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Home / Ombudsman issues clean bill of health for New Era, Kundana
Ombudsman issues clean bill of health for New Era, Kundana
2017-09-20Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Windhoek-New Era Publication Corporation’s (NEPC) two newspapers, New Era and Kundana, have again emerged as the only two national newspapers that did not have any complaint registered against them by the public to the media ombudsman for non-factual reporting or violation of media ethics in the period January 2016 to July 2017. This is according to the media ombudsman, John Nakuta, and the Editors’ Forum of Namibia. It is the second year running that NEPC newspapers retain spotless coverage of news – local and international – with no complaint lodged against them at the media ombudsman. “We feel vindicated by the extra efforts we place into each edition we put out – for both papers. We’re humbled by this verdict, but would not take anything for granted, even in this moment of excitement,” said NEPC managing editor Toivo Ndjebela. Information and Communication Technology Minister Tjekero Tweya and the NEPC board of directors congratulated NEPC on its fair and objective news coverage. Twelve complaints were registered with the media ombudsman during the period in question. Three complaints were registered against The Namibian, of which one was dropped. The Namibian offered the right to reply to the complainant, while the other complaint is still pending with the media ombudsman. The weekly Windhoek Observer also had three complaints registered, of which one was closed due to lack of response from the complainant, and in the other cases the ombudsman ordered the newspaper to apologise and issue a retraction. Windhoek Observer still has one case pending. Die Republikein had one complaint resolved through mediation, while the complaint against Namibian Sun was found not to have violated the Media Code of Ethics. Informanté had two cases registered against it, of which one was dismissed as it was submitted late, but one is still pending. Confidenté newspaper settled its complaint in the High Court last week where the newspaper agreed to pay N$120,000 in damages to the complainant. The online news website, Oshili24, also has one case pending with the media ombudsman. The media ombudsman further said he would “no longer adjudicate complaints against non-members. All media institutions are thus required to sign up without fail to benefit from the speedy and inexpensive dispute resolution provided by an internationally recognised model of self-regulation.” 2017-09-20Staff Report 2
