in our hearts and relating to our unique Namibian culture,” he said.
“Will it in future? Perhaps. But, and again this is our strength, it’s doubtful that multi-million-dollar American companies would be interested in pouring money into developing and enhancing, for instance, content in Setswana or SiLozi languages. And that is why, particularly on our language radio services, the human aspect will survive. Namibians relate to Namibians, not to American AI content. And if a local media house uses AI (and some seemingly have done this), it will harm their sales and coverage.” As we forge towards Vision 2030 and celebrate 36 years of independence, it is great to see the freedom that the Namibian media has enjoyed during the years.
It is also exciting to see where the industry is heading as new applications like AI are here to stay.