co-operation, as much as these are required, remain absent within and amongst media houses. Debate about media issues was largely instigated by non-media people. Challenges The Namibian media sector and media practitioners are faced by numerous challenges. In terms of content quality, the media continued to serve as a platform for political mudslinging. Some media houses are severely understaffed, which negatively impacts on the quality of reportage and editorial services, and none of the media houses have any training programme in place. The staff and skills shortages mean that very little investigative journalism is undertaken. Furthermore, training of journalism students has been identified as being deficient. Tertiary institutions continue to fail to meet the needs of the sector and the dearth of journalists with specialised skills, such as in health and economics reporting, will continue to exist in the foreseeable. Despite these and other challenges, the Namibian media sector remains vibrant, fluid and the media continues to inform the general public of their rights and expose those who embezzle public funds and abuse their positions. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -68- Media Institute of Southern Africa