Due to a shortage of staff at most media houses, editors of the main newspapers are reluctant to release journalists for one-month’s training in another country, for example, and prefer inhouse, on-the-job training. The disadvantage of this is that those receiving such training do not acquire any formal qualification. There was a feeling that the government should realise the importance of sending its journalists away for intensive training. “Government journalists are not well equipped. Perhaps they have just a diploma. They do not specialise in anything. The government should look into this for their own interests.” In an important development, both UNAM and the Polytechnic are preparing to submit their curricula for accreditation under the National Qualifications Framework, which will accredit these qualifications at appropriate levels. A key point is that these institutions are involving the industry in this process to ascertain where training is lacking and what kind of training is relevant. It was suggested that media houses should offer bursaries or scholarships to students of media studies to enhance the profession, as is the case, for example, with banks. SCORES: Individual scores: 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 3, 2 Average score: 3.0 (2005 = 2.8) 4.10 Journalists and other media practitioners are organised in trade unions and/or other professional associations. ANALYSIS: Employees of the state-owned media belong to the Public Workers Union. Private media workers are not unionised. The Windhoek-based press club has been inactive for years. Some journalists are members of MISA Namibia and/or the Editor’s Forum. Membership of both the Editor’s Forum and MISA Namibia is less divided than was the case two years ago. The MISA board, too, has become much more representative of the industry, as it has members from the state broadcaster (NBC), a state-funded newspaper (New Era), the private print media (The Namibian), private television (One Africa) and community radio (KCR). This indicates some progress in uniting a long-divided sector. There has been much talk within the industry about establishing a media workers’ trade union. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has set up a regional office in Johannesburg to try to establish unions for journalists in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It remains to be seen how this intervention will develop. SCORES: Individual scores: 2, 4, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2 Average score: 2.9 (2005 = 2.9) Overall score for sector 4: 3.0 (2005 = 2.8) OVERALL COUNTRY SCORE FOR 2007 2.6 (2005 = 2.7) So This Is Democracy? 2007 -219- Media Institute of Southern Africa