free of political interference. There are several languages in which the media do not publish or broadcast. There is no real gender balance in the media – men tend to be favoured for covering important topics. Access to the internet is widespread in urban areas and, according to panellists, there is almost total territorial coverage of mobile telecommunications. There are no laws which restrict access to international media, internet content is not filtered or blocked by the state and there are no known instances where the ability to report online has been hampered. Websites and blogs are not required to register with state authorities. The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) is the public broadcaster of Namibia. The board is appointed by the Minister of ICT and most members have close links with the ruling party. There are no provisions in the NBC’s Act that guarantee its editorial independence. Panellists were divided on whether NBC has diverse quality programming formats that cater to public interest. NBC collects TV licence fees, has a subsidy from the government and receives income from advertising. Nevertheless, it does not seem to have enough money to run its operations properly, leading some to believe that the funds are poorly managed. A number of laws seek to promote competition in the Namibian economy in general. The Communications Act of 2009 empowers the national regulator – the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) – to prevent any anti-competition practices. However, despite this legislation, media concentration does exist. All six members of the CRAN regulatory body are appointed by the Minister of ICT, and many of them have close links with the ruling political party. Nevertheless, CRAN is seen as being balanced, fair and professional. Its decisions do not seem to be influenced by political authorities and the licensing is diverse. In the fiscal year 2017/2018, the advertising market amounted to 7.1 million USD. Government is the biggest advertiser in the country and has used this power to punish the media that are too negative towards its policies. In 2001, The Namibian newspaper suffered a ban on government advertising because its editorial line was deemed too critical. The ban was lifted in 2011. In Namibia, newspapers regularly publish corrections of articles. Some see this as a sign that there is not enough accuracy in reporting. Panellists complained that journalists do not take the time to check their facts and get a more balanced story. Most complaints received by the office of the media ombudsman centre around inaccurate reporting, truthfulness and the right of reply. The Editors’ Forum of Namibia (EFN) developed a Code of Conduct in 2007. It is a self-regulatory code, enforced by the media ombudsman who is appointed and paid by the EFN. Corruption is not a common practice in the country and although self-censorship does exist, it is possibly due to the limitations of journalists’ knowledge, the fear of losing a job or advertising revenue and security reasons. There are ample opportunities for training, with several institutions offering formal qualifications and some media houses offer on-the-job training. The panel discussion took place at Tungeni Von Bach Dam Resort, Okahandja, from 30 November – 2 December 2018. 6 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2018