STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT 2021 46 NAMIBIA A BEACON OF HOPE FOR PRESS FREEDOM the Access to Information (ATI) legislation to be passed in order to fully complement the progress that has been made in making Namibia a beacon of media freedom across the world. MEDIA PLURALISM AND DIVERSITY Namibia has four daily newspapers comprising The Namibian, New Era, The Namibian Sun, Republikein, one weekly, Confidente as well as daily mainstream online newspapers in the form of The Villager, Windhoek Observer. The Namibian, Confidente, The Namibian Sun, The Villager, Republikein and the Windhoek Observer are nonState controlled and thus are critical of the government. By June Shimuoshili INTRODUCTION N AMIBIA’S continues to be a regional and continental leader in promoting a free press and access to information. While the country has constantly scored high in press freedom rankings, it has seen journalists and media practitioners struggling to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been primarily because of issues related to poor working conditions. The other challenges facing the media landscape in Namibia in the past three years have primarily been the lack of equipment for journalists to adjust to remote working as most media houses are still deeply rooted in the conventional media space of print and the transition to digital has been coming albeit slow. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK Namibia’s Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and by extension, the media. The country has an enabling environment that has allowed journalists to operate freely without fear of retribution, victimisation and arbitrary arrests. Despite the foundation laid by the Constitution for the creation of a liberal press, journalists have been subjected to harassment as well as being dragged to court on charges bordering on harassment. Namibia has no Access to Information (ATI), crafted along with input from civic society organisations, and while the ATI was on the cusp of being formalised in 2017, it remains not passed by Parliament. (1) There has been a push for Namibia has two mainstream broadcast media platforms, the State-controlled Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC1, 2 and 3), and the privately run One Africa. State controlled media organisations play the role of the government’s mouth-piece and cover more content on government policy while the private media run corruption stories with critical editorials. The existence of both private and public/State-controlled media has thus created a counterbalance between government’s pursuit to project its progress as well as citizens call for accountability, transparency and exposure of negative developments in high places. JOURNALISTS’ SAFETY AND PROTECTION Journalists continue to face challenges from the Namibian Police (Nampol), especially