The NBC Act does not make any reference to an editorial policy. There are many examples for interference in the editorial independence of the NBC, for example the demotion of a controller of news and current affairs. “This interference has sent a very clear message to others in the organisation lower than her on what happens if you cross the line even a little.” There seems to be a difference in the amount of control exercised over the newsroom and the language services with the latter being editorially independent, allowing people to come on air and say whatever they want without any pressure from outside on the host of these programmes. There seems to be a general tendency in TV and radio news to give priority coverage to the activities of the president and ministers and those of civil society organisations only if there is any time left. The editorial policy is that the president should always come first, ministers come second and so on further down the line. “I would like to see Women’s Action for Development being first on the news one night.” Instead, the chairperson of the NBC board regularly appears on the TV talk show Talk of the Nation as a “community activist”. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 3.8 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1 1.5 The public broadcaster is adequately funded in a manner that protects it from arbitrary interference with its budget. ANALYSIS: Approximately 8% of NBC’s revenue comes from license fees, 10% from advertising and the rest from the state. Despite the fact that NBC gets over 80 million Namibian dollars every year from government, the corporation is always facing financial difficulties. This may be due to the fact that the NBC is not run efficiently and that bad management decisions have been made: “They spent 4 million dollars to build a main entrance to the facilities at the NBC premises.” A reason for the poor advertising income could be that the white business community does not want to support something they see as government propaganda and anti-white sentiments. Besides that there is a perception of corruption in NBC. Audience figures likely to attract advertisers may be lower than expected for a national broadcaster, judging by the fact that even poor people subscribe to DSTV: “This is an indication of what people think about the public broadcaster.” SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 3.9 3, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 1, 3 2.8 The public broadcaster is accessible in the entire country. ANALYSIS: According to the NBC, in late 2004 its radio services reached 99% of the country, and TV 42%. NBC has thus made considerable efforts to increase its reach to the entire population with a lot of its budget being spent on increasing the power of transmitters and building new ones. In So This Is Democracy? 2005 -236- Media Institute of Southern Africa