SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 4.3 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3 3.0 The media cover the full spectrum of events and issues, including business/economics, cultural, local and investigative stories. ANALYSIS: People with money and living in Windhoek can get the full spectrum of news but the larger the distance from the centre, the less choice people have. There is also a lack of investigative reporting and certain issues are not followed through. One reason might be that media houses are not prepared to invest in their journalists and one and the same person has to cover different sections like business, arts, etc. The Namibian media display a certain degree of what was termed cultural ethnocentrism, because the owners belong to the white culture: “Stories that should have made the headline are somewhere on page four or five, but if something happens to a white person it is on the front page”. “When our own kings are inaugurated it is not covered but Prince Charles is covered extensively.” SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 4.4 3, 3, 2, 4, 3, 3, 4, 3 3.1 Journalists and editors do not practice self-censorship. ANALYSIS: Journalists do practice self-censorship mostly in state controlled media but also in private media. One of the reasons could be that journalists do not have the skills to do a proper investigation. There is also a lack of mentorship and guidance in newsrooms. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 4.5 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 4, 3 2.5 Owners do not interfere with editorial independence. ANALYSIS: The Namibian is owned by a trust, as is the monthly Big Issue. At the Namibian the trustees do not have much say in the production or content of the newspaper. The Republikein was started by the Republican Party before it joined the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance. Later the daily became part of Democratic Media Holdings (also the owner of Allgemeine Zeitung) which, until four or five years ago, was still very close to DTA structures. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -239- Media Institute of Southern Africa