SECTOR 1 with one panellist highlighting civil society’s absence in supporting NBC workers during their strike in October and November 2018. ‘Civil society does not really come to our defence. For example, in the recent strike by NBC workers [and] journalists standing up for their rights, there was no support from civil society. NBC reporters do not belong to any organisation and the strike was not only about pay issues: but there was simply no support.’ Another panellist, however, contested this view, arguing that while there may have been a limited understanding of the reasons behind the strike, journalists at the state-owned broadcaster were not actively engaged with media lobby groups. ‘The state has a certain way of not recognising certain organisations. For example, outside of NBC, journalists there don’t really associate themselves with other organisations. As such, they ended up being on their own.’ On the whole, panellists agreed on the need for journalists to organise themselves more effectively – not only in terms of unionising, but also with respect to better advocacy on cases where media freedom is at risk. ‘Some journalists don’t know who to go to in civil society for assistance,’ one panellist noted. Another observed that, ‘When things are taken away, how do people react? When Open File, Press Review, the Week that Was, etc were taken away, was anything said? Civil society and journalists themselves have been quiet on these issues.’ Panellists also noted the need for civil society to engage more effectively, given the decline of certain actors in this space and the current dormancy of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Namibia, which used to organise several important media events and advocate strongly on media issues – despite not having much membership of local journalists. ‘It would be worth analysing the CSO space to see whether they exist in practise or only in name. Civil society is on a decline, because the making of them was donor-driven. Even the umbrella body, NANGOF [Namibian Non-Governmental Organisations Forum], is not active. Very few that are still active.’ Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: Score of previous years: 19 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2018 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓ 2.8 2005: 2.8; 2007: 3.1; 2009: 2.9; 2011: 2.6; 2015: 2.3 ✓