One of the foundational tenets of the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Namibian print, broadcast and online media is that the news shall be presented without exaggeration, and with respect for dignity and reputation.
Last week, we let our guard down and published stories and an editorial that fell way below the standards that we had set ourselves.
We ran an editorial on the Judicial Service Commission of Namibia, which painted a picture of a non-transparent commission with regards to the selection of a judge for the Fishrot corruption trial.
We dropped the ball by not following acceptable principles of journalistic conduct by, among others, referring to members of the Judicial Commission as ‘lieutenants’ of somebody. The editorial management of the New Era newspaper herewith extend a wholehearted apology to the Commission.
We have failed the judiciary, and by extension Chief Justice Peter Shivute, in
our mandate by calling respectable members of the judiciary names.
We regret publishing opinions that came through as antagonistic, and as targeting a respectable branch of power in Namibia.
We admit that the editorial was disrespectful and xenophobic to Judge Moses Chinhengo and the Zimbabwean judicial system.
As a media organisation, we deeply value our commitment to consistently delivering well-researched articles on matters of national, regional and global importance in the realms of politics, socio-economics, culture, governance and development.
We sincerely apologise for falling short of this standard in our recent content on the Judicial Service Commission, and we are dedicated to regaining that level of excellence.
We have thus taken corrective measures internally, and promise to keep looking into our conduct, and processes, and to close the loopholes that we find.
With that, we hope that our work will remain a trusted service to our audience.
Please accept our genuine apology.